Historic paint colors for 20th century midcentury homes

1. First up, The Guggenheim Collection from Fine Paints of Europe was introduced in 2011. This collection has two palettes. “Classical Colors” are color-colors derived from works of art at the Guggenheim. The “Gallery Collection” is full of neutrals, including whites and off-whites, taken from colors put onto the walls to display art: “50 hues favored by generations of Guggenheim Museum curators, artists, and designers—including Frank Lloyd Wright himself.” The Gallery collection, in particular, sounds pretty cool. Lots of people want to display art… artfully. So why not take the lead from professionals who must agonize and OCD over shades and hues and saturation like we can’t even imagine.

2. The Sherwin-Williams Suburban Modern Collection — with two palettes, one for interiors, the other, for exteriors — is a longtime favorite here at Retro Renovation. If you’re looking for classic 1950s pastels like aquamarine and flamingo pink and even pearl gray — go here, these are great colors. This Sherwin-Williams palette also had a wonderful avocado, harvest gold, beige and pinky beige. This company gets major props from me for being first on the midcentury bandwagon. Goodness, they were a lifesaver for me when I started my house 10 years ago.

3. California Paints in 2010 introduced a huge collection of 20th Century Colors of America, researched in partnership with the nonprofit Historic New England.

4. Pittsburgh Paints has the Fallingwater Collection — paints inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, authenticated by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

5. Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1955 paint palette for Taliesen, specified in Martin Senour paints, is shown in this artifact. If you can blow up the image enough to read the chips… then triangulate to Martin Senour formulas today, you’d have another authentic Frank Lloyd Wright paint palette.

6. Eichler colors — The Eichler Network has matched historic Eichler colors with Benjamin Moore Formulas. Go to pages 6 and 7 in this article to see the chips.

Historic Paint Colors pre-1950

7. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has partnered with Valspar to offer a pretty big historic paint palette. “There are over 250 historic colors, documented from historic sites and places across the country, in the Valspar palette.” Price on this paint is going to be pretty competitive, I think, as this is a very accessible brand found at Lowes. I also think I have read that Valspar paint does well on a certain magazine’s annual quality tests.

8. Benjamin Moore’s historic paint palette has legions of fans.

9. Rodda Paint has an historic paint color collection.

10. Union Village has two very focused palettes of classic Early American paint colors. You can buy small cans if you are painting furniture.

11. Finnaren & Haley has an Historic Colors of America collection. Created in collaboration with the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities — which is now known as Historic New England, this collection of both interior and exterior paint colors from early America history. It seems to be the predecessor to the California Paints collection with Historic New England.

12. Finnaren & Haley also has Authentic Colors of Historic Philadelphia. There are 31 colors in this line, all uncovered from historic buildings and many authenticated by the National Park Service.

13. Pratt & Lambert offers an Historic Williamsburg Palette.

14. Duron Paint does Historic Charleston.

15. Historic colors of Spanish St. Augustine — St. Augustine is the oldest city in America, and the preservation community there has matched original Spanish St. Augustine paint colors to Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams paint colors. So cool! Hey, aren’t you impressed how deep I dug for this story?

16. Fine Paints of Europe covers historic paint colors for Mount Vernon.

17. Fine Paints of Europe also gives us historic paint colors of Nantucket.

18. The Fine Paints of Europe team is all over the historic, with British Standards, too.: “470 colors… in existence for more than one hundred years for residential, commercial and military use. Broad range of strong full colors’ contains no pastels or off whites. Very useful for the specification of strong accent colors.”

19. Little Greene also has an English Heritage paint collection.

20. And, Fine Paints of Europe has a RAL collection of historic paint colors from 1925 Bonn, Germany: “210 distinctive ‘full’ colors first catalogued in Bonn, Germany in 1925. Colors were originally developed for commercial/industrial specification but have recently been rediscovered – broadly specified for smart, contemporary interiors.”

Wow, that’s some list isn’t it? I am quite proud of myself.

If you want to republish this list in part or entirety,
please email me for permission first.
This research and story are copyright Retro Renovation 2012.

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Lead – in lots of places
Asbestos – in lots of places
Electrical Safety
Tempered Glass
Window treatment cords
Radon
And more — I am not the Expert — Consult with a Professional!

Renovating and remodeling our mid century homes can be fun galore, but PLEASE ALWAYS REMEMBER, there are many known hazards in surfaces and materials that you need to take personal responsibility to become knowledgeable about, so that you can make informed decisions about how to handle. I sometimes feel like I am a naggy broken record bringing this up all the time, but here goes again:

We all care very much about managing environmental and safety issues properly, so when undertaking your restoration project, be sure to familiarize yourself with and use recommended best practices. For example, the EPA hosts a website on lead in the home and a website on asbestos in the home. Consult professionals regarding these materials, and also about the proper disposal of debris, etc.

Another resource regarding potential lead hazards in the home, which I recently learned about via Facebook, and which I’d like to share out:

• LeadFreeKids.org —  a joint effort of the Ad Council, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. That’s their video at the top.

Also, here’s an article that came to my attention about potential lead hazards in ceramic tile:

• Ceramic Tile Institute Of America Field Report 2000-11-20 –Subject: Ceramic Tile Lead Hazards and Miscellaneous Other Lead Risks in Residential Remodeling and Construction, by Judson Bryant

Other potential issues — and do not consider this a comprehensive list as I am not an expert in the area of environmental and safety hazards in the home — include: Tempered glass in windows and shower doors… wiring and fire safety in the house as well as lighting and appliances… drapery cords… lead and asbestos in all kinds of locations…radon…. Gosh, I don’t want to be a nervous nellie or debbie downer but You are an Adult Now. You must take responsibility and become informed about all these issues, and more. CONSULT WITH PROFESSIONALS AND EXPERTS, don’t be penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to your and your family’s safety and health. Thank you.

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Several readers have written to alert me that Sherwin-Williams no longer has brochures for our beloved Suburban Modern paint palettes in their stores. These have been tried, true, authentic paint colors for our 1950s, 1960s and 1970s colors for years. BUT: You can still get the brochures — with the paint codes – two ways.

So far, both the interior and exterior paint collection brochures still are available on Sherwin-Williams’ website. And, just in case they are completely discontinued at some point, I scanned both brochures — interior and exterior — and put them into a downloadable PDF.

If you want to try these colors — you need to print out the brochures from online, take them into to the store, match them to sample chips, and then decide whether you want to go to the next step of getting samples. Going through this step-by-step process is really important, because what you see on the computer is likely NOT what you will see on the chip… and then, you always want to test any color on the wall.

Here are the downloads:  

• Still available on Sherwin-William’s website: Suburban Modern Interior paint palette.
• Still available on Sherwin-Williams’ website: Exteriors Suburban Modern Exterior paing palette.
• Note: All Sherwin-Williams Historic Collection Paint Palettes here.
• My PDF, just in case: Sherwin-Williams Suburban Modern Palette – Original Brochures for Authentic Retro Paint Colors

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