The Pink House Husband proposed to me while we lay semi-comatose on a bed at The Grove five-star hotel in Hertfordshire in 2004.
He’d intended to propose earlier while we were having dinner, but had lost the nerve, and as a result we had now eaten our body weight in carbs and lard, drunk all the red wine and passed out on our pit.
Honestly? Yes, I’d rather have said ‘I do’ while only semi-tipsy, upright, and surrounded by people who would clap politely when I signed up for life a deux. Instead I was half-conscious and beached on a bed, slurring, ‘whaddidjussay?’.
But I couldn’t fault my future husband’s venue choice: he’d picked The Grove as a proposal venue because he knew I was obsessed with the interiors – specifically, the colours of the interiors. There was the sparkly blue sitting room, with blue walls, blue sofas and blue vases. Even the flowers were blue. And then the library, with its curved tangerine velvet sofas and mirrored display shelves stacked with bright-spined books .
But perhaps my favourite interior design feature was the projector in the hallway, which showed a video of The Grove’s gardens, flowerbeds ablaze with colour, birds a-tweeting. Who should be walking through the middle of this many-hued garden, but a butt-naked gardener, who looks back over his shoulder and, with a big grin, beckons you to follow him and his butt into nature’s rainbow. Bloody brilliant.
Back then, I especially loved hotels (and bars and restaurants) like The Grove for their cheeky, clever, bold colour choices, because I wasn’t brave enough to splash the paint (or project the naked men) in my own home. So every other night I’d be out at some colour hotspot or other, stroking the walls, admiring the seating and drinking lurid cocktails.
And then I had a baby.
It might have only weighed six pounds, but this baby took a heavy toll on my social life. Whereas Before Baby I went ‘out’ out 4 times a week, I was now lucky if I managed it every 4 months. And when I DID go out, it was to whichever eatery was most convenient for legging it home when the babysitter called to say my precious progeny had screamed solidly for the past 2 hours.
At home, colour was in short supply and it bothered me. Then, on one particularly dark-beige day, when The Grove and its sparkly blue walls seemed a million miles away, I had a Mohammed/mountain revelation: if I couldn’t go to the colour, why couldn’t the colour come to me? Which is when my attitude to home décor changed, my mood lifted and the idea for The Pink House was born.
Since then, I’ve become a colour magpie, always on the hunt for hues that make my heart sing.
A stool I painted in Painthouse’s ‘Ida’
Then, a couple of months ago I got a mysterious email about a paint brand so new their website didn’t even exist yet. The brand was called Painthouse and the people behind it seemed to know an awful lot about me and my love of colour. Did I want to find out more? You betcha. So they sent me the 72-colour paint chart – and I was sold straightaway. These are some seriously mood-lifting colours!
But, I discovered, there was so much more to this innovative brand than gorgeous colours, which I why I agreed to work with them to help launch Painthouse. I’ve even experienced using the paint first hand, when I painted two wooden stools as part of the photoshoot we did at my house.
Using the peachy-pink Ida by Painthouse to paint a wooden stool
This gorgeous green is Daisy by Painthouse
So why is Painthouse a colour game changer? Here are 7 reasons:
It’s a new, innovative paint brand that’s passionate about vibrant, stylish colour
The 72 paint chart colours and products are perfection, and I love how the paints are named after a mix of Norwegian and English children’s names – e.g. Sienna, Thor, Leif, Penelope – to reference the brand’s Scandi roots
The 6 ‘Style Capsules’ colour categories (Brights, Luxe, Fresh, Pastels, Naturals and Neutrals) are a genius way of ensuring all your colours work together even if, like me, you like to use very different hues in different rooms
The Peel & Stick colour sample book means no faffing around holding tiny squares of paint to a wall
One Painthouse paint works for all surfaces – including walls, ceilings, skirting and wooden furniture - no need to buy different finishes for different jobs with the confusion and wastage that can involve
The paints are non-toxic – there is literally no smell at all when you open the lid – and fire retardant are available too. Which means peace of mind when it comes to painting kids’ rooms in particular
Having used the paint myself I can report the colour is rich and true, and the paint glides on beautifully, giving colour coverage in just one coat
Who needs to splash the cash on posh hotels when you can splash these glorious colours about in your own home? Plus, if you stay home the wine’s a LOT cheaper, although if you’re looking for an audience for your proposal, might I suggest you head to the nearest pub.
This post was sponsored by Painthouse, but as always, all thoughts, ideas and unhealthy interest in naked gardeners are entirely my own. For more about Painthouse, including the option to order a free colour book, click HERE
