We returned from vacation to find a note on the front door.
A neighbor asking us for the colors of our newly painted house. All of them.
Our house is a 102 year old Portland four-square. We wanted a color scheme that was elegant and did the old girl justice. She looks great but it came about only after hours of fierce debates over barely perceptual differences between colors like "Swan's Bottom" and "September Lingere".
Parts of the building looked like the fan deck. The only way to really know if a color works is to paint at least four square feet on the house. Each color block also requires trim and accent color to see how they all work together, because it's not only about color, it's about proportion.
Part of me knows that on another street, on another house, with different proportions, different lighting and landscaping, our three colors will look very different.
Cut to the question, do I give neighbor the info? Or do I tell them that we worked hard for this result and wish them joy in finding the perfect colors for their own house?
I believe in sharing information, but I hate giving my work away.
What would you recommend?
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Update
Note to self: Scarcity thinking and fear are very limiting.
Taking the time to really think about sharing the color information was worthwhile too.
I called and had a nice conversation with the neighbor. Worried about the house colors appearing down the street were needless as the house they're painting is in Seattle! They'd also decided on completely different colors. (Whew!)
A neighbor asking us for the colors of our newly painted house. All of them.
Our house is a 102 year old Portland four-square. We wanted a color scheme that was elegant and did the old girl justice. She looks great but it came about only after hours of fierce debates over barely perceptual differences between colors like "Swan's Bottom" and "September Lingere".
Parts of the building looked like the fan deck. The only way to really know if a color works is to paint at least four square feet on the house. Each color block also requires trim and accent color to see how they all work together, because it's not only about color, it's about proportion.
Part of me knows that on another street, on another house, with different proportions, different lighting and landscaping, our three colors will look very different.
Cut to the question, do I give neighbor the info? Or do I tell them that we worked hard for this result and wish them joy in finding the perfect colors for their own house?
I believe in sharing information, but I hate giving my work away.
What would you recommend?
--------------------------
Update
Note to self: Scarcity thinking and fear are very limiting.
Taking the time to really think about sharing the color information was worthwhile too.
I called and had a nice conversation with the neighbor. Worried about the house colors appearing down the street were needless as the house they're painting is in Seattle! They'd also decided on completely different colors. (Whew!)
2 comments:
I'm sold. An invivtation to a visit could lead to a business opportunity. They need your expertise, not you colors.
Thanks for that perspective, Deb. I'll talk with her.
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