Pink Begone!

Six years of being the gay guys in the big pink house…

 

…Six years of facing people who politely suppress a giggle while asking me, “Um… did you really just say… PINK?”

 

…Six years of reminding myself, “It is JUST a color.  It is JUST a color.  It is JUST a color” all the while thinking that the house looks like the architectural representation of Rip Taylor in a sequined merman outfit…

 

…Six years of hearing my husband talk about how he had looked at several different color schemes way back when, and somehow a scheme with a base of Pepto-Bismol was the ONLY scheme that seemed to work… and wondering exactly HOW in the world he could have reached that conclusion or what he must have been smoking at the time...

 

…Six years of thinking, “no wonder our house isn’t haunted.  Even the Amityville Horror would have left if the house had been painted pink.  What the hell is a ghost in a house like that gonna do?  Come out all whispylike and say, ‘Boo.  Boo-skers, already!!!!  Boody-boo-boo!  Now really… BOO!  Aw f$#*%$ it!’”

 

…Six years of really not INTENDING to be insulting or bitchy, but occasionally boiling over, and letting my poor, abused and patient husband know EXACTLY what I think about living in the pink palace.

 

But now, after six years, the day has finally come.  The painters are here, and they have been working fast and furiously, sanding rough spots, and patching in damaged areas in preparation for what will be (Drum Roll please)… THE NEW CLAYCOMB HOUSE COLOR SCHEME!!!!

 

As with almost any of the Claycomb projects, the new color scheme represents a merger of thoughts between me and my dear husband.  Our artistic expressions are not unlike a card game.  In our hands, we hold the cards that we each hope to play in terms of a finished plan.  Yet, one cannot discard a card until the other does so first.  As each card is played, a new factor comes into the decision-making, leading to changes in strategies, changes in thinking, and the occasional bit of sweat and frustration.  But the final plan?  Something much better than either of us would have come up with on our own.

 

The new Claycomb color scheme will boast a warm and bold green base layer, leading upward to a nice bright buttery yellow, with trims in red, lighter green, and honey yellow.  It will be bright.  It will be cheery.  It will be bold.  The colors will bow to the aesthetic of the American Painted Lady tradition, while still balancing to a modern sense of color balance (something that not every house displays). 

 

For me, this scheme represents a departure from my personal color tastes in favor of the historical aesthetic.  My tastes tend to naturally gravitate towards what is classically defined as American Arts and Crafts.  Left to my own devices, the colors would reflect nature-based earthy colors – berry reds, caramel browns, and earthy-toned greens.   Colors of the grand age of Painted Ladies represent a much more bold palette, grand in shade and in expression.

 

For my husband, this scheme represents a departure from his comfort level.  Wanting to keep the entire field of the house as varying shades of the same color, breaking the house into color levels represents a break from his scheme of thought and artistic expression.

 

This new projects represents the beginning of the next significant chapter in the life of the Claycomb House.  Following the completion of the front yard picket fence (thank you Erich and Adelheit!!!!!), the painting is the next step before the creation of the front yard postcard garden.  Right now, the front yard is a rough and blank canvas waiting for the next phase.  In our future, I see a lovely spill of a Yellow Japanese lantern bush, an apple tree, alstramarians, daffodils, gladiolas, hydrangeas, roses, sweet peas, dalias, morning glories, birds of paradise and azaleas.

 

Let the fun and beauty begin!