One idea was to match paint colors of our home to colors of the trees, plants and flowers right here on the land. Samples of the red manzanita twigs, Arctostaphylos viscida, the deep green of the bear clover, Chamaebatia foliolosa, and lots more were collected in an egg carton. Then a very fun day was spent at the paint department matching colors and choosing paint chips. My husband looked askance at all this, ….heck, no one can figure out what makes someone else tick.

So the idea is to use colors from our place for the house color and anything else painted would be in these colors, having our man-made structures blend into the natural surroundings.  I pondered the color of our future house for a year at least. Too long, but finally chose a brown similar to the oak bark with darker brown trim. If you like chocolate, you could also say milk chocolate and dark chocolate.

This whole project seems to bring me closer to the wildlife here, makes me feel more part of it all, like it’s becoming home here.