A permanent stain c1995

What an exciting week as I hosted houseguests, balanced work and supervised my house painters. Rosebrook Gardens is getting a paint job after 14 years and everyone is amazed that it’s lasted that long. Here’s my secret…it’s stain, not paint. 

But don’t think you can just put stain on paint and get the same results. Stain goes on stain and paint only goes on paint. Years ago when I was first painting my home from the original god-forsaken “pink” color I hired a painter who said “well, your new color is not my first choice, but the stain idea was a good one.” That said I quickly learned how stain can outlast paint and truth be told, stain as a finish is easier to maintain on a shingled house than paint. Mostly due to the fact that stain is absorbed deep into the wood, and gently wears off the shingles over the years. When it is time to restain it again the stain is absorbed into the shingles.

As for paint: it builds up in layers and becomes uneven. When it comes time to redo be prepared to scrape, sand, and prep the wood shingles being careful not to damage them. 

In the last 14 years my neighbor Barbara has painted her home three times. Paint, paint and more paint. Now it’s my turn to refresh and talk about a bang for the buck. But what is the color you may ask? I like to call it 'cafe au lait' a custom color I created to cover-up the pink. Benjamin Moore's has a similar color called Manchester Tan that is the closest to it.

This year I also created a new color for the front door, window boxes, shutters and studio carriage door. For years they have been high gloss black inspired by my many visits to London but as time changes so do I, so I felt it was time to create something new and different. What you ask? Well you’ll need to wait and see as I unveil it in an upcoming blog. And don’t bother asking Miss Violet as she’s not barking one bit about it.