I’m seriously considering something between periwinkle and lavender as the new main paint color with ivory trim. Most of the houses in our neighborhood were built between 1937 and 1947 and are painted various shades of green or beige, which is why I started thinking about different colors for our new paint.
Then I thought about how, especially during these interminable and hellish hot months--I think today makes the 44th day of triple-digit heat this year--I routinely peek out the window at my plumbago and feel happy.
So why not a whole plumbago-inspired house color? I haven’t quite convinced husband Kurt, but he’s more concerned about the rotted wood right now than putting the cart before the horse.
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11 comments:
Go for it, Iris! Pam/Digging uses bluish-purple and it looks great - and I'm pretty sure her house is also in a neighborhood of houses more than 50-years old.
Have you seen Lucinda Hutson's house?
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Lucinda's house looks fantastic! I'm not quite that bold but seeing hers makes me feel far more confident about the more modest shade of purple I'm considering. Thanks!
Now I'm trying to research what seems to be a VERY well kept secret: what's the best quality exterior paint brand?
I'm so glad to hear that you are in love with blue Plumbago as much as I am! I sit in the evenings and just stare at mine, the cool lavender just helps me enjoy my day. Since you enjoy Society Garlic (as do I), I'll bet we have similar color choices in our gardens. Lots of purple! I definitely approve of your color choice for your house; but by all means, get a small test can and paint a swatch first. I painted my exterior two years ago; we used Home Depot exterior paint. Benjamin Moore has high quality paints, as does Pittsburgh Paints, but Home Depot Behr paint has good ratings as well. Breed Hardware is excellent for help with paints.(For interiors, I love the paints as Restoration Hardware for true color saturation). But even painting my home a contemporary off-white, I went through several color cans before getting it just right. Benjamin Moore has "historical" home colors for exterior, you might go check out their lavender choices for inspiration.
Robin at Getting Grounded
One more thing to consider about painting your house: if you love lavender plants, and have them planted next to the house, they won't show up as much if the house is a similar color. They'll show up more if the house is cream, beige, or a shade of yellow (the opposite color on the color wheel). I painted my house cream, and added pots in cobalt blue everwhere to make it colorful. I have a lot of limestone in the front, though, so the purples do well against the limestone.
Robin,
Thanks for all the good tips! And yes, almost everything capable of blooming blooms purple here. The only purple flowers close to the house are purple ruellia, so I think those would still show up against a light purple paint.
The guy who we'll probably pick to do the painting uses the highest grade (not the regular contractor grade) within the Kelly Moore brand. I haven't been able to find much info on Kelly Moore, so I'll have to trust the painter.
I'm headed out right now to buy some paint samples and get them on the house to watch in various light before it gets too ridiculously hot! Yippee!
Good luck with your paint swatches. I can't wait to see a picture of your home after the painting is done!
Well now I know why more people don't paint their houses purple. It's a tough color to get right!
I'm SO glad I went to the trouble of painting three shades on the house. Two were WAY too purple. And the trim color is a little too light. I'm going back tomorrow to get a coupla other colors to try. I'm close now, but maybe not perfect.
I'll definitely post before and after pics! (It may take awhile because we have a fair amount of wood repair/replacement work to get done before we can do paint.)
Thanks again!
Iris, that's so often the case, especially with outdoor paints. They can be unexpectedly strong. Have you tried using a "dusty" purple? (Purple with a little black in it to tone it down). OR, you could go with a neutral on your walls, and paint the trim a brighter purple than you might if you were painting the whole house.
Robin
Robin,
I'm fried--was outside from 10 to 3:30 painting new shades & trim color on house. Getting closer. Yep--tried a little grayer tones & that's helping.
Email me and I'll send you some pics tomorrow morning, if you'd like. I'd appreciate your opinion and I'm not sure the garden bloggers or trial followers care about my house paint color agony...
It's interesting to read what you've been trying out, Iris, but we haven't painted a house in Texas so I haven't anything useful to say.
Annie
Hi Annie,
Well maybe I will go ahead and post some of my sweltering experiments after all...
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