Del Prado opinion: Is it time to update the Del Prado color scheme to match our neighbors?

I thought it would be a good idea to highlight the difficulty of picking colors for complex condominium projects by reviewing what was done at two neighboring projects. 

I will, of course, be offering my full report to the paint committee and the Board of Directors. 

Milano. 

Milano has adopted a complex, up-to-date color scheme, which has made their complex more attractive than ours. Notice what they did. First, they picked out three different color schemes for their large buildings. There is a beige version, a pinkish version, and a darker brown version. 

What is interesting to me about Milano is how they varied the color pallet within the buildings. For example, parts of the building that stick out are painted in lighter colors. This is to make those features of the building look lighter and less obtrusive. (We could do the same here at Del Prado if we had the right designer in place.) The portions of the building that are more recessed, however, are in darker colors. I think they did a good job in pulling this off. I also notice that the trim in Milano isn't very interesting. They covered it up by painting it the same color as the buildings themselves. 

The one mistake I see at Milano is the way they made the garage areas so light and then put dark paint on the trim around each garage door. This was a design mistake because it called attention to an unattractive feature of the building. I think a better color scheme would have been to pick a slightly darker color for the garage areas painting the walls and the trim the same color. 

One contrast between the 1980s and today is that building exterior colors have gotten darker, probably because of improvements in paint quality. In the 1980s, for example, it was considered a mistake to use too many dark colors because there were more likely to fade on you. 

Expressions. 

Expressions are interesting in that they too choose different overall colors to make the buildings individualized. They are also strict about highlighting every bit of trim in their complex. Since their trim is nice, this was probably a good idea. 

I notice that they de-emphasized the railings on the porches by painting them black. This is a means of making them less noticeable. At Del Prado, we have that same dated, step pattern on our balconies, a relic of the 1980s obsession with all things Southwest. 

Here, we might follow their lead and go with darker colors for the railings too. The doors in Expressions are subdued, generally a dark red or a dark blue which looks acceptable compared to the building colors. My main point, of course, is that to get the best possible paint job for Del Prado we need to do a careful survey of our neighboring complexes and we need to pick an experienced designer who can make the most of what we have to offer. 

Recommendations for Doing a State of the Art Paint Design at Del Prado


As a board member, I think we probably failed the new paint committee by not providing them with a precise mission and more detailed tasks to complete. Here are my suggestions for getting things back on track. 

1. Research Stage. Analysis: As far as I can tell, they are working off of inaccurate information, particularly regarding our closest neighbors Expressions and Milano. Recommendation: The committee will serve us best if they go back to the basics and present the board of directors with a report which surveys the neighboring communities before they do anything else. 

2. Choice of Designer. Analysis: The repainting of the condos requires the work of a skilled, professional designer. The condos are more complex and more difficult to design for than the villas which are basically individual, small homes. Repainting the condos will require much greater and detailed attention to a) which features need to be accented and b) which features need to be minimized. Because the condos have larger blocks of color, these color choices need to be handled with great sensitivity. Recommendation: We should interview at least three designers, review their portfolios, and pick the one that best matches our needs. 

3. Representation. Analysis: The interests of villa owners and condo owners are not the same. Recommendation: I have two ideas. First, representation on the committee should be enlarged to accurately reflect the proportion of condo and villa owners in the complex. I think Steve agrees with this. Second, no villa owners should be involved in paint choices regarding the condos for conflict of interest reasons. 

4. Minutes of Meetings. Analysis: State of CA law requires board committees to compile minutes. The paint committee basically hired a designer without consulting with us first. They need to slow down and share with us, in writing, what they are doing. Potentially, if we had minutes of their meetings we might have been able to realize our mistake in establishing their mission and then steer them in the right direction sooner.

Recommendations: The paint committee should follow State of California law and providing us with the minutes of their meetings.

Rethinking the Paint Committee

Almost all of the complexes around us have abandoned the 1980s style in favor of an approach that assigns slightly different, but still matching, colors to the larger buildings. This is done, in part, to create a smaller, home-like feeling in what would otherwise be a warehouse-like environment. Unfortunately, keeping with our existing color scheme looks to me like a somewhat risky approach. Our complex already looks dated and elderly compared to our neighbors.  

Nevertheless, I know there are strong opinions on each side. I'd like to hear your opinion on the topic. Please send me an email at johndrew25@msn.com or call me on my cell at 949-338-5921. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

I was a little bit shocked to learn that the committee we tasked with picking a color scheme for Del Prado has already made the decision to maintain the dreary, dated 1980s look of the complex. You know what I mean. That drab, browning yellow, stretching on the block after block without interruption. It was a bad idea in the 1980s and it is still a bad idea now. 

One of the reasons why we all know this is a bad idea is by viewing the HOA complexes all around us. I drove around with Trish to take a look. They are all using the new, more varied, modern style. Below us on Expressions, each building is a slightly different tint. Moreover, the colors are chosen to bring out key architectural features and cover up less appealing architectural features. 

Likewise, over at Impressions, the buildings are painted slightly different to create a refreshing more human scale. I drove around our whole neighborhood and didn't notice a single building complex that has maintained the old-fashioned 1980s style. 

Even here at Del Prado, we changed out of the 1980s style a number of years ago and adjusted the paint scheme so that the Villas matched our neighbors even as the condos were left in the 1980s approach. To me, the risking choice is maintaining an old-fashioned look that makes us stand out from our neighbors, which makes us, in a sense, an abnormality in our community, or - more succinctly - and an eyesore. 

I'm having a hard time understanding why a group of people would decide to stick with an obviously flawed, dated, and unpopular color scheme. To my surprise, two of the people who I thought got it, and favored an updated, contemporary look, flip-flopped on me and announced their support for this drab, dated alternative. 

I asked for reasons. 

Here is the best that I got. It is important to keep the 1980s style because otherwise, the complex would look cluttered. 

As far as I can tell, not a single person on the committee debated this premise. I haven't seen any justification. The fact of the matter is that the contemporary trend is to make large complexes appear to be smaller, built to a human and not an industrial warehouse scale. The reason why so many of our neighbors have dropped the 1980s style is that they are trying to get away from the warehouse look, they are trying to make their neighborhoods look smaller, friendlier, and populated with smaller structures that address a human scale, not an industrial scale. 

The illusion created by contemporary paint schemes is to emphasize the individuality and character of each residence. 

This is why other HOAs give homeowners the opportunity to pick the color of their door, even though they may have no say on the color of their overall building. Likewise, the new color schemes make the complex family-friendly by emphasizing the different units and not a massive, corporate, blah. 

Besides, this is not the color scheme that was used on the Villas. These homeowners enjoy a contemporary look that matches with the style of the other neighborhoods. If the paint scheme harms the community by making it look choppy, then why does the modern look seem so perfect when it is applied to all the Villas. Frankly, all we are really asking is that the condos be treated equally as the Villas when it comes to having a modern and up-to-date image.