Mar Jennings: TV Host | Author | Lifestyle Expert

Pick a Color

It’s been years since I picked up a paint brush and painted my home as over the years I’ve had the luxury to have trusted painters who take excellent direction and are as meticulous as I am when I did paint for myself. But last Friday was different as I woke up wanting to do something creative, thus the paintbrush found its way back into my life.

Preparing for my weekend guest and a knowing I would have a series of September location shoots I was motivated to add a fresh splash of color to my living room accent wall that currently displays my collection of art. The transformation took less than four hours yet the results made a reMARkable difference. I guess the brush felt good back in my hand, as I was eager to continue painting and soon found myself touching up other walls—taking care of those specific places that somehow over the years showed the scars, scrapes and scuffs. Poor things: not hard around here to be a victim at least once or twice during an at-home production day. You know: the lighting equipment, the cameras and, let’s not forget, the moving of my furniture. This is the small price to pay when you work and film at home. I wouldn’t change a thing—except to erase the souvenirs.

Rosebrook Gardens has been the backdrop of my show and many other national segments that I have done over the years. That said, recently I was stopped in New York as a lovely woman commented on a segment that is now airing on the Fine Living Network called Curb Appeal 101. “I need to know the color of the wall in the room you were sitting in?” I was delighted to offer my personalized color pallet that embraces the essence of my home, garden and life. Something that I could not offer if I filmed in a studio.

To appreciate my passion for incorporating color in my life one needs to go back in time to when I was small boy. I asked my father to bring home a brick red paint color, yet he brought me white. I was so upset that he didn’t bring what I asked, so mother came to the rescue the next day and got me the color I wanted. But I remember as if it was yesterday my mother asking me “Mar what’s the big deal with the white paint?” “Mother,” I replied with confidence, “the world is not black or white, it’s filled with color, and he should know me better.”

The power of color comes to us in many ways. My garden is an example of the magical splash of color that takes place from season to season. And now as the fall bursts with deep, rich colors I’m inspired by what I see, and bring my attention indoors. My interior offers a pallet of earthy tones that reflect the garden and invites you to sit, relax and enjoy the surroundings. You won’t find white walls in my home, but you will find my passion for color in each and every room. Even Miss Violet has a unique color that grabs your attention, and named after a color, too—after all she is my dog.

My painting secrets for picking the right color and how to “get in and get out” of your painting projects untouched by the paint will be posted soon on my web site. But until then you can sit back and watch my home interior displayed as my backdrop during each of my “Fine Living Smart Tips” of the Fine Living Network over the next year.

So was the new wall color a hit? Absolutely—after arriving last night they were excited by this fresh change, also telling me “I never would have picked that color—and it’s fantastic!” I guess getting my paintbrush back in my hands is something should I do more often. Next big project: painting the outside of the house. Hmm, on second thought, nope—I won’t be doing that without professional help!

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