THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505030110
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: AROUND THE HOUSE
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO HOME & GARDEN
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
WE COLOR-COORDINATE clothes, furniture, household accessories. Now a seed company and a paint manufacturer have transplanted the idea of coordinated colors to the garden.
``Exterior color decorating'' is the name Goldsmith Seeds Inc. and Benjamin Moore Paint & Co. have given to the concept of matching the color of the flowers in your garden to the exterior paint around your home.
The theory goes that when doors, shutters, awnings, window boxes and railings, for instance, are painted to coordinate with bedding plants, even the humblest house begins to take on a magazine-cover look.
The ``before'' picture here shows an ordinary backyard storage shed. With planting and painting, the shed undergoes a frog-to-prince transformation. Forest green and burgundy paint by Benjamin Moore is complemented by Accent impatiens, Liberty snapdragons and Victory begonias, all from Goldsmith. (The effect could be achieved with other brands of paint and plants.)
The cost of such make-overs is very reasonable, assure the two companies in a press release. Especially when you consider the hefty boost the new look will give to the value of your home, they add.
If the idea appeals, Alecia Troy, marketing director of Goldsmith Seeds in Gilroy, Calif., suggests ways to get started:
If you're happy with the exterior color of your house, bring a photograph or a paint chip to the garden shop.
If you want to use the color of a favorite bloom as your starting point, take a flower into the paint store.
If you're starting from scratch, begin with either the paint or the plant.
Keep it simple. Using any more than two or three flower choices clutters the look and increases the chances of muddying the color match. A ROLL OF THE DICE
It's safer than horseshoes, faster than croquet, more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
It's ``21'' Lawn Dice, a new lawn game that might just be on a roll in this age of emphasis on the family.
Invented by a policeman while on a camping trip, the game consists of oversized plastic dice and plastic rings. The object is to roll or toss the dice into the rings. The first player to get 21 points wins.
Knocking opponents' dice out of the ring with your own dice is fair play. It's also legal to set the distance between rings to accommodate the strength and skill of the players.
Lawn Dice might be a good way to lure the kids away from Nintendo on lazy summer days. It could be an alternative to volleyball at the beach, watermelon-seed-spitting contests at family picnics.
Suggested retail price of the game is $29.95. It is available at Best Products stores. For more information, call Sterling Enterprises in Santa Barbara, Calif., at (800) 688-DICE. SPRUCING UP ON A SHOESTRING
When time is short and money is scarce, there are still ways to spruce up the house. These tips, one for inside, one for outside, come from the home and real estate staffs at the Detroit Free Press newspaper:
Take a long, critical look at the things in a room. Take the worst-looking 10 percent and move those things out. Rearrange what's left into cozier groupings, not necessarily pressed against the walls. Leaving some ends of the room empty may be effective. One large, strong piece of framed art might be just what a bland room needs.
Take a long, critical look at the front entrance of your house, the first thing passers-by, visitors and potential buyers see. Paint the front door and the area around it in fresh accent colors, maybe even two or three colors. A new screen or storm door may be a big improvement. Fix loose gutters, damaged windows and screens, sidewalk cracks, crumbling brick. Clean gutters and rake up debris. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Color-coordinating exterior paint and garden plantings can make a
dramatic difference in the visual appeal of a structure.
by CNB