Paint your garden: Transform ugly yard with celebration of color
If you doubt this, travel anywhere in Mexico. Somehow the Mexicans know how to use vivid color to turn an ordinary concrete-block house into a celebration of color. Perhaps during hard times we, too, will discover why paint is so important — it's cheap. Nothing can change the character of an outdoor space quite as effectively.
With gas prices keeping us grounded and the economy stifling every urge to move up in real estate, it's time to start working more efficiently with what we have. That means rethinking your yard, since you may be spending a lot more time there now that everything costs more.
The problem is that we Americans have descended from New Englanders who painted with a uniform style. But if you've ever driven through a monochrome neighborhood into one with color, you know how important it is to creating an individual sense of place. Whether it's a hot festive look you're after or a feminine pastel haven, the key is not just the colors you choose, but knowing how great plants look against that color.
Green is never really green to your eye unless it's played against a range of red hues from rose to carmine and even orange. Never underestimate the power of blue as a background — not the soft sky-blue we lean toward, but rich royal blue or ultramarine. Against these blues the flower colors pop out at you, lending a greater sense of three-dimensionality.
The long days of summer are the perfect time to play with paint. Get out your inner child and do some studies on that oppressive two-story wall, ugly board fence or barren back of your garage. There's even paint for ugly concrete slabs.
A paint study is how architects determine what color to choose by painting big sample squares of color on the side of a building. There they can see it in large scale under sunlight all day long. This is safer than painting a building from a store chip that may look wholly different in the open air.
When choosing paint, know that it is forgiving. If you don't like it, you can repaint in a different color. Sure it's more work, but it's affordable. So don't worry about it. Surrender to color and forget what people or magazines tell you. Chances are, your instincts for what you like are better than someone else's, even a designer's.
Recent comments
You're right! Paint can be creative and fun! One of the most...
judy | July 19, 2008 at 9:08 a.m.
I'm visiting in Southern California. The community I'm staying...
kathyn | July 18, 2008 at 7:37 p.m.
I don't like blue houses...clashes with the sky.
Anonymous | July 18, 2008 at 1:14 p.m.
