Dick and Jay sat on the ground outside the shed. The rain pelted down on them. They stared in disbelief at the lake of mud all around them. The Piper Cub slumped in the mud a few feet in front of them. Neither a wet bird nor muddy squirrel could be seen.

“It’s going to be like this for some time,” said Jay, gloomily, “according to the weather report.”

Dick feebly told the joke about the weatherman who left town because the weather didn’t agree with him–but neither of them laughed. The rain fell without remorse.

“Boy, boys, boys,” said a beautiful woman with auburn hair. She had a fresh complexion. She wore a wet, slightly muddy, mauve dress. She sat down between them, covering them with her pink umbrella.

Dick kissed his wife on the cheek. He reached down into the vanilla box for his sandwich. The box tumbled out of his hands and landed in a puddle. It floated.

“That’s it,” shouted Jay. He grabbed Dick’s elbow. “Don’t you see that’s it!”

It only took a day to add the inflated pontoon boats to the Piper Cub. Now instead of wheels, it had floats. Now, instead of the muddy runway, they used the river.

But another calamity awaited: a lightning storm. A bolt of lightning struck the hut, shattering it.

Without an office, it was hard to run operations.

Dick, however, found a solution. He bought a chicken coop from the farmer down the road for $25.

“One last yard,” said Dick, talking to the old mare. The mare grunted as it dragged along the chicken coop.

After propping up the chicken coop, Dick began whitewashing it.

“There,” said Dick, slapping on the last coat.

He stepped back to join his wife, Doreen, and his partner, Jay. All of them admired the bright chicken coop. It proudly bore the blue legend “Wolverine Air Service.”

“Soon,” said Dick, “Millions will be flying their own planes. They’ll come to us and we’ll teach them.”

“And it only cost us $200 to get this Piper Cub,” added Jay.

“Airplanes will swarm the air, the way cars do the ground,” predicted Dick.

Just then a freckled-faced young man came up to them.

“Is this your school?” he asked, squinting at Dick.

“Have you come for lessons?” asked Dick.

“Darn right!”

“We’d love to teach you, but we don’t know how to fly!” confessed Dick.

A few days later, however, they found a flight instructor. Dick straightened out the sheaf of papers on his ramshackle desk as the last interviewee walked out of the shack. He looked over at Jay. “Well?” Jay nodded. “I like him.”

“Then we have a new flight instructor,” said Dick, smiling broadly.

The next day, Dick and the new flight instructor stood outside the chicken coop office.

“How are you going to pay me?” asked the flight instructor, a tall man with thick dark hair and brilliant blue eyes.

“Cash,” said Dick, unruffled.

“But you said a moment ago that you don’t have any money?”

“I don’t,” confirmed Dick, “but they do.”

The flight instructor turned around to follow Dick’s finger. He had to chuckle. On the edge of the field was Jay whooping in a group of three eager students, all trussed up in flight gear. They were wet to their thighs from wading across the river.

“They’ll be the first to graduate,” affirmed Bob, the new flight instructor.

This is the story of Richard M. DeVos and his high-school buddy, Jay Van Andel, who came home after the Second World War convinced that the aviation business would be the trend of the future.

The Success Principle

The only limits are those that you set up for yourself. Limited thoughts create limited people.

Resource Box

Saleem Rana got his Masters degree in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life

Copyright 2004 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this
article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or
newsletter. It’s a shareware article.

If you are considering using an adjustable rate mortgage loan to finance your home there are several things you need to know before taking out this loan. If you neglect to cover all your bases with this type of mortgage you could easily find yourself in financial hot water. Here is what you need to know about these risky mortgage loans.

Adjustable rate mortgages, when used correctly, are a useful fix to a financial need. There is risk involved; as a homeowner you need to understand the pros and cons of adjustable rate mortgages before you get one. Before you take out an adjustable rate get following information from all potential lenders you are considering.

Introductory Interest Rates

Most Adjustable Rate Mortgages come with an introductory interest rate that is much lower than the actual interest rate. Mortgage lenders use this “teaser” rate to bait homeowners into taking out the loan; you will find the actual interest rate buried in the fine print. At the end of the introductory period your lender will adjust the interest rate to the actual rate. Make sure you know exactly what you are getting yourself into when it comes to mortgages with introductory interest rates.

Mortgage Lender Interest Rate Markup

Whenever your mortgage lender adjusts the interest rate on your loan they will use the current value of whatever index your loan tracks, plus their markup. You need to find out what their markup is and what index your interest rate is tied to. When you are comparison shopping for Adjustable Rate Mortgages one of the factors you need to consider is the value of this lender markup. This is important because it directly impacts the cash in your wallet; your monthly payment changes depend on the index and the lender markup.

Budget Conservatively

When you calculate your monthly budget and how much of a mortgage payment you can afford, make sure you are using the actual interest rate, not the introductory rate. Also, plan for periodic rate increases and allow yourself a cushion to keep ahead of interest rate hikes. This will minimize the impact of rate hike increases in your monthly mortgage payment. To learn more about minimizing the risk of Adjustable Rate Mortgages, register for a free mortgage guidebook.

To get your free mortgage guidebook visit RefiAdvisor.com using the link below.

Louie Latour specializes in showing homeowners how to avoid common mortgage mistakes and predatory lenders. For a free copy of “Mortgage Refinancing - What You Need to Know,” which teaches strategies to find the best mortgage and save thousands of dollars in the process, visit Refiadvisor.com.

Claim your free guidebook today at: http://www.refiadvisor.com

Chicago Mortgage Refinance

One of the most effective ways of getting people to discover and try your products or services is by offering a Pink Spoon - a taste of what it is that you offer. Pink Spoons come in many forms: an ezine, an ecourse, an audio program, a special report, etc., and they are usually free. It’s a tried and true marketing strategy that if you offer someone a free taste of what it is that you do, they are much more likely to become a paying client or customer down the road.

Once you’ve created your Pink Spoon, the next step is to market it to encourage people to sign up for your list. The following are 15 proven ways to promote your Pink Spoon:

__1. Your email signature. In your email signature (your name and contact info that you put at the bottom of every email you send out), include a link that goes directly to the sign-up page for your Pink Spoon or to its respective autoresponder. Entice people to click through with a compelling question, followed by the link.

For example, one of my email signatures says:

“Are you exhausted from working 1:1 with clients, only to be just getting by financially?

Don’t give up on your dream of having a profitable business AND time for a great life. Learn the secrets to leveraging your time

and talent by getting your FREE ecourse ‘5 Keys to Wild Abundance in Your Business.’

Simply send a blank email to clientabundance@aweber.com or visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com“

__2. Your website Make sure your sign-up form for your Pink Spoon is prominently placed on the home page of your website, as well as on every other page of your site. This way, no matter what page your visitor lands on, you’re giving them an opportunity to opt-in to receive your Pink Spoon.

__3. Other people’s ezines Ask to be mentioned and recommended in other people’s ezines within your niche. Offer to do the same in return.

__4. Other people’s websites Offer your Pink Spoon as a bonus to colleagues’ in complementary niches to offer to their lists.

__5. Testimonials you write Write results-oriented testimonials for products or services you use and love. Give permission to the owner to post your testimonial to their website. Include a photo and/or audio for better results.

__6. Articles Write and submit articles within your niche. In the author’s resource box at the end, promote your Pink Spoon by including the URL to your sign-up page or the email link to your autoresponder.

__7. Discussion lists Participate in discussion lists where your target market hangs out and offer your Pink Spoon, following the list’s guidelines for promotions.

__8. Thank you pages On your thank you pages for purchases, offer your Pink Spoon. Your customer may not have signed up before buying your product or service and you want to give them an opportunity to do so before they leave your website.

__9. Your sales copy Peppered throughout your sales copy, give the opt-in form to sign up for your Pink Spoon. Most people don’t buy on the first pass, but they will likely sign up for your free offering.

__10. Your business card On the back of your business card, tell people where to go to sign-up for your Pink Spoon.

__11. Teleseminars Offer content-rich free teleseminars and make it clear that your desired outcome is to have the registered guests sign up for your Pink Spoon, not to sell them anything.

__12. Directories List your Pink Spoon in the directories that are available to you via your membership in associations or organizations, and any directories specific to the packaging of your Pink Spoon. For example, if you offer an ezine, consider listing it with The Directory of Ezines at http://www.directoryofezines.com/

__13. Swap ads with others Offer to promote a colleagues’ Pink Spoon in return for promoting yours as ads within each other’s ezines. Run your ad for a minimum of three consecutive issues for the best results.

__14. Tell everyone Don’t forget to tell everyone on your contact list about your Pink Spoon. Send them the link to your sign-up page, and ask that if they cannot benefit from it themselves to please pass it along to someone who would.

__15. Offer a free bonus. Offer a bonus or gift as an added incentive to sign-up for your Pink Spoon. A special report, an audio program, or something similar that is in a different form than your Pink Spoon. For example, I offer my ezine as a bonus for signing up for my free 5-day ecourse.

Remember: Never add anyone to your list without their permission.

These 15 tactics will help you promote your Pink Spoon and add significantly to your list numbers. Just implement them consistently, and you will grow an audience quickly and easily.

Copyright 2005 Alicia Forest

Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach, & Founder of http://www.ClientAbundance.com , teaches coaches, consultants, online entrepreneurs and solo professionals to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve.
For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

I have been meaning to write this column since the day I first bought a home computer in 1993. It probably was getting online that first prompted the desire to write this. What has been keeping me from writing this column until now is that every time I made an attempt, I would dissolve into a pool of tears and end up on the bed uttering vile profanities.

But here I am. I am bucking up. I am finally going to write this column. Maybe I should call it, “Why I hate computers, the Internet, and Bill ______!”

Let me first ask you something. If you spent a small fortune (and in 1993, computers cost a lot) to buy a high tech piece of equipment, wouldn’t you expect it to work? If you bought, let’s say, a brand-new Sony flat-screen television set, wouldn’t you expect to see The Guiding Light (or whatever program was your pleasure) when you hit the power switch?

What would you think if you hit the “on” button and the television just sat there doing nothing except making clicking sounds and scary humming noises? What would you think if you tried changing channels but only got a nicely-written message saying that the channel you selected is no longer in existence (and furthermore never had existed)? What would you think if you turned on the satellite only to get an error message telling you that you don’t have an account and if you ever had one, it has expired?

These are very legitimate questions. They get worse. What if you have been struggling with this wonderful, high-tech, never-before-has-the-world-seen-such-a-marvel television for years and years? What if you hit channel 4 but you get channel 4,450 instead? You call tech support and they tell you that your television isn’t programmed correctly. The geeks at Sony television lead you on a three-hour wild goose chase of fixes, after which they proudly announce that they have to be gods because they have miraculously cured your technical problem and your set will now work. Only, when you try it, it still does the same stupid thing.

Excuse me if I am wrong here, but when you pay a fortune for something that is supposed to do that for which it was designed, shouldn’t it do exactly that?

I about blew my flash memory when I read that Microsoft is releasing a new Windows Operating System.

But…but…Mr. Bill _____, why doesn’t the one I have work? Why not make the one that currently exists and tortures everyone all around planet Earth work? Why not end my suffering with the one that presently sits on a desk in my house and works only when it wants to?

Here is a problem, one that is probably all too familiar to you readers. I have had this problem for years with all the computers I have owned. Upon occasion, but not always, when I attempt to download the Windows Updates (which should be called The Windows OS killer!), they download and install nicely. Then it gives me the fatal, murderous message, You now must restart your computer.

When I do this, it causes some kind of “feedback loop” that makes my computer recycle FOREVER in the start-up mode. It never does anything but make a lot of noise, then reboots forever and ever, Amen!

It sounds, acts, and looks like what I can only imagine what a hard drive must go through when it is having cardiac arrest or a stroke.

If Sony television sold TVs that pulled this sort of nonsense that Mr. Bill ______ and his wunderkind geeks pull, they would soon not be selling many TVs.

What are we, the consumers, to do? We keep buying and buying and buying PC’s with OS’s that consistently do not work!

I have owned many computers since my first one in 1993. I have friends, co-workers, and colleagues who have owned many PC’s since PC’s were first born to make human’s lives miserable. All, and I mean all, have conspired to torture me and my friends with what is touted as “The Mother of all Operating SystemsWindows!”

Why do they want to release another Operating System when the one they’ve presently got does not work? Now, all of you reading this know that what I am writing is true. I am most certainly preaching to the Windows OS choir.

Windows OS works when and if IT wants to.

Not only that, with every single new, off-the-shelf computer I have ever bought, I have had to spend an additional amount of money in software just to get the OS monster to work right. With the computer I bought in Mexico, I had to buy software for virus protection, firewalls, registry cleaners, file deletion, error nuking and fixing, defragging, and more.

You know this is so because you have had to do the same thing!

So, there, I have said it and do not feel one bit better. I do not know who to be madder at…Mr. Bill ____ of Microsoft or myself for my insistence in buying PC after PC.

I wonder if I can get a MAC in Mexico?

Now excuse me, please, while I start crying and fall on the bed.

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With weddings become more and more glamorous and elaborate, brides are coming up with new and unique ways to give their wedding favors flare. Presentation and packaging can enhance the appeal of unique wedding favors multifold. Sometimes, the way a wedding favor is presented is what makes a wedding favor really unique and memorable.



Here are some ideas for presenting your wedding favors in a stylish way.

• The bride can carry a beautifully decorated basket full of long stemmed red rose candles. During the reception she can mingle with all the guests and pass out the unique wedding favors herself to each guest. Not only will she get the thrill of seeing the delight on the faces of her guests, but also she will feel like a Princess giving away wedding favors on her big day.

• Another idea for creating unique wedding favors is a take-off on Dayna Devon’s (of ‘Extra’ fame) idea of hanging velveteen cones trimmed with satin and filled with rose petals on the chair of each guest. You can create beautiful satin or organza pouches and trim them with antique lace or rope. Fill the pouches with rice or birdseed, which the guests can shower on the couple when they leave. Hang the unique wedding favors on the chairs, ala’ Devon and be the season’s most talked about bride!

• An absolutely fantastic idea for unique wedding favors presentation involves the wedding cake. If you can afford it, plan to have a mini wedding cake for each table and one grand wedding cake for the couple to cut. Then put personalized silver mini cake server sets at each place setting. When the couple cuts the wedding cake, all the guests get to cut the cake on their table. It is great fun for everyone present and of course! The guests get to take home the unique wedding favors.

• You could create air fresheners or potpourri and hang it in the guests’ cars. This was a unique wedding favor idea John and Rebecca Stamos used at their celebrity wedding. If your wedding reception has valets, have them put one in each car as they park them.

• Another great way to distribute unique wedding favors is to decorate the favors or place them on a center table in beautiful baskets or arranged in a fun design. Put a card inviting each guest to take one favor. This can be a part of your wedding decoration. Place one unique wedding favor for each guest, as well as for children. Also include a few extras in case of damage or double dipping.

Wedding favors can really be something special. Just put a bit of yourself into the presentation and you will have a hit your guests will talk about for a long time to come.

Andrea Britt is owner of CharmingWeddings.com where you can find elegant, unique wedding favors, bridal shower favors, and wedding planning tips for your wedding reception and bridal shower.

A wedding day is a very special, in fact unique, day for the bride and groom, and for close family and friends, especially those who play a part in the ceremony, such as the bridesmaids. In most cases, the bridesmaids do get a fair amount of attention as part of the supporting cast, and it is usual for bridesmaids gifts to be given as a memento of the occasion.

As bride and groom, though, you may want to say a big thank you to the bridesmaids and do something a bit special for them. So, you may be considering an unusual bridesmaids’ gift to show them their role was more important to you than they may have thought; and, that they are not and will not be forgotten.

Wanting to give an unusual bridesmaid gift is one thing, but finding one is a different matter altogether. However, maybe “finding” is not the right way to go about it. You want to thank the bridesmaids for their support on your special wedding day, so why not thank them by arranging something special for them, in which they, not you, are the focus of attention?

What you do will, of course, depend on budget, and what you think the bridesmaids will all appreciate. Here are just a few ideas for unusual bridesmaids’ gifts that you could arrange.

Bridesmaids’ Bash

On the wedding day itself, you probably had a reception and maybe a disco or some form of entertainment for the wedding guests. Again, the stars of the show were you, the bride and groom. One sure way to show appreciation is for you to stand aside and bring the bridesmaids to the fore, to feel very special and appreciated.

One thing you could do is to arrange a Bridesmaids Bash, a party arranged just for them. If you are going away for a honeymoon, would it not be nice to get back home, and a few days latter have a special party organised for the bridesmaids Of course, you can give them a small memento also, but as the main, and unusual, bridesmaids gift, a fun bash in which they are the focus, could go down really well.

Bridesmaids’ Beauty Binge

There is no doubt that almost every bride and groom goes to great lengths to look their best on the wedding day; the same is true of the bridesmaids. There is also no doubting that girls and young women across the bridesmaid age group do feel special when they are having a lot of attention being paid to their health and beauty.

For an unusual bridesmaids’ gift, how about negotiating with a local parlour for a group beauty session for all the bridesmaids? It would be fun for them to go together a couple of weeks after the wedding, and have a makeover, pedicure, manicure, new hairdo, massage; whatever you can afford to make a fuss of them for an hour or two, or three.

Bridesmaids’ Bloat Out

Another bridesmaid gift idea that is a bit unusual is, rather than the full Bridesmaids’ Bash, take them all out for a special meal a week or two after the wedding. This idea is not for those on a diet, but as they are all young and probably in good shape, some sort of feast, a Bridesmaids’ Bloat Out, could be a good idea. It is best to sound them out in advance, so you can choose a venue they will all be delighted with, whatever their age.

To make it special, you could arrange for a local florist, or the establishment manager, to deliver flowers, or some other gift, to the table. A little bit of imagination could make this a fun occasion to all and give the bridesmaids the special attention they deserve.

This bridesmaid gift article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner author of the Gifts For Xmas website.

To succeed in the mortgage industry, get used to meeting people. Referrals from people who know you and business from Realtors will make up at least half closed loans. And no matter how good you are, if people don’t have some reason to trust you, they’re not going to call.

“Real estate is a contact sport,” said Realtor Barbara Anderson.

She and her husband Ron are the owners and instructors of Success Real Estate Academy in Prescott, Arizona. According to Barbara Anderson there are some specific steps you can take that will keep you on their radar and building revenue:
• Be really, really good at what you do. According to Anderson, this means communication, competitive rates and consistent excellence. While Anderson and her colleagues can’t by law refer their customers to you, they do provide them with a list of three mortgage professionals. You have to be a star to get on that list. Nothing else will work. “I tell my students that they need to get out and interview them,” she said of choosing which mortgage professionals they’ll work with.
• Offer classes. Anderson says that she often has mortgage professionals speak at her school. Many of them will end up on the lists of the fledgling Realtors. Focus on subjects that enhance their professional lives. Topics that tap your expertise to show them how to save money, make more money or attract more clients are all winners.
• Join a Realtor’s association in your area. Like marketing frequency, the more times Realtors and escrow professionals see you, the more likely it is that you’ll come to mind when their list comes up for review. If you can, go the extra mile and offer to host a meeting. According to Anderson, mortgage professionals prove that they’re helpful, congenial and accountable by the way they show up amongst their peers. “It’s just being there for them,” she said.
• Grow your supply of testimonials. Another way to tap the power of who you know is to collect testimonials from your clients. Most people will lend far more credence to another person’s description of their experience with you than with your own assertions of excellence. Put the testimonials on your website, your brochures, your mailings and even on your business cards. A time-saving way to collect testimonials from all of your clients is to program an email request into your customer relationship management (CRM) software. That way, testimonial gathering, like all of the other tasks automatically managed and executed with your CRM, is a zero-work, high-yield proposition. If you’re still shopping for CRM, consider one geared specifically for mortgage professionals.

Taking advantage of service opportunities and association memberships has skyrocketed the revenue and credibility of more than a few mortgage professionals. According to Ron Anderson, it’s the most important thing they can do after establishing professional excellence.

“Their reputation makes a big difference, just like Realtors and doctors,” he said.

Clate Mask is president of Infusion Software which produces MortgagePro CRM - a complete lead management and client tracking system that helps mortgage professionals double or triple their closed loans by automating and improving their marketing and client management. For more information or to take a test drive, please visit infusionsoft.com/mpcrm/

With Gas Prices quickly approaching $3 a gallon and some predicting gas prices of $4 and even $5 a gallon, a gallon saved is way more then a penny earned. This One Gas Saving Tip can save most people 50 to 70 Percent on their Annual Gas Bill for their automobile, It does not involve buying a Bicycle, a Hybrid vehicle or even a Motor Scooter.

The Majority of the gas expenditure for most people is spent commuting to and from work. Sure you could take public transportation or even carpool but an even better method is to start a Home Based Business. A home based business has many advantages. Gasoline savings is just one of them.

Other advantages are, Flexibility, Job Security and more control over your situation. You could work some time, Part Time or Full Time. It is possible working a Full Time Home Based Business to be financial secure within 5 to 10 years.

Ebay is Perhaps the easiest and fastest way to start a home based online business. Starting an Ebay Business is as easy as 1-2-3

1 - Register as a Reseller

Go to the Ebay website and setup an account an Register as a Reseller

2 - Take a Class

Ebay offers online training at Ebay University or you can take one of many excellent third party classes.

3 - Start Selling

List your Items for sale on Ebay.

Ebay Fast Start Video Tutorial “The Hottest Home Business In The Past 50 Years — Maybe Ever!” Make money with eBay and online auctions. step-by-step system for making money at home with online auctions. Learn how new step-by-step “How-To” Video. Start today! http://ewguru.com/ebayvideo

About The Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built an Organization of over 100,000 Members

Drop Shipping Your Way to Wealth Over 90,000 Items You can Sell on EBay Today
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Getting Started With Ebay Resource Guide
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Copyright © 2005-2006 Mike Makler the Coolest Guy in the Universe

Carpet stains are unsightly and degrade the overall quality of any carpet. This piece is about carpet cleaning and removing stains from your carpet, as well as helpful tips on how to do so properly, keeping your carpet looking as new as the day you bought it.

If you have children, running around the house it is almost guaranteed you will incur many stains throughout the childhood years. These stains seem to appear out of thin air, of course there is always the “not me” monster that loves to spill things. Different stains require different measures of removal.

The first measure to take when carpet cleaning is to be aware of the directions from the manufacturer. If you decide to use a commercial carpet cleaner, it is wise to make certain that you have taken separate measures for individual stains, carpet cleaners are typically only good for deep cleaning of an entire carpet, not for individual stains.

Here are some helpful tips that you can try without the need for a commercial carpet cleaner. If you have company over and someone accidentally spills any type of wine, soda, coffee or beer on your carpet, blot the area instantly with a paper towel to remove as much of the liquid as you can. Then use a vinegar solution that contains cup of white vinegar with cups of water mixed. Soak the spot with the solution then blot again to remove the moisture.

With juices like fruit or berries, remove what you can with a knife, a wet vacuum works typically well for this type of stain. If the juice has dried, saturate it with water and life the excess liquid. You can mix a of teaspoon dish soap with 1 quart of water, apply to the stained area, and blot. Once the stain is removed rinse the area.

Every child has accidents that will involve blood or vomit on your carpet, never fear help is here. This even works well on Catsup, blot the area well and as much as you possibly can. Then you should neutralize the stain with an ammonia solution. This solution should contain 1 tablespoon of ammonia and cup of cold water. Mix this in a spray bottle and saturate the area well, but ensure that you are not wetting the carpet backing. Blot with a paper towel to remove the moisture.

For those fun crayon or paint stains, remove as much as you can by blotting with paper towels. Then apply rubbing alcohol to a white cloth or cotton ball and blot some more. You may have to apply extra if the crayon goes deep into the pile but make sure the backing does not get wet. First mix up a solution of 1-quart water and -teaspoon dish soap. Then apply a small quantity of detergent solution to the spot. Blot to work the detergent into the affected area.

Remember always follow the manufacturers instructions for stain removal. This Combined with the above carpet removal tips should have you lifting the toughest stains in no time flat.

Owners of historical homes know that choosing paint colors is a nerve-wracking and critically important decision. Ready-mix paints have been available since the middle part of the nineteenth century and from that time home owners have had to choose their colors without really knowing how their finished home will look. After all, a two inch paint chip looks very different from a 3,000 square foot house!

In a visit to New England in the 1840s, famed novelist Charles Dickens commented, “All the buildings looked as if they had been painted that morning … Every house is the whitest of white; every shutter is the greenest of green.”

If you have an older home and want to choose colors other than green and white, here are some guidelines”

1. Light colors “advance” a home while dark colors cause it to “recede”. This means that lighter shades will make your home appear larger and closer to the street, while darker shades make your home seem smaller and further away. If you want your house to blend in and be less noticeable, therefore, a darker hue is best.

2. Light dramatically affects how colors appear to the human eye. In cooler climates the light is diffused and bold colors are intensified. In southern climates, the harsher, brighter sunlight will cause pale tints to appear washed out.

3. If you want your gutters and downspouts to be less noticeable, paint them the same color as the house.

4. Make sure any mildew problems are solved before painting. Test suspicious spots with household bleach and if they change color, you definitely have a mildew problem.

5. Moisture problems must be eliminated before painting. If they are not, water will ruin even the best paint job.

6. Some paint manufacturers offer color ‘families’ to simplify choosing. That is, there are several colors that go well together and eliminate the agony of figuring out the exact right shade for the trim so that it will relate well to the primary exterior color.

7. It’s always possible to get expert help. This is especially desirable if you own a historical landmark and wish for it to be restored to its former appearance. Historical paint consultants are familiar with shades available at the time the home was built and can often do research to determine original colors. These folks understand chemical changes in paint and can usually figure out what the original colors looked like before they faded to today’s milder colors.

8. There is software available that allows home owners to scan in a picture of their home and then try out different colors without making an actual commitment. It’s powerful to see your home in Colonial Barn Red or Patriot Federal Blue before actually putting a drop of color on the outside.

9. You might consider staining your historical property, rather than painting it. Stain is cheaper and it won’t peel off or crack the way paint does. This is because it actually sinks into the wood, rather than coating it so it will instead weather and dim over time. Stain won’t cover up any imperfections in the wood the way paint does, however.

Owning and living in a historically significant home is a privilege and maintaining that house is a responsibility to take seriously. Therefore, avoid hasty color choices and take the time to choose wisely.

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