"Don't wish me happiness I don't expect to be happy all the time....It's gotten beyond that somehow. Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor. I will need them all." Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Choosing a paint colour

I've been in the process of painting this historic, ocean front cottage. The owner, my client wished to keep the existing white trim and change the main exterior colour from a mid tone blue to a lighter grey. The dark value of the blue made the cottage merge into the rainforest and the owner wanted to create a contrast and be able to view her summer home from the water. I painted two sides of a very tiny shed with a grey of her choice so that she could see it. Initially she thought it was ok but than I suggested that I choose a darker value to increase the contrast between the white trim. I chose pigeon grey - a Benjamin Moore paint colour and than I repainted the two small shed walls. With the larger value difference between the white and the grey it made a stronger visual impact. The grey also created the contrast she wanted between the cottage and the forest. Now she was very happy! The things that really helped me was buying a small amount of the colour and trying it out first before committing to gallons. Also - contrast. Testing both colours in a small but yet large enough area so that I could visualize and make sure that the contrasts were strong enough.

Sent from my iPhone

4 comments:

  1. Great tips Rhonda! It is hard to know how paint will look once on your wood, and what a great idea to test it inconspiciously somewhere to get an idea of how the finished product will look. Happy painting!

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    1. Actually the shed was in a very conspicuous location - two sides of it. The walls were just much smaller than the cottage and that is why I chose it.

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  2. This is beautiful. It looks like the perfect ocean front cottage.

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    1. The owner has since replaced the lamps on the front of the cottage- if you look close you can see one. The new ones are very similar - just a bit larger. I think the painting update really matches the owner's taste and she looks beautiful in her front yard with her cottage behind her.

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