Whitebrush Manor - Paint Decisions

It is still early in the build process, but I read several tips from people that painting siding before assembly of the house is the way to go. This is especially true for larger houses such as this one that can’t be turned this way and that after they’re put together.

For me, one of the exciting things about beginning to build a Victorian dollhouse is choosing the color scheme. I want it to be authentic(ish), but really don’t like the dark reds and greens that were used on a lot of the houses of the time period. I’m not crazy about the pastel colors of the San Francisco homes either because I don’t really feel like my house is a San Franciscoan… it’s more of an estate mansion.

I knew I wanted a mauve-y/pink house, since this house is named after the first house I purchased as a single mom at 25. My daughter and I even called it "our pink dollhouse". Here's the picture again,  in case you missed my last post:

After checking around, I saw that Sherwin Williams had a historical paint collection, and I fell in love with the color scheme of this house:

I went and purchased the paint (luckily they were having a sale and I was able to get small containers) and happily began painting a piece of siding and the porch posts.

Ewww. Blah. Blech. Too dark, drab, and dreary--not to mention almost the exact color of particleboard.

So, I started over. I went to Lowe’s and got a bunch of different paint chips and started playing with the colors.

What I decided was the Sherwin Williams house looked so good because the colors were muted to factor in the constant sunshine that won’t be shining on my mini house inside. Instead, I tried choosing colors that looked similar to the picture of their house when I compared them in the lighting at home.

Not an exact match, but I’m pretty pleased with my choices so far. I went back to Lowe’s on my lunch hour earlier this week to get the paint mixed.

I'm not fooling myself into thinking these are 100% authentic to the Victorian era, but these colors remind me of my husband. He does the grocery shopping (I’m horribly lucky) and regularly buys me flowers while he’s out (doubly-lucky!). Some of his favorite roses to buy are these gorgeous heirloom-quality, peachy-pink roses that are full and beautiful. I adore these flowers, and the siding paint coordinates with them very well.

This color just makes me happy.

I still have some sanding/priming/wood filling/extra coats to do, but at least I had the supplies for the long weekend.