Mix It Up!

Lighten Up!!!

Spring has Sprung … It’s time to Lighten Up!

One of my favorite aspects of our paint line is its versatility. With our true color palette of 16 premixes, you can create just about any color your heart desires. To get a better idea, check out the more than 200+ Color Recipes that I’ve created so far on our website*.

I am frequently asked why we took the “recipe route” with the paint line instead of offering the typical range of set colors, and my answer is always the same: versatility! When I was doing the various finishes for projects on our TV show, Salvage Dawgs, I needed a paint that would adhere to any clean surface without the need to strip, sand or prime. I also needed to be able to create custom colors for the different projects. Out of necessity, we ended up creating our own paint line for use on the pieces in our custom design shop.

Unlike so many others on the market today, our paint formula was not packaged by some mass paint manufacturer, then “branded” with our logo. I worked hand in hand with an independent paint chemist to create the line according to our unique specifications. Every sample was put through rigorous testing by me and my colleague, Karen Curtis, right here in the paint studio at Black Dog Salvage. We knew what we wanted (and what we didn’t want) and one of our top priorities was being able to create endless colors from the core 16 pre-mixed hues.

I was an Art Teacher for over 25 years, so mixing color comes naturally to me, but for those without any previous experience, the process might seem intimidating at first. So, to make color mixing fun and easy for our customers, I created easy-to-follow color “recipes”.  In a few simple steps, I have taken out all the guess work – and hopefully the fear – of the “mixing” your own custom colors. If you can follow a recipe in a cookbook, you can follow any of my tried-and-true color recipes for perfect results the first time – and every time. Plus, you get to tell your family and friends that you mixed the color yourself!

Almost all the recipes here are created using two colors in equal parts. A part can be a quart, a cup, a tablespoon depending on the size of your paint project…BUT your “parts” do need to be the same/equal in size for the recipe to produce the desired color.

The colors for this month’s palette are all TINTS that I created using seven of our standard pre-mixed colors. A tint is a lighter and sometimes brighter hue of a color, achieved by adding white to the base color. How much white you add to the color will depend on how “light” or “pastel” you want to go. This month’s color recipes are lighter and brighter versions of the original pre-mixed color, but not so light they would be considered pastels.

“Color Recipes” for April:

Spring Willow, a lighter version of Patinio Greenio. It is a true Spring Green.

Lemon Sorbet is a beautiful creamy, yummy, yellow created by adding Clean Canvas to Star City Sunshine.

Cantaloupe is true to its name! When you mix up this color you will be craving melon! This recipe has three colors: Caution Dawgs at Work, Appalachian Sunset and Clean Canvas.

Pink Tulip is the new recipe for this month. With the popularity of the movie this year, I had to include a bright, “Barbie-style” pink! Using I Need a Bandage and Clean Canvas this recipe will allow you to get your best dream girl look on in a snap!

Thistle is a soothing lavender tint of our That’s Going to Leave a Mark purple.

And lastly, can you guess one of my favorite rites of Spring? Yep – it’s when the Bluebirds return! Our beautiful Bluebird recipe was created by mixing together Clean Canvas and Blue Ridge.

All but one of these recipes can be located on our website under the “Furniture Paint” tab. Scroll down and click on “Furniture Paint Recipes” to find the list of recipes.

Actual recipes are featured on the slides below.

Now you know how to create a tint! I’ve taken all the guess work out of the equation, and you should be ready to start “Mixing it Up”!!

*Note: We are presently working on compiling them all into a “Color Recipe Library” for your ease of use- I will let you know when it goes “Live”!

Keep mixing it Up!

Swooz