Q: Hi Annie – I’m taking a leap of faith by contacting you. I currently live in Dayton, Ohio and am relocating to Florida. My husband walked out on me, literally, about ten months ago (leaving our lovely new home I had just finished redecorating and $100 on the counter) and I’m in the position now where I need to rebuild my life, hence the purchase of this new house on a “short sale” and my move back to Florida.
I am hoping you can help me find a color for my new home… While it is a typical “stucco type” home that you find in Florida – I would like to warm it up, make it appear less contemporary, and perhaps add shutters. I love the “cottage living” look but you don’t find a lot of “cottage type” houses in the more rural area of Ocala, Florida… Thank you for your time. Kind Regards, Theresa VH.
A. Theresa, first of all, I am HORRIFIED by your husband’s behavior. In addition to being cruel and insensitive, that was just a tacky way to leave. Tacky, tacky, tacky. (The hundred bucks? SUPER tacky.) So while I can’t even imagine how crushed you must feel right now, good for you for taking action.
So. Your cute new stucco house. That grey isn’t exactly uplifting, is it? Definitely add shutters to that front window. And then I have two color solutions: tame and bossy.
TAME SOLUTION
To bridge the distance between what you want (“cottage chic”) and what your neighbors may want (“Miami Vice”), I suggest using a universally appealing color on the stucco and then adding a cottage-y color on the shutters and front door.
Hmmm…a universally appealing color…like yellow.
I know, I know. I can’t deny it: it’s my go-to color. But look – I have backup:
So consider a creamy yellow such as Benjamin Moore’s 290 Butter or 289 Pale Moon for the main color.
Then I suggest a darker-than-you’d-expect-for-Florida blue or yellower-than-you’d-expect-for-Florida green for the shutters and front door. 
Take a look at 811 Old Glory or 2034-30 Grassy Fields for these. (If you were going the Miami Vice route, you’d go with a light teal on the shutters.) Leave the garage door and trim white.
BOSSY SOLUTION
My dear Theresa, you have been presented with an opportunity. When else in your whole entire life will you have a chance to paint a house pink?
Exactly.
I’m NOT talking about coral, flamingo, or Pepto-Bismol pink…nothing too light. I’m talking about dark pink. Raspberry. Light red.
Benjamin Moore’s 1312 Potpourri is as light as I’d go; 2087-30 Italiano Rose and 1313 Milano Red are better. 
It would be worth buying a quart of either of those cut 25% with, say, OC-29 Timid White to make it just a bit lighter.
Then I suggest a real lime-y green for the shutters and front door. The appropriately named 2027-10 Dark Lime is a good possibility.
I’d rather your trim weren’t left stark white if you go with the bossy pink solution. I’d mellow the palette out a bit by using a light taupe such as OC-1 Natural Wicker on the garage door and the trim (under the eaves, the front porch railing, etc.)
I stumbled across this picture AFTER I put that palette together (I swear). But it shows you how lovely these colors look together. Your proportions would be different, of course, but it gives you an idea.
With any dark exterior color it’s important to do test swatches on different sides of the house before committing. But it’s critical if you’re doing a bossy color like dark pink. Please paint responsibly.
The three pictures of the new house are from the client. The first small yellow house picture is from Cottage Home Style. The next three “backup” pictures were taken from “oceanna’s” post on an ivillage gardenweb website. No additional attribution, unfortunately. But thanks, oceanna. Whoever you are. The last three pictures are by, in order, LordRunar (cut him a breatk; he’s Swedish), filo and Taksha through iStockPhoto.com.
