Why does no garden blog ever mention how ugly new paint looks for the first 6 months

I repainted my front porch swing and window trim this past spring with a nice matte sage green. It looked SO flat and plastic for like 5 months straight. Kept thinking I picked the wrong color. Then October rolled around and the morning dew and a little dirt finally softened it all up. Now it looks like it's been there forever. Nobody tells you you gotta just wait out the shine period.

2 comments

2 Comments

susan_ward1mo ago

14 years ago I painted our back deck railing a dark navy blue and it looked like cheap plastic lawn furniture for the first 4 months. I seriously considered repainting it like 3 times. The sun and rain finally knocked the newness off it around September and it settled into a nice weathered blue that matched the house way better. I think the problem is paint nowadays is made to dry fast and hard so it stays glossy way longer than the old oil based stuff did. My neighbor who does historical house restorations told me he actually wets down fresh paint with a garden sprayer a few times in the first month to help it age faster. I haven't tried that myself but it makes sense. Your mileage may vary but I say just be patient with it.

mark7311mo ago

Wetting paint down to age it faster? That's a new one.