Paint

This is a two-fer.  Not only am I in love with paint, I am also in love with the names of paint.  I will confess that there have been times when, confronted with several choices of paint colors, I have gone with the one whose name I like the best.  I also confess that I would love to have a job naming paint colors.  Seriously.  Who names paint colors and how much do they get paid to do so?  Do they make more than schoolteachers?

Imagine in one day's work coming up with names like "Daybreak's First Blush" or "Rosewood Cottage" or "April Thicket."  How about "Sea Breath" or "Rain Dance" or "Seafoam Storm"?  I bet you can even visualize those colors based on their names.  So let me challenge you:  can you imagine "Dewdrop" or "Loyalty" or "Gentle Wind"?  (If you imagined those three as shades of blue, you win.)  But what color is "Stillness"?  How about "Encounter"?  Or "Cincinnatian Hotel Abbey"?

Recently, I needed to choose an off-white color that would bring to mind sandy beaches.  I gathered several color cards from my local big box emporiums.  I studied the subtle differences between the choices, but the names kept throwing me off.  How could I choose between "Gull" and "Sandpiper" and "Navajo Sand" and "White Lagoon"?  They all conjure the sandy color I was searching for.  (Oddly enough, I ended up with "Drumskin," which is a whole different mindset.)

Ah, but color is only part of my love of paint!  Today I used a Rustoleum "Gloss Almond" to paint the baseboard heat registers in my house.  Never underestimate the power of GLOSS!  My registers are positively glowing almond!  Consequently, everything looks new and joyous and ready for many more years of abuse.  I feel resurrected.

Paint lets you start over.  Paint hides all your flaws.  Paint convinces you that it is never too late to reinvent yourself.  Not happy with who you are?  Here, try "Sparkling Lake" or "Moon Sail" or "Elegant Lace."  There are so many possibilities; surely you will find your color.

Today I fell in love with paint.