Here’s a before without an after — yet. When my man and I bought this 1924 bungalow a few months ago, we decided that sprucing up the exterior was a priority. The painter we hired just offered to start a week from now instead of late summer, and we still haven’t picked out a color. That's where you come in, dear readers.

What would take our boxy little house from meh to marvelous? Ignore the landscaping for a moment -- it's on our list -- and imagine this place with some curb appeal.

We’re strongly leaning toward red, but are unsure about the exact shade. We’re not using Behr, but three of Behr’s paint chips caught our attention: Antique Red, Awning Red, and Powdered Brick. We're also thinking about bright white trim and slate gray for the doors, an inversion of the ever-popular gray house/red door scheme. Then again, will a red house look like a barn? There may be a reason they're rare in the city.

If not red, then what? We've been driving around, looking for inspiration, but the majority of houses seem to be green, blue, gray, white, and beige.

A few things to consider:

• Our neighbors’ much larger, fancier houses are green (pale pistachio and sage) and both have brick walkways and chimneys.

• Our house’s fiber-cement siding has a touch of vertical texture, and will hold paint better and longer than vinyl or wood siding. We’ll be staining the fence, too.

• We have concrete retaining walls and walkways, a large wood deck, and lots of greenery in the backyard, including a towering fir tree.

• It is gray most of the year here in Seattle. Color can be a real mood-booster.

As any of you who’ve had your house painted know, it costs a big chunk of change and is something we’ll have to live with for a long time. We’d really love to hear your suggestions.

Also, if you did paint your house, what factors went into your color decisions? Any regrets?

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