No of course not - the very thought of it is off-putting isn't it? Not so Elephant's breath (I think it is Farrow and Ball) which conjures up a pleasant image. Elephants eat an awful lot of greenery so their breath might well smell sweet, whereas dogs, given a choice eat meat, bones and all in some cases. This conjures up something I read somewhere about huskies pulling sledges in the Arctic where the dogs are only fed a couple of times a week but have enormous meals then and sitting behind (an appropriate word here if ever there was one) them on the sledge the next day is not a pleasant experience!
But back to my original thinking. My carer yesterday was talking about the new kitchen she is about to have. The units are pale grey - apparently the 'in' colour this year. She went to buy the emulsion paint for the walls when it is finished.
First of all you have to decide whether you want matt emulsion or that with a slight gloss. There is even another one now which is a sort of matt, matt but I can't remember what that is called.
She tells me that as the kichen gets little sun she needs a 'light colour'. She finally chose one called white with a hint of creamy-yellow.
Do you remember the old days before Emulsion paint became a reality? Then our Mums either whitewashed the kitchen wall or did it with distemper (which before that was 'invented' had been a disease of dogs) so I would have thought not a very inviting name when our Mums went to the Hardware shop to buy it.
I am as guilty as anyone else for being 'tempted' by a name. I just went out into the garage to look at one or two half-empty tins (we all have them don't we?)- keep them a year or two 'in case' and then in a fit of cleaning out the garage (rarely used for cars on my estate - rather as a repository for everything that you can't think where else to 'reposit' ) take them to the tip. There was one tin on the shelf - Natural Hessian the label said (fawn to you and me). Had I been tempted by the name - I suppose so - but I hope to goodness I looked at a colour card and chose it for the colour.
My big farm kitchen at the farm I had painted (I did the easy bits the farmer did the bits that needed a step ladder) yellow. It looked out due West on to a beautiful stand of tall pine trees just the other side of the drive (beautiful they were too) so was quite dark in spite of two large windows. We repainted it every other year and the colour -which looked exactly the same each time - was 'sunshine', 'butter' 'buttercup', 'daffodil' 'summery golden'. Yes - in other words the whizz kids had been at it. Change the name, tempt, tempt, tempt.
I don't think our mothers would have stood for it. I can almost hear them saying" I don't want any fancy stuff - just plain yellow!" And they would have ascertained before they spent good money on it that it wouldn't come off on the damp cloth when Dad was a bit too enthusiastic when shaking the brown sauce on his chips.
I would hazard a guess that there were at least a dozen' whites with a hint of ' on the shelf when she bought her choice - but I know for sure none of them would have been 'white with a hint of brown sauce'!
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25 comments:
I have perused F&B colour charts a lot over the years. To be fair, they are good paints with a good finish, but I have to say the number rather than the name. Too embarrassing.
Just give me the yellow...or blue...or white, period!
I SO agree!
hugs
Donna
The man who was engaged by a leading paint company in the 1970s and 80s to advise on paint and came up with the different tones of the same colour, the first to do so, made a great deal of money. He was a client of mine.
What did we do before 'magnolia' paint which replaced plain white. Now there is every shade under the sun to choose from, a whole industry has sprung up. Soft greys are quite fitting but with a vivid splash of colour just to set the grey off. I have also fallen in love with the 'yellows' of life, not daffodil but lemon is more to my liking.
I wonder when they'll bring out striped paint?
Paint colors and variations on the same color are endless. I tend to go with nice cheerful lighter colors on the North side of the house and sometimes one darker color accent wall on the South side. The South side of the house gets the sun making rooms full of natural light on a sunny day. Lighting (natural and introduced) adds to the complexity of choosing a paint color. The soft grey colors available today are lovely. Your carer must be pleased with her new kitchen.
A yellow-painted kitchen - how wonderful! Yellow is my favourite colour, but seriously - not just any yellow. There are "lemony" yellows with a hint of green, and more "golden" yellows that look warmer. I love the pale yellow of wild primroses, the sunny tone of many daffodils and buttercups, but I am not so keen on yellow with a green hue.
The name of paint can definitely sway me Pat i must admit...lol All my walls are white.. I bring color in with how i decorate.. Which is not much color .. I like color in the artwork i do but not in my decor... strange.. You'll find some copper here and there maybe and some green from plants.. But color stays in my art room.. Hugs! deb
Nothing to do with paint Pat, I'm afraid.
After four weeks of rain we are actually having a dry, sunny and reasonably warm Spring day and it has been lovely to spend a lot of time catching up in the garden.
I also saw my first Swallow this morning.
My kids accuse me of buying paint colors by the name. I do like the pale, pale yellow of my downstairs, that it is called "You Are My Sunshine" added to its charm.
I sent for the F&B paint booklet just for the delight of reading their paint names!
When we painted our den which is on the west side of the house, we used a historical color from the Arts & Crafts time called Studio Blue Green (from Sherwin Williams for those in the States). It has been the most lovely color to live with and at night the walls seem to quietly disappear.
Puppy breath is wonderful.
Hugs!
It's hard sometimes to pick a color by looking at those little squares they have at the store. I've been disappointed in the past when the shade turns out not to be what I expected!
I’ve posted about ponies breath yesterday
Sweet as hay xx
Same thing when you buy new cars today. There are fancy colors that are very similar. I have a silver gray car.
I can still remember the rather ghastly shade of green distemper my lovely grandmother had on her kitchen walls. I believe it was very fashionable in the 20s and possibly into the 30s. It's a risky business choosing paint colours from those tiny samples to go with another feature of the room. I recently picked a pale blue/green and breathed a big sigh of relief when it went well with the curtains.
I had to laugh. When we decided to have our kitchen remodeled a few years ago, I selected F&B’s Elephant Breath for my cabinets. Still in love with it.
This brought back some memories. Our 17th century farmhouse kitchen had one small window facing north. It had dark wood panelling going two thirds of the way up the walls. After about 5 yrs of enduring this, my mother painted it yellow from top to bottom. I remember leaving the dreary kitchen in the morning and coming home after school to a complete transformation.
My stepfather's garage is a treasure trove of such old half empty tins of paint, and screws and nails and random bits and bobs
My late husband apprenticed as a painter starting in 1945. He mixed his own colours using a box of tints. I still have the last thing he painted, my hall, a nice sea green he made up to match the flooring. When people ask what colour name it is, I say Jim.
What ever happened to Magnolia?
I know someone who I am certain bought a paint for its name (F&Ball of course) and walking into that room is like a peep into the Black Hole of Calcutta!
Soft greys are ok but I do have a "thing" about the fashion for dark grey in houses and LOATHE it. Who wants walls or kitchen units the colour of a battleship?
Here I am just decorating the awful hot pink bedroom a more tasteful soft yellow accompanied by Van Gogh's Almond Blossom wallpaper (yellow colourway) below the dado rail. It's a south facing room and looks gorgeous.
Bright, bright, bright for me. I love the colours of India, and colour cheers me up. I don't care for the safety of 'resale value' as this is my home, has been for ages, and hopefully will be for a long time. Husband is very accommodating with 'just let me know' when I have a colour fit on. He tried to return a 4 litre tin of paint that I bought instead of the 1 litre he requested, and the attendant said, after a refund 'take the big one...we don't have a lot of call for Lizard Green'.
Each to his own. - Pam, S. Aust.
Thanks for an early morning laugh Pam!
Sounds gorgeous too BB
Cro I think it went out with the ark, so perhaps it colours the top of Araarat!
John - watch out F and B will be pinching it!
Derek - First swallow - lucky you!
Rachell - how interesting - thank you for that bit of interesting information - hope everyone reads it.
Tom - another comment that made me laugh - you embarrassed - I am astonished!
Thank you everyone - I have really enjoyed reading you views on paint colours.
Didn't they make distemper with milk?...I seem to remember dad and a friend stirring like mad at the paint in a bucket before painting my bedroom walls!!
I remember that your kitchen was lovely as was the meal you served us. That trip to visit you is one of my favorite memories.
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