Cure the winter blahs with a shot of color! Freezing outdoor temperatures make winter the perfect time to focus on indoor projects…and we can’t think of a better pick-me-up for these lackluster fall days than reinventing a room with a bold new color. Of course, selecting colors for old houses can be a little tricky, given that you need to keep the historical context of your home in mind while browsing at the paint store. These three articles offer inspiration, tips, and sources that will make the process easier. Here’s to a colorful season!
Courtesy Historic New England
Georgian and Federal Color: Ca. 1770 – 1830, colors were brilliant, the patterns eye-popping.
California’s Bidwell Mansion is clad in tinted plaster, a finished appearance that can be combined with repairs.
Skim Coating in Color: If your plaster walls have settled and cracked, shore them up again using this technique that combines mesh-reinforced repairs with a color pigment finish.
Board wainscot in a Federal house
Authentic Colonial Colors: Prussian blue gets all the ink, but true Colonial-era colors, although diverse, have an earthy quality.
Courtesy Building Technology Heritage Library
Guide to Period-Appropriate Paints: From historic color palettes to old-fashioned paint formulas, find the right fit for your house’s walls with this source list.
Ming Green was the name of this color in American Standard’s early color repertoire. It made a bold Art Deco statement when paired with mauve and peach tiles, as in this advertisement from the early 1930s.
The Evolution of Colored Bathroom Fixtures: Mid-20th-century bathrooms displayed a rainbow of hues, as evidenced by these vintage advertisements.
An exterior painted in earthy historic colors.
Philip Clayton-Thompson
Colorful Craftsman: With a nod to modernism, Garrison Hullinger and J Jones refine a 1909 Portland Foursquare saved from the wrecking ball.
