Pink paint that is….quite honestly I don’t know why it needs redoing just now – when it was last done only a few years ago- or was it about 17 years or so now? Hmm who would have thought the paint wouldn’t last out the full two decades eh?

Anyway, it has been good fun working out what colour to go for. Bruce and I have strong memories of ‘Pips’ which was our Grandparents house in Weigall Road, named after our Grandfather and which was lovely – painted pink with inky blue window frames and a limed oak front door with black studs on it. I have never seen a more beautiful house so it was with great delight that we painted good old Vale Road house pink all those years ago and it was obvious to me that it would need to be pink again – only colour to go for obviously.

So that’s when the fun started as I had in mind that Suffolk pink would be the one to go for. I recall that we got the original pink specially mixed for us at Johnstone’s paint in Chessington, but in those days exterior paint was only ever white or cream so it wasn’t surprising.

What a shock to find that, on checking Weathershield colour card – Suffolk Pink is actually quite brownish and really rather horrid. We spent two days trying to convince ourselves that we liked it but, guess what? we didn’t! Other options in pre mixed were either really really light so nearly white or really really bright – moving to bubblegum end of the spectrum. Well, Mr Mackie and I were not having any of that – so off to Brewers to see what would happen if we got them to do a special mix for us and hey presto, we settled for RY205SX or whatever it was- and delight of delight as the excellent decorator started putting it on the wall, the colour was EXACTLY as I remember Pips house being all those days ago…We have plumped for grey woodwork as the wooden window frames would be too dark if in inky blue – after all Pips had metal windows with narrow, elegant frames so the inky blue was a neat slim defining line – not a great expanse..

and while I am thinking of Pip – here is a pic of Pip…

and here is Pips….

and finally, here is the work in progress here – showing the new and the old faded pinks…