Picking colors for Kate's house

below the boulevard wall

It's an absolutely beautiful day in Seattle and I just came in from the garden. When I was chatting with a neighbor yesterday, I saw two amaryllis bulbs tossed aside in the dirt, their flower stalks still attached. I asked politely what his plans were for them and they were mine. The bulbs are very large- he said that a friend had ordered them from Holland for Christmas. Wanting to pot them up and needing a third, I stopped at my mother's house. She had picked up a gift package- amaryllis bulb, marbles and glass container- in December. She loved the flower and we potted up the bulb when it was done- even though the roots appeared soft and rotten. It grew leaves and seemed quite happy. Weeks later, I asked where it was and she had put it out in the snow. All three bulbs are in a pot and I'll let you know how they get on. There is so much life in a bulb that I have great hopes.

Camellia bush at Kate's house

But, on to Kate's house. I've mentioned it in passing but my daughter bought her first house last summer. It's been months of tearing down and building up and now it's time to finish up. That means picking paint colors for an entire house. It's hard to do- there is no furniture or curtains to add their own color and soften the effect and the way that the sun and light move through the house make a difference that takes a while to understand. She has oak floors on the main floor and fir floors upstairs and each type of wood adds its own color.

She has colors that she knows she loves- and has lived with. Some of those have worked in the new house and others are dreadful. Room by room, we're trying them out to see how they work in the new house- alone and together.

The plants outside add their own color and effect to the mix. There is a large fir tree to the north of her house and its reflected color has made the straw color that works so well elsewhere- too green. A large camellia bush is outside of the dining room window and is blooming now. It reminds me of the bush that inspired me to paint an east-facing living room this color.

Benjamin Moore- Rose Parade

The room that serves as my office is now painted this red. By trial and error- we learned to use a dark tinted primer before the final color. Reds seem to be very transparent and the first room took too many coats to cover. I like to paint walls with a brush and love the striation that happens with this red. I'll show you the ceiling another time- it's painted like a stormy sky.