Yolo and Ecohaus

Sounds like a kids TV show, right?

I’ve seen the ad for Yolo Colorhouse paint a few times, in various magazines I read and on home-improvement sites and blogs. I was attracted to the colors (yes, here we go with color again), especially the green and orange in the ad (and yes, here we go with orange and green again). One would think I would pick up on the signs of my natural color preferences, but hey, I am a slow learner apparently. They call themselves the environmentally responsible paint company, a further incentive to check them out. By environmentally responsible, they mean low-VOC, Green Seal certification and LEED-affiliation.

They aren’t easy to find, however. The ad said they were available at Lowe’s, so one evening on my way home I stopped by the Lowe’s in Bellevue. They didn’t carry them yet. I also stopped by the Lowe’s on Rainier another day and they didn’t carry them yet either. (I could have and should have called to save myself both trips; slow learner again.) After I woke up and realized I had the internet at my fingertips, I learned they carried Yolo paints at a store called the Ecohaus, thinking that sounded like either an eco-friendly modern architectural movement or an outdoor German industrial rock band. It’s actually an environmentally conscious home improvement store with the mission to conserve, use local materials, save energy, improve air quality and do responsible business. Sounds like my kind of place. Also sounds like Fred’s kind of ethos too, so we can check off the WWFD (What Would Fred Do?) box.

I got in the car last weekend and headed over there to check it out. And I didn’t get lost. That is the beginning of a good outing. It got even better when I found it. Man, I love this place. I love the look and feel of it. I loved the offerings…more choices for cork flooring than I have seen anywhere else and an entire wall…yes, wall…of Marmoleum. This was my flooring heaven. 

They also had these very cool Flor-esque carpet tiles that would be perfect for the hallway project at $15.96 each and they are 24”x24”. (Our hallway section that we want to carpet is 27.5 feet, meaning this would cost us about $220. Not bad considering what runners that long will cost you.

And the Yolo paint section was wonderful for someone as color-challenged as I am. I had gone there specifically to see the orange I was so attracted to in the ad, which turned out to be Petal 01. (When you look at these on their website they look nothing like that in person.) Once you have a color you like, there is a book that tells you all the complimentary colors too.  Fortunately, one of the complimentary colors was also the avocado-ish green I liked in the ad, Leaf 04. Hey…maybe I’m not so color challenged after all. These were really great mid-century appropriate colors. Realizing these were also some intense colors I checked out the neutrals they recommended for these and saw they were way warmer and more buttery than anything I’d been looking at before. (I had recently learned in the Apartment Therapy Color Cure the 80/20 rule of neutrals versus colors.) I could envision it with the accent orange and green and also with the warm cedar plank ceilings that run through the house.

I also wanted their Clay 06, which was a deep chocolate brown for the trim, but alas they don’t carry the darker colors in a semi-gloss or high gloss. This was a real bummer and the one thing about the line that disappointed me.

I took the plunge.  I bought a gallon each of the Petal 01 and Leaf 04 and three gallons of the Air 04. My vision is the neutral hallway with an orange accent wall at the end around the closet. I am not quite sure yet where the green lives, but it will find a home. Maybe the kitchen eventually. Hallway, prepare yourself for a makeover and get ready for your close-up.