Selecting paint for my own home is stressful! Exterior paint color especially. So before you stress out the next time you select paint, go to the black and white trim colors that have been successful for me. Sherwin-Williams “Tricorn Black” and “Creamy”, tell it to your neighbor!
Selecting the right black and white was nerve racking but selecting the main color red was not as stressful, thank goodness! This was my first house, I was excited and I wanted it to be different than all the neighbor’s houses and my husband was on board! When you were little did you ever read Mr. Pine’s Purple House by Leonard Kessler? Here are a few lines from the book:
Mr. Pine lived on Vine Street in a little white house.
“A white house is fine,” said Mr. Pine, “but there are
FIFTY white houses all in a line on Vine Street. How
can I tell which house is mine?”
This was one of my favorite books growing up and I guess it made an impression! So, I chose red because I loved the color and it was different from the neighbor’s houses and still classic. Little did I know I was creating a traditional Swedish cottage in Houston!
 |
After we painted our house red we were at my Grandma Lil’s house. Her last name is Sundstrom and she’s 100% Swede. I noticed she had framed a watercolor of a red cottage. She said this was a typical Red cottage that you see all over Sweden. She thought this was why I painted my house red. I was so surprised and curious! Did I paint my house red because of my Swedish roots (like a dog buries a bone) or was it deep in my sub-conscience? The Swedes have been painting their houses this “Falu red” since the 1500s so it’s possible, I guess… I am 3/4 Swedish. Or maybe I just saw pictures over the years that I don’t remember at her house. I guess it will remain a mystery!
Anyway, here are the Sherwin-Williams black and white trim colors we used on our Happenstance Swedish Cottage in Houston and I included the red paint color as well if you ever need it:
 |
| SW 6258 Tricorn Black |
 |
| SW 7012 Creamy |
 |
| SW 6594 Poinsettia |
I love this post for so many reasons, but mainly because I know you like a sister and never knew all this. I'm gonna get that book for my classroom now, what a great beginning of year book that shows how it's good to be different! =) Love the Swede background and yes, I'd like to think too that you knew it like a dog buries a bone. 😉 Love you
I love, love, love that the windows are painted black and the trim is white! I loved it so much I did it to my own house! I loved that little red cottage!