Perfectly Painted House: A Foolproof Guide for Choosing Exterior Colors for Your Home [Paperback]

Bonnie Rosser Krims (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2002

Painting the exterior of a home is a large and costly project - yet homeowners have long been forced to decide on a color scheme based only on a tiny swatch or a paint brochure. Now, nationally recognized color consultant Bonnie Rosser Krims shares a fool-proof method for selecting and combining exterior paint colors. This unique guidebook presents thirty distinct color schemes - complete with color reference numbers from the major paint manufacturers - along with beautiful, full-color photographs, and ideas and inspiration for painting trim, accent colors, and more. Specific information about working with roof color, plantings, and features such as walkways and porches is also included. From tips on avoiding common and costly pitfalls to a step-by-step plan for getting the results you want, this is every homeowner's key to exquisite color balance for the home exterior.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In The Perfectly Painted House: Foolproof Guide for Choosing Exterior Paint Colors, color consultant Bonnie Rosser Krims explains that redoing the faeade of a house doesn't have to be expensive. She begins with a discussion of the elements of the exterior and how they relate to the whole. She then covers the various color schemes appropriate to individual architectural styles, each with color chart reference numbers and full-color photographs, 250 in all. Suggestions for trim, accents and for alternate looks enhance her presentation.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Bonnie Rosser Krims is the author of Perfect Palette (Warner Books) and one of only a handful of nationally recognized professional paint-colour consultants in the United States. She is also an accomplished artist whose work has been widely exhibited, most notably as part the Andy Warhol/Frank Stella show at the Morgan Gallery in Boston.

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books (February 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564968537
• ISBN-13: 978-1564968531
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #831,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Interior Design > Painting & Wallpapering

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, September 23, 2003

By 

Kate Smart "Private" (Private) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfectly Painted House: A Foolproof Guide for Choosing Exterior Colors for Your Home (Paperback)

Anyone using this book as a means by which to choose paint colours, is making a huge mistake. Like most books of this genre, it is candy for the eye - you may be inspired, but to go out and use the same colours as in the book is foolish.
The homes featured in this book are mostly country, or traditional. Any paint colour you choose is dramatically influenced by the architecture of your home, the climate in which you live, whether it faces north or south, etc. The homes in this book seem to exist in isolation on snowy plains or country acreage unobstructed by neighbours, power-lines, garages, etc. She does not talk about size at all. For example: a tall skinny home, with little architectural detail, painted fire engine red will not look nearly as charming as a cosy cottage with heavy moldings and shutters. There is little mention of accent, or trim colours. It is a flimsy read - if you love the idea of a yellow home (as I do) you will only find ONE yellow house. There is only ONE red house. A better book would have shown pictures of 4 or 5 homes, in different styles, painted red, yellow, blue, etc. We're talking about photographs here - why not include more? A better option for house paint ideas is to drive around your neighbourhood, which shares the same light, climate, etc. as your own. Find a few houses you really like, then ask the owners what colour they used.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Check your zip code before buying, May 22, 2002

By 

Andrea D. Graham "andreainla" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfectly Painted House: A Foolproof Guide for Choosing Exterior Colors for Your Home (Paperback)

I bought this book with great anticipation, having heard it was the "bible" of exterior color selection. It may be, if you live in New England or San Francisco. The vast majority of the houses used as examples are Victorian gingerbread, Cape Cod or Colonial. For our California Spanish stucco (an architecture style common in other parts of the country as well), there wasn't a single example that translated.

I truly wasn't expecting to see a twin of our house in any book; I WAS expecting recommendations consistent with a much wider range of styles and exterior finishes that would be applicable to far more homeowners across the country, if not around the world. Many of the lovely color schemes that work beautifully on wood would be unattractive and inappropriate on stucco. So pass this by unless the style of your home is the same as the author's bent.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I love it!, March 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Perfectly Painted House: A Foolproof Guide for Choosing Exterior Colors for Your Home (Paperback)

This book is really practical, not just some decorator's book with million dollar homes inside. It is a book I can USE about how to choose the colors for the outside of my house. I am looking at spending a lot of money on painting my house, so I wanted to be sure to pick the right colors... This book is just what I wanted. The photos are gorgeous and I can see how colors will actually look on my house. It even has the paint color numbers and suggestions for window, door and shutter colors. I just love it. The problem is, all of the colors in the photos are so beautiful, its hard to choose between them! The "yellow" chapter and the "neutrals" chapter are my favorites. Now I am excited about painting in the spring, instead of being worried. If you are going to paint your house, buy this book.