Chicken decorating

A while back I think I mentioned something about a chicken decorating post. I’m sure you’ve been on the edge of your seats since, waiting on me. (Right.)

Late this winter I got the urge to repaint the kitchen. And my inspiration was that rooster up there, Little Bigfoot. (He’s a Lakenvelder cross.) The picture doesn’t do him justice, but hopefully you can see how his body is white interlaced with a lovely cream color. His tail feathers are delicate gradations of gray and brown. And his bright red comb and wattle makes everything pop.

(And by now you’re thinking, this girl maybe watches too much HGTV and also maybe does not get off the farm enough.)

What I was after was that grayish-brown in his tail feathers. Or is it brownish-gray? “Either way it sounds like a depressing color,” said my mother. I thought it sounded like the perfect neutral.

But how to color match a rooster’s feathers? One day when I was in the coop I grabbed ahold of them and tugged, thinking surely one would come loose. Nope. All I got was an indignant rooster.

My mom suggested I catch him and take him with me to the hardware store. Maybe they could stick his tailfeather right there in that machine that automatically detects colors from things like fabric samples and sheets of wallpaper. Could be fun.

But I just winged it (ha ha) and came home with the perfect color. Brownish-gray. Grayish-brown. A color they call “greige”.

That’s it above the plate rail, and around the window. I really love how it turned out on the wall and plan to continue it into the dining room, perhaps a shade or 2 darker.

Tomorrow, more on those quilt squares…