Decisions, decisions...of the paint variety

My house used to be the only one at my end of the block that's painted a light tan. Now there are three: mine and the houses on either side of me. It looks like everybody who loves tan called each other the night before like middle-schoolers and then bought houses together...or, worse yet, that some weird tan-loving cult has created an urban compound within which to plot nefarious deeds...or even worse, that three dorky families with no sense of style or originality lunkheadedly copied each other's paint schemes.

Well, all that's about to change. I've been wanting a new paint color since the homeowners to the west of me painted their house tan a couple of years ago, but when the owner of the house to the east of me painted his house tan a few weeks ago, my plans moved into high gear. The painters are outside scraping the house as we speak.

Now comes the hard part. I have a roof that appears a soft, muted brown if you're just driving by, but if you stand in the yard and look closely, you'll see that it's a subtle combination of grayish brown with a touch of rusty brown. I want the house to be a dark grayish green with brown undertones. With an orange door. My parents had friends in the mid-1950s with a great mid-century ranch painted those colors, and even as a child, I thought their house was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

Luckily, the door paint wasn't difficult to choose. I'm going with a color called Copper Mountain. But do you know how many dark grayish greens with brown undertones there are on the market? There's Rosemary or Thunderous or Cast Iron or Eclipse; there's Dried Thyme, Messenger Bag, Garden Gate or High Tea. And about a bazillion more.

What will it be? Stay tuned, because these guys work fast!