Fergus, our painter, finished all of the outside paintwork – doors, window frames, greenhouses, water butts, plant containers and more – at the end of autumn 2021.
Swapping the house’s previous lichen/stone-coloured paintwork for a Mediterranean grey-blue has completely changed the character of the property, making it feel rather French. I love it – it’s a bit like having a whole new house.
Carrying the colour through to garden items, including furniture, really helps the house and garden to knit together. Patrick Baty, an architectural paint researcher and consultant at Papers and Paints, who advises on many prominent historic buildings, helped me with the onerously difficult decision of choosing the colour by sending me three A4 sheets of the shades of grey he thought might work.
Prior to this I had painted about 10 different doors with an assortment of colours. It was not an easy decision, and the colour looks surprisingly different on each elevation.
I had the chosen colour made up in a Zinsser paint, so it is not a total colour match to Patrick’s sample, but Zinsser lasts up to 15 years outside, which is double the time guaranteed by many heritage paint products.
There are fewer colourants in a paint like Zinsser than one of the historic-type paints: the Zinsser has two to three colourants, while heritage brands tend to have five or six.
Apparently this gives the effect of more life and complexity, but I am not that sure I would pick up this level of subtlety on an outside paint.
If you apply the first coat and do not like the effect, you can always alter your choice for the top coat, providing it’s not very different.
