Not everyone follows the commandment “Love Thy Neighbour” but most of us are smart enough to appreciate that at the very minimum keeping things friendly with the people that live around you is wiser than the alternative. Which is why I have put off writing this series of articles for the last two years. My silence ends today.
My neighbourhood is about 10 years old and is a mix of townhouses and lots of single family homes. It’s pretty typical for the lower mainland, especially the suburbs. We have a great elementary school, a new playground, a couple of excellent preschools and a little neighbourhood shopping block with a some businesses, a corner store, and even a really good restaurant.
Most of the single family houses around here are three or four bedroom, two story homes with a double garage in the front. The exteriors are combination of stucco, siding, wood trim and stone.
Being between 7 to 10 years old, guess what all these houses are in need of? Yup. Painting. Over the last two years on my daily walk to take my children to school I have watched a few of the homes get painted. Sometimes by a student painting company, sometimes by a professional contractor and even by one industrious DIY homeowner. I have come to realize many of my neighbours need help. And I am a helpful kind of girl.
Here is where the problem is. On the street I walk daily, no two houses are identical but each shares similarities in colour or style with four or five other houses on the street. It isn’t uncommon to see a house get a colour change when it gets repainted. Unfortunately, there have been some bad colour choices for exterior houses along my route. But it’s not just colour choice that my neighbours need help with. Where to put colour seems to be a challenge as well. I have seen some colour transitions that make me want to take a can of paint and fix it myself.
And then there is the flesh coloured garage door.
So over this summer I am going to show photos of houses in my neighbourhood and provide tips and help on both good colour options and how to use colour to make a house looks its best. It’s not all bad out there either. There are some really well-done repaints that I am going to feature as well.
A personal note to my neighbours…
The last thing I want to do is make enemies in my hood so if you happen to find your house featured in my blog, know that it isn’t personal. I might not like how your house was painted but I do like you. I love our little community and want it to be as beautiful as it can be. And to show that my motives are genuine, if see your home featured on my blog, drop me a line and I’ll remove your house if would like me to.
