One of the main reasons I wanted to live inside a greenhouse was not to grow food in every space possible but, instead, to have ‘outside’ living space protected from wind, rain, and snow. In support of that I’ve designed the space as if it were a yard around a ‘standard’ house including an entertaining area, ornamental and food garden areas, a lap pool, and two ponds. For added whimsey there’s a bridge over the west pond that goes from a small deck on the house to land next to the fruit tree area.
The challenge has become what color, or colors, to paint the bridge. There are 8 separate components and I keep swinging from monochromatic and restrained to multi-colored and playful. I’d love to see what creatives in the audience would do. So this is a request for anyone so interested to submit your suggestion in the comments.
The particulars
Not having to stand against the elements, the bridge is mostly made with untreated lumber, grey Trex decking, trimmed with leftover black cedar siding, and treated wood posts and support beams. Meaning, until it’s painted it’s a visual mess and some materials will not take a transparent stain well.
During these early years while the garden structures and trees are getting established but will eventually visually balance the bridge’s mass, it looks disproportionately large. Meaning, even if it seems to stick out like a sore thumb now, it won’t in a few years.
The bridge, the peach tree behind it, the air-to-ground tubes next to that, and the greenhouse wall behind the trees and tubes, are the main view from the bedroom. Meaning, I want the bridge’s color scheme to compliment the view from the bedroom but to stand out from both the plants and structures.
From the greenhouse’s west door, the bridge is framed by the house which is vertical cedar siding stained black, horizontal cedar siding stained gold, doors painted royal purple, and silver-grey metal siding and trim. Meaning, I want the bridge’s color scheme to compliment the house but does not need to be the exact same colors as the house.
Hopefully I’ll have time to do the painting in October 2023 so will make the decision in late September or early October.
Cheers!
My suggestion would be to use a light or pale colour to start with, either match the gold cladding or try a silver grey as that can look like weathered oak, especially if you might have foliage or flowering plants growing alongside. You can always go darker at a later date. If you go dark from the start, it will always show through if you decide to go lighter. We have fencing we painted dark blue in the 90s, everything we tried since has failed to cover it completely and a few years later we’re back to that blue again. Save the colour for plants and let the bridge fade into the background.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. There will be a long narrow planting bed between the bedroom door and the end of the pond (where I currently toss scraps to compost). Letting the plants take center stage with the bridge as their backdrop is a strong vote in favor of monochromatic grey.
Looking forward to watching it evolve.