San Francisco Days...

San Francisco is a pastel city. Even colors that aren't pastels, looks so amazingly rich but soft in this atmosphere.

Everywhere you look, it's so creamy and dreamy. All the Victorian embellishments you see on buildings practically everywhere make for some wonderful eye candy - and no calories!

See this house? It's the FIRST C2 house painted in San Francisco... the paint has only been available for 3 weeks, and it's already taking off. The painter was excited to be the first to buy C2 Paint, he was waiting at the doors for the store to open at 6:30am the first day it was available.

The amount of detail involved in a project like this just stuns me. This particular painter goes to great lengths on prepping the building - which insures a long life for the paint job. No small feat considering the city is perched at the edge of the ocean - never nice to paints.

And if you look closely at the detail shot, you will see these small ball accent features... the gleam in the sun comes from gold leaf - there is no way to replicate that with simple gold paint, the gold leaf makes the buildings POP.

I think I counted 9 different colors on this facade... I lost count!

I had a blast visiting paint stores in the area: G & R Paint in San Francisco, Tamalpais Paint in Corte Madeira and Gray's Paint in Burlingame... three top notch paint dealers who are rolling out the C2 brand in the SF market, all at the same time. I am so thrilled! (Hey, I can't wear the crown of Paint Princess if I don't wax poetic about my fellow INDEPENDENT paint retailers, now can I?)

The highlight of the trip was our Designer Presentation last night at the flagship Design Within Reach furniture store. About 60 designers turned out for the party, not bad considering I was hoping we'd get about 25. Food was tasty, wine was great, the designers were wonderful!

I have another house I need to show you. Philip Reno, owner of G&R Paints has his own line of complex full-spectrum colors called Phillip's Perfect Colors. These colors appear as if they have an almost pearlescent undertone built into each color. I have never seen anything like it.

Well, there is a STUNNING home which he was involved in tinting, I think in the Pacific Heights neighborhood... Look at this - delicate colorations; but strong enough to be used on a large-scale building without loosing it's integrity.

Yummy.

Although, what's with the tree pruning in this town? I saw tree after tree pruned (I'd consider it CARVED) down to stumpy branches... awkward looking. I wasn't just this house, I saw it all over the place. I don't get it.

Here's another beauty shot:

See how the gold leaf just gleams? Wow.

Over and out for now.