What comes to mind when you think of historic homes? Do you envision ornate and expensive furniture against a backdrop of beige or grey painted walls? Considering how expensive pigment was in the 18th century, neutrals would seem like the most cost-effective option.
Well, you’re in for a real surprise! Take a tour of America’s most famous historic homes like Mount Vernon, Monticello, or the White House and you’ll be greeted with room after room of bright, bold colors. The running joke of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home, is the pure shock of tourists who enter the dining room and are flabbergasted by the chrome yellow walls. Is it really that hard to believe that the man who penned a document basically telling England to “get lost” would fancy something a little more intriguing than eggshell?
Think back to holidays with your grandparents or great-grandparents. Were your Thanksgivings held against a backdrop of avocado green or mauve? Greens, oranges, and purples peppered homes from the age of JFK and Woodstock to the Brat Pack.
In our neutral-loving society, it might be hard to imagine why anyone would take on such a bold paint choice. It’s certainly easier to change around furniture than to repaint an entire room, but our ancestors had their reasons for decorating with such vibrant hues.
For starters, we often take for granted how much electricity transformed the world. Back in the days of candles and oil lamps, which provided less than 5 watts of electric light, saturated colors brightened up the home’s shadowy interior. As an added bonus, these brighter colors also made the spaces seem warmer.
Vibrant walls were a great complement to the popular stained wood trims of the time. Gray and beige goes with wood tones about as well as toothpaste goes with orange juice.
In earlier centuries, wealthy colonial Americans used bright colors to keep up with interior trends reflected in Europe. Back in that time period, paint had to be mixed on site in small batches. The paint used pigment derived from organic sources, and thus had a much shorter shelf life than the pre-mixed paints that came to the market in 1870. Even with all of these seeming disadvantages, homeowners still chose to decorate with blues, yellows, purples and other vibrant colors.
So don’t be surprised by the Prussian Blue wall paint in the parlor at Mount Vernon. And be glad that you can get that same color out of a pre-mixed can.
Comments