Inspiration for historically appropriate paint schemes. Period advertising is an excellent source of information on appropriate colors for historic houses.
These pieces from c. 1880 (left) and c. 1900 (right) show selections of the most popular colors produced by Burgess, Fobes & Co. of Portland, Maine, for their Portland Liquid Paint brand. The company was founded in 1858, just as pre-mixed paints were starting to be produced.
In addition to paint color cards like these, advances in color printing during the post-Civil War period and the increasing availability of premixed paints came together to produce color advertising for paint that often illustrated houses in popular color schemes. From that period forward, a wealth of such material is available to inform and inspire color choices for historic houses.
“Restoring Your Historic House, The Comprehensive Guide for Homeowners” contains information on researching what historic colors were used on your house and guidance for finding an appropriate color scheme even if you don’t know the original colors.
Signed and personalized copies of the award-winning and bestselling 720-page hardcover book are available directly from the author in our shop, YourHistoricHouse.com/shop/.
The shop also carries select preservation and restoration titles by other authors. Save with our multi-book combo packs!
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