Mix It Up!

Fall is such a glorious time of year! The weather cools down, flannel shirts come out of the back of the closet, fire pits glow and the marshmallow roasting begins. There’s also football games and foliage hikes, and colorful decorations adorning our homes.

When I started working on the new color recipe palette for October, the project just took on a life of its own. After about two hours of “mixing it up” in the paint studio, I looked at the colors I had created, and they reminded me of the box of 8 Crayola Crayons my mother would buy me at the beginning of each elementary school year.

Color Me Fall!

As we start making the sojourn back into our homes, I feel confident that you will find some seasonal comfort and joy in this collection. I have assembled seven, easily mixed, beautiful fall hues for this palette: Barn Red, Maple Leaf, Caution Dogs at Work, Acorn, Ivy, Flannel, and Plum.

Barn Red is one of my favorites. It replicates the color of old-fashioned “back country” barns. Not too bright, just a warm, earthy red. Mix up two parts I Need a Bandage with one part Dirt to achieve this color.

Maple Leaf is a deep red orange, just like the maple leaves that will soon turn and emblazon my yard as they float down to the ground. The maple trees in SW Virginia are true showstoppers. Create this color by mixing 3 parts I Need a Bandage with one part Caution Dogs at Work.

Caution Dogs at Work is a bright, fresh, tangerine orange that adds the perfect pop of color to any fall mix.  It’s also our premixed color spotlight pick for October.

I can usually forecast how cold and snowy our winter will be each year in the Roanoke Valley by the number of acorns that drop, and when they fall (and so far, a good number have already been “pinging” my metal roof!) Acorn is the name of our warm brown hue in this palette. Mix it using two parts Dirt plus one part Baby I’m Amaized.

The ivy around my deck always appears greener in the fall, perhaps because I set my carved pumpkins in front of the bed. The orange of the pumpkins next to the green ivy visually complement each hue and intensify the colors. To create this deep ivy green, mix two parts Go Green with one part Dirt.

Soft and comforting, well-worn flannel shirts are my go-to when the temps start to drop. Our blue Flannel is a deep but soft blue created with 2 parts Blue Ridge and one part Dirt. This color is dedicated to my father, Lee Boyd. He would have been 97 this year. He always wore a flannel shirt of this color when working in his beautiful yard.

Plum is the last, but not least, of the “Color Me Fall” palette. It is a deep and rich purple, just like a juicy plum. One-part Blue Ridge added to one part I Need a Bandage will give you this yummy purple.

Color Me Fall gives you all the fall colors in easy to “Mix it Up” recipes. Remember that a “part” can be a teaspoon, a cup, a pint, or a quart depending on the size of your project, but you must keep your “parts” the same in order to achieve the desired color recipe.

Have fun with this palette. My hope is that this new collection of color recipes will inspire you to color to your fall in a fresh, new way.  As always, please send me before and after pictures of your projects.

Have fun Mixing it Up!

Susan “Swooz” Hudson