Atlanta only has about 100 sunny days a year, and many of those are hazy.  We have lots of partly sunny days, and our share of cloudy days. But we only have 30-40 days of brilliant, clear, Carolina-blue skies.

And we have clay.  No way around that.

So it makes sense to yield to the inevitable: using a clay color on porch floors and for a painted foundation is the path of least resistance, for after a rain, the floor will have clay footprints and the foundation will be splashed with clay.  Like it or not, terra cotta is almost always going to be a part of the color scheme.

There are many ways to work with it or around it, and most involve using organic-type colors: greige, taupe, sage, cappuccino, fawn, chamois. Chestnut, cinnamon, henna, merlot, spruce, basil. Colors that look like a plant or mineral are most easily used with clay.

If there is masonry—stone, brick, slate—the mortar color gives the best cue for the painted trim color.  Most times, mortar is either gray or tan. Color match it, then go two to three tints lighter. This will always be more harmonious than white. 

Then, choose a siding color to complement, but not match, the masonry.

And an accent color for doors and shutters, and maybe window frames or mullions, too. 

That’s three to four colors to make the architectural details of the house easy to read:

            Floors and/or foundation

            Siding

            Trim

            Accent

Rebecca Ewing Color & Design

404.285.9518

rebeccaewing@mac.com

rebecca@HandsOnHues.com

www.HandsOnHues.com