“It’s just Paint”… A Time for some Color!
My doors at Farmdale needed to be stained again. They’re made of fir, which is a “go to” species we use for interior and exterior doors, since a light sanding and a couple coats of “Poly” are all they would need to glow again. The clear polyurethane brings out the natural honey, amber tones of the fir and complements stained hardwood floors like heart pine. Yet, fir is not as “knotty” so another great merit for a door’s make-up.
When I was building Farmdale and making color and finish selections, I knew I wanted the body of the home to be dark brown. That said, greens for the eaves and shutters were naturally easy decisions to follow. The doors being stained I felt helped to break up all the painted wood textures and give a nice, handsome “pop” where need be. In all honesty, it was a “safe” decision. And as this summer’s sunshine, heat and rain wore down on the doors, an idea I had wore down on me.
Dark brown looks classic and so attractive with greens, but also with white, other shades of brown and, well, let’s get to the point – orange. But not a hunter’s neon hue nor too rusty nor too terra cotta or with too much red or pink. Here’s where the “color nerd” in me comes out. I needed a masculine peach – a peach with just the right amount of gumption to stand up to a boldly dark house but be welcoming and fun too. Plus, I was just ready for some color – a little nod to my Mama’s favorite color that she called “carl.” I have inherited her love for said color (coral for those who don’t follow my deep Southern drawl) and delight in shades of salmon, apricot, rusty melon and coppery persimmon. And honestly, sometimes I just miss my Mama – and a little “carl” helps.
You can’t pinpoint the ache for a lost parent will arise – the change in temperature, the smell of something baking, the “feeling” a new adventure or chapter in your life brings yet it reminds you of their absence physically. A dear friend of mine’s grandmother used to say, “It’s just paint.” So if I’m inspired to paint my doors a fun color, then by all means I shall. After all, it is just paint, right?
Living in a small town and it being the same town you’ve always lived in for that matter, one comes to rely heavily on the local hardware store. Our Ace Hardware boasts quite the garden center, all the needs and wants for yard maintenance and minor home repair but quite the selection of Valspar paint. I love Valspar paints – their color names are fantastic and spit-spot, but their paint is fantastic! I could travel to another town for another brand that I love too, but why drive thirty minutes when I pass Ace thrice a day? I make a daily pilgrimage to Ace for something or other anyways – might as well pick up some paint!
With the body of my house being “Dark Chocolate” by Valspar, I started hunting for a complementary color – a complementary “carl.” My shutters and eaves and painted brick are Valspar colors too, so their large paint chips made for easy viewing and scheming. “Copper Canyon” won out. I still loved a few other contenders, but as Jesse Noble, my lead designer at James Farmer Inc wisely said, “If you’re going to paint your doors ‘carl’ then commit to ‘carl.’” A few other shades were safer or more seasonally apropos, but I had to disregard my longing for fall hues and remember this color needs to take me through fall with mums and crotons, through Christmas with magnolia and pine wreaths and orangey Nandina berries, through wintertime when the beige and grays have me longing for color even more and back into spring and summer with the accoutrements of zinnias, geraniums and lush greens.
So, the need to re-stain my doors, the heartstrings tugging about Mama and the sanguineness of a fun, new book, book tour and favorite season approaching led to all this. I’m happy with it. It did what it needed to – brought cheer and a smile. And at the end of the day, if I tire of it, well, y’all it’s just paint.
My sisters both reminded me that Mama painted our front and side doors regularly – seasonally, on a whim for Christmas etc… I guess not only is it just paint, I can’t fight genetics either!
