Sherwin Williams to reintroduce 30-year-old New Orleans color chart

New Orleans CityBusiness, Dec 1, 2003 by Michael Giusti

Homeowners will soon have an arbiter to tell whether their walls are Toulouse Street Green or Bienville Green.

In an effort to give names to the historic colors of the French Quarter, Sherwin Williams will reintroduce a 30-year-old New Orleans color chart.

The chart details 22 colors identified as the traditional coverings used throughout the French Quarter. Reintroducing the chart is an effort to give everyone a common language when talking about New Orleans colors, said Mike Harville, district manager for the New Orleans region at Cleveland-based Sherwin Williams Co.

You have no idea how many times people come in and say 'I want French Quarter Green,' he said. Now we will have a card we can pull out and differentiate between the shades.

The palette is based on research done by the paint company along with the Vieux Carre Commission in the late 1960s and early '70s.

Sherwin Williams, which came up with the concept for a New Orleans color wheel more than three decades ago, has since changed its dye and pigment system. To recreate the colors, Harville and his crew took existing hues and found one slightly lighter than the one they were trying to recreate.

Through trial and error, they found a final formula. The paint line should be available by the end of December.

Harville stressed the colors are meant to be a guideline not a yardstick for which colors are allowed in historic areas.

People can request these colors but the Vieux Carre Commission has the ultimate say, Harville said.

The Vieux Carre Commission dictates what colors French Quarter buildings can be painted. It is the only agency in the city with such powers.

The Historic District Landmarks Commission, the only other agency with a say-so about paint, can dictate the color and type of new building materials used in renovations. It can also step in when homeowners want to paint over exposed brick. It does not have the color-dictating powers of the Vieux Carre Commission.

In the French Quarter, owners must submit a request to repaint before they are granted a permit. Hilary Irvin, principal architectural historian at the commission, reviews each application.

She said homeowners are welcome to submit any color but only hues that comply with strict guidelines are allowed. Those guidelines differ by building according to the period it was built, the style of the construction and the neighborhood.

We did analysis of a bunch of different buildings many years ago that included reviews of archival drawings, watercolors of buildings from when they were being auctioned and from written records, she said. From that, we had an idea of what colors are appropriate.

She said the commission does not use any single paint chart or company in its final approval decision.

The Preservation Resource Center in New Orleans often approves or denies paint color requests for buildings that have donated their facade to the nonprofit.

Stephanie Musser, assistant director at the PRC, said it has no color guidelines but tries to determine what is appropriate.

We want them to match their style, period and neighborhood, she said.

A color palette with New Orleans shades would be a useful resource, she said.

We ask the building owners to come to us with a specific shade and then we approve or deny their request, she said.

Musser recommends consulting interior designer/colorist Louis Aubert, who developed a color wheel specifically for the PRC Rebuilding Together/Christmas in October program. The wheel had specific combinations of colors that could be used in the program. Aubert later redesigned the wheel as a menu-style color wheel where owners could pick from a list of shutter, exterior, roof and deck colors.

Aside from in the French Quarter, where color must be exact, Aubert said most people chose historically accurate and attractive colors, according to contemporary tastes.

Unless you are doing a museum house, people don't always want exactly accurate paints, he said. If the tan looks a bit too yellow, it is OK to make it a little less yellow so it is closer to a color you are happy with. As long as you keep it in scope, you have some leeway.