This year my husband and I purchased our first house, a mid-60s raised ranch with a "party house" open floor plan in the public spaces and more traditional layout of a hallway with closed rooms in the private spaces.

The previous owners had a more formal style than us and after that first euphoric walk-around following the closing we realized that their practical selection of a monochromatic color throughout the entire house could only be described as "so not us."

But where to begin? We knew what we liked, and it wasn't exactly the same, so we turned to Catchlight. Using photographs and room dimensions, Nigel gave us an estimate for time and materials, a crucial first step for homeowners on a tight budget. Then, using the talents of one of our artistic lead foremen, we set up a color consultation to assist us in making color selections that would merge my desires; bright and bold, with my husband's; bold yet subtle. The 3 hours spent reviewing books, and being guided through the subtleties of paint finishes, was the best decision we could have made.

With our foreman's color selections in hand, we picked up each color chip, as well as colors we thought we liked "just a bit more" and headed back to our new house. Most of the colors he proposed were perfect. Some left us wondering but we decided to just go for it. It is after all, just paint. One selection wouldn't work and we went with our option. For us, this was the right choice.

Having painted a room or two, it was a quite a sight to behold when I saw a professional painting crew at work. 3 men and 120 man hours later, our new house felt like we belonged.

Nothing else had changed. No construction was added. No walls were removed. It was, Simply Paint.

But, oh the difference. The way the light changes the colors from morning to night. The pleasure when a friend asked for the color of room so she could use it in her home. And so many of our family and friends telling us how the place feels like us.

Color, well selected and professionally applied, made our house - Our Home.

Kim Craig, Office Manager