75 Years of Golden Gate Color

 Credit: Erza Shaw

In the midst of the big Memorial Day weekend, there was a very special birthday to celebrate. The Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 on Sunday! As a native to the Bay Area, I get to see this landmark almost daily from my travels around the Oakland area....and I never take that for granted.  I was lucky enough to watch the amazing firework display from the deck of a friends home as we all cheered this icon who never seems to age a day.

Credit: National Geographic

The Golden Gate Bridge is much more than just a treasure to those of us in the Bay Area; It's a landmark known worldwide. I would be remiss as a Bay Area colorist if I didn't talk about it's unusual hue that sets it apart from other bridges.

The first misconception is that it is named FOR it's color. It's actually named for covering the expanse of the Golden Gate Strait which leads out to the Pacific Ocean. It was named in 1846 by Army Captain John Fremont because it reminded him of Golden Horn harbor in Istanbul.

View of Strait in 1891

Before the bridge, the bay was clogged with ferries carrying people between Marin and San Francisco. The bold idea of engineer and bridge builder, Joseph Strauss, was that an bridge should be built across the strait.

 View of early bridge construction in 1933

 It had plenty of naysayers that doubted it could be done due to the strait's infamous of high winds.   The Depression was also going on and the bridge was opposed by many special interest groups, but victoriously voted in by the locals granting a 35 million dollar bond.

Joseph Strauss

Construction began in 1933. Like most bridges at time of construction, colors under consideration were black, gray or silver. Since this was to be the largest suspension bridge ever built, a consulting architect by the name of Irving Morrow who was working on bridge lighting and it's Art Deco elements, made the case for a color that was considered shocking!

                                                                                      Irving Morrow

In his report, available here, which is a must read for color nerds and Golden Gate bridge fans alike, Morrow, states, 

“During a considerable portion of the year, particularly during summer, the San Francisco Bay area is covered by high fogs and is relatively sunless. At these times the                  atmosphere is gray. In sunny weather the predominant color of bay and ocean is blue. In other words, the prevalent atmospheric colors are cool. A structure which is to be emphasized must appear in contrasting or warm colors”. He went on to scold local architects that local color was “on the whole timidly colorless without the accent and warmth which conditions call for”.

He ruled out yellow as “lacking substance” and reds as appearing “heavy and without luminosity”.

He was taken with the red lead paint often used as primer for steel so his considerations were:

a) “Orange vermillion, or the color of shop red lead paint”

b) “Orange vermillion, slightly tinged with brunt sienna.”

c) “Burnt Sienna leaning toward orange vermillion.”

d)“Burnt Sienna”.

Local artist, Benjamin Buffano and other locals supported this bold choice although bridge authorities did not due to their fears of wearability. They relented when Morrow found a paint capable of less frequent maintenance. The final color chosen for the bridge was called International Orange (sometimes called International Airway Orange) and was considered very unusual at the time. The US Navy was hoping for black and yellow stripes! 

 While there are exact color recipes available by the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District available here, it is considered closest to Pantone 180. The paint company that is currently under contract to provide paint for the bridge is Sherwin Williams. While they custom mix the bridges exact formula, Sherwin Williams nearest color to the Golden Gate Bridge is Fireweed, SW 6328 and Benjamin Moore's Hot Apple Spice 2005-20.

The original paint, which was heavily lead based, was slowly removed between 1965 and 1995. Advances in paint technology and it's resistance to erosion certainly help, but the bridge is still continuously touched up by a team of 28 painters. 

Source: Golden Gate Highway and Transportation District

After 75 years, this majestic lady certainly deserves the continued upkeep and attention.  Happy 75th Birthday, you gorgeous bridge.

Credit:Thomas Hawk

Dear Palm Springs, I Have a Crush on You!

My recent and first trip to Palm Springs was exciting, too brief and left me with the following sights I am still thinking about and loving:

Architecture, architecture architecture!

Mid-century of course!

Use of color and high contrast: 

 Parker Palm Springs Hotel

 Saguaro Palm Springs

 Unexpected color:

Petal pink doors on church near Joshua Tree

Swimming at night

Night time color:

 

Drinks at the famous Riviera Hotel where Elvis, Sinatra and others entertained

Street Color

 The haunting beauty of Joshua Tree

The fireplace in our vacation rental:

The wonderful Deco bar in my friends rental home:

Looking at all the mid-century furniture for sale-at outlandish prices.  This recovered sofa I fell in love with ran over $3000!

 Unexpected encounters with unusual wildlife; This large bird came over to my car to say hello!

 Following the movie star maps and oogling the homes of past Hollywood greats:

 Elvis's Home

Sinatra's Home ( for a few thousand a night you can rent this-it even still has the chipped bathroom sink where Sinatra threw a champagne bottle at then wife, Ava Gardner!)

Elrod's home used in the James Bond film, "Diamonds are Forever"

was the only disappointment.  It's secluded up in the hills behind a gate.  It is for sale, however, if you've got 13 or 14 million dollars to spare!

 Although we missed a few "must do's" and the thrift stores were a disappointment, I look forward to my next trip back to the dessert.

My New "Big Girl" Office!

Photo Source

Confession time; I have very busy with a new adventure these last 6 weeks! The fun started when I began looking at fresh ideas for different ways I can offer my color services as well as the baby steps towards another little side business. With commercial rentals being at an all time low, it occurred to me that I could take my business in a whole new direction. 

My home office (which shares space with my guest room and the family computer) was getting cramped with color samples, books and project stuff. My fledgling side business with clothing was also starting up so our little home had reached overflow capacity! I started to dig around one of my favorite little cities, Alameda, and found a couple of waterfront offices at shockingly cheap prices.

Although I've had an out of town client pick up items at my home office once before, I usually see people at their site. Color is best viewed, when possible, on site. But I've been rethinking the possibilities of this lately and decided to try an approach where I do have a public office that people can meet me at, if needed. Having open office hours at my home didn't seem practical or safe.

I guess one of the few bright spots in a bad economy is the opportunity for small business owners to get into an office. I canceled one off my list when they asked for a one year rental lease. The other one immediately caught my eye not only for the price (and month to month rent) but it's amazing location! One side of the office building is bordered by a pretty little marina full of boats while on the other side is on the San Francisco Bay with breathtaking views of San Francisco. 

I was so excited to find this, my mind raced at the possibilities for moving some of my careers goals and passions forward. I didn't mind that the building is older and in a time warp of 70's/80's design in the common areas.  What is the real estate saying? Location, location, location!

My first order of business was furnishing the space.....on a tight budget!  As usual, I turn to the holy trinity of my sources; Etsy, Craigslist and HomeGoods. My landlord is so cool and is allowing me to paint the office....music to any colorist's ears...or perhaps, eyes.

But as tempting as it is to paint a vacant room and then furnish, I know better.

Here is the back part of my office with by bamboo desk found at a local antique store. The big question is to paint or not to paint?

Example:

Source: 1st Dibs

Next came an upholstered chair from my mothership, HomeGoods:

I also picked up the Drexel Heritage lamp there for a steal as it was missing a couple of crystals.  I started to see this space was taking on a Hollywood Regency feel.  I've always liked that style but never had room for too much of it in a house full of boys/men!

I didn't like the idea of file cabinets for my color chips so I found this very long dresser on good 'ol Craigslist.  Two antique dealers I purchased it from routinely buy good quality, but outdated furniture, and paint it white. They even redid the handles in silver. 

This piece is from Bassett Furniture, probably early 70's, and I can tell you from moving it, it weighs a ton!! There is no way I could have purchased a new one of this quality.  I think I spent $125 on this and it has lovely lines as well as solid drawers.

I wanted something quirky and cool for drinks, cups and my coffeemaker.  The idea of a cocktail cart

has always been interesting.  For this, I turned to Etsy.  I quickly found a few sweet carts at great prices.  As I tried to decide, I also found out that they sell quickly! So I pounced on this little green and chrome number.

I still had some substantial wall space to deal with.  Visions of velvet loveseats or chaises started dancing in my head!  This was tempered with the reality of the prices I was seeing online.  $800 for a mass produced, poorly built one? Na, I'll pass.  Back to Craigslist again!  Two weeks of searching lead me to this one:

  This antique, coral velvet one was being offered by a dealer of abandoned storage space contents for $300!  My poor husband was not happy about the drive out to a sketchy warehouse area near Candlestick Park in San Francisco to pick it up in the pouring rain to save the delivery charge... nor the effort it took to get it up to my second floor office.  After 21 years of marriage, he says he knows better than to get in between me and a furniture find!

Lastly, considering some artwork.  Already bought this on Etsy but it's small. Love it:

Source : Kathy Panton/Etsy

Considering this in a very large format:

 Source: Bomobob/Esty

I also need a large mirror, but I haven't gotten that far yet.  I'm going to keep the walls neutral as much for balancing out all this color as for viewing color chips within my office without a lot of competing  wall color getting in the way.  Perhaps Benjamin Moore's Shaker Gray, Night Train or Gibraltar Cliffs?  Maybe darker? We'll see as things progress.  Sometimes progress seems painstakingly slow but it's actually come quite far this two weeks.

  I'm so excited to have a little office to call my own.  My husband and I call it my Big Girl Office! The fact that I can have a little 165 square foot slice of the waterfront is just icing on the cake. I'll be sure to post an update when it's finished.

The Latest Rankings on Paint Brands

 

Source: Aircanada

The discussion of paint brands is always a hot topic and often a hotly debated subject in this industry. Whether you are asking designers, painting contractors or homeowners, there's a variety of opinions. Not everyone is aware that there are a few different official rankings available that are based on testing and criteria. 

The three I frequently look at are JD Powers, Consumer Reports and Good Housekeeping. While JD Powers ranks consumer satisfaction, Consumer Reports and Good Housekeeping rank paint brands based on testing. Unless you're a color nerd, it can be a bit daunting to sift through the data to filter out the overall results.

For example, my latest issue of Consumer Reports (March 2012) tested various paint lines from 13 different major brands, ranking by 3 sheen's and challenging:

Hiding

Stains

Gloss change

Scrubbing

Smoothness 

Mildew Resistance

Resisting Sticking (tackiness when dry)

Fading

VOC levels

In 2012, Benjamin Moore edged out Behr which held all three top ranks in 2011. Benjamin Moore came in first for Satin/Eggshell as well as in the Semi-gloss category. Consumer Reports states they've seen a steady improvement over the years in Benjamin Moore's quality but Behr remains the best value for what you get money-wise. Blue checks were also given for overall good values for the quality in different paint brands.

Here are the rankings for the top 4 in 2012:

Satin/Eggshell

Benjamin Moore Aura (Up from #6 last year)

Behr Premium Plus Ultra Satin Enamel ( 1^st Place last year)

Kilz Brand (Stayed in #3 spot from 2011)

Glidden Premium Satin (Down from #3 last year)

Flat and Matte

Behr (Premium Plus Ultra ) Same rank as 2011

Benjamin Moore's Aura Matte ( up from 7^th place last year)

Behr's Premium Plus Flat Enamel (#2 last year for Behr)

Benjamin Moore's Natura Flat (3^rd Place in 2011)

Semigloss

Benjamin Moore's Regal Select (jump from #7 last year)

Behr's Premium Plus (Held at #2 spot)

Benjamin Moore's Aura (Huge jump from #13 last year)

Royal Interiors by ACE ( Up one spot from #5 in 2011)

Bottom rankings in all three categories goes to Color Place by Walmart.

Good Housekeeping ranks paints differently ….......This data is harder to sift through compared to Consumer Reports and it's fuzzy regarding how many paints were tested overall. Less precise rankings were given besides letter grades and a conclusion of pro versus cons in the resulting 25 that they listed.

Good Housekeeping 2011

The test process was explained for achieving the following tests:

Splatter Resistance

Scratch Resistance

Drying Time

Coverage Area

Coverage Quality

UV Resistance

Stain Removal

Color Consistency

Overall Quality and Texture

A grades went to:

Freshaire

PPG Pure Performance (Eggshell)

Dutch Boy Interior Semi-Gloss

Ace Royal Interior Flat

JD Powers and Associates 2011 Consumer Rankings

These rankings were based on 6 criteria from consumers/homeowners only for 19 major paint brands:

Application

Production Offerings

Durability

Price

Design Guidelines

Warranty

Benjamin Moore came out as the stand alone winner while Porter Paints and Sherwin Williams came in second and third reflectivity. At the bottom of the heap were Color Place (Walmart), Martha Stewart (Surprise!) Glidden, Olympic, True Value and Ace paints. 

When I analyze the plethora of data and the fact that:

1. Not all paint brands were included in all rankings.

2. Consumer Reports and Good Housekeeping listed different criteria and ultimately conducted testing in different ways.

Ace: All over the place with higher rankings through Consumer Reports and Good Housekeeping but below average points with JD Powers.

Behr: Middle rankings with Good Housekeeping and JD Powers but high marks with Consumer Reports.

Benjamin Moore: ranked top in both JD Powers as well as Consumer Reports although the Aura, Regal and Ben paint lines only scored in the B grade ranges for Good Housekeeping. You're not going to find too many colorists who don't use this line as one of the back bones of their paint and color preferences.

Glidden: This was all over the place! While placing well in most of Consumer Reports 2012 rankings, they placed a B grade in Good Housekeeping and below average with JD Power.

Kelly Moore: The darling of painting contractors in my area, Kelly Moore only appeared in the JD Powers reviews and ranked average in all criteria but above average in durability.

Olympic: Wide ranging reviews again from middling to low reviews in latest Consumer Reports, B grades from Good Housekeeping to poor reviews from consumers for JD Powers.

Sherwin Williams: While receiving lower reviews from Consumer Reports, they received high marks from consumers in the JD Powers rankings. No published reviews from the latest Good Housekeeping latest list.

Valspar: Middle of the road reviews from all three rankings.

 Photo Source

Bottom of the heap: True Value received middle lower to downright bad scores over all three ranking systems while Walmart's ColorPlace came in last place with Consumer Reports and JD Powers but are not in Good Housekeeping's latest rankings.

Hey I'm only the messenger on this but I do love asking my clients and painter for their experiences with paint brands. Many of the other paints reviewed only appeared in one of the rankings so I didn't delve into them. Where do YOU stand on paint brands? What are your experiences?