For many years I used to live in an HOA (home owners associaton) controlled neighborhood in Westminster, just north of Denver.
After my divorce I didn’t need to discuss home decoration plans with anyone else and felt like adding a splash of color to the neighborhood. I find the traditional holiday decorations often a little underwhelming. We all have the same “stuff” from Costco, Target or Walmart in our front yards.
I felt I could do a little better and came up with the idea of some temporary garage door paintings.
I knew I’d be violating the rules of the HOA that desired a homogeneous look of our houses. Back in 2010, I was well-connected with an excellent air brush artist named Patrick McGirr aka Girr. We were running a small Kendama businesses together and always shared our -often wild- ideas.
Fall came around and I asked him to paint my garage door with a pirate theme for Halloween and then repaint the door with a Christmas theme. I knew that I would paint the door in its original white again once the holidays were over. My hope was that the HOA board would not start a big battle over some temporary holiday decoration.
Girr and his friend Levi (RIP) went to work on a Sunday. Two elder men from the covenants committee showed up as soon as our pirate ship began to shape up. I greeted them and we had a friendly conversation about the weather and the neighborhood. But they kept looking over my shoulder.
The told me that they had a received a complaint. We had a discussion about art vs. vandalism. I told them that this was only temporary and that they could fine me if necessary. They left but I knew that this was not the end of our conversation.
The pirate ship was for the kids in the neighborhood that were excited for Halloween. I know it was just the “foreplay” for the more popular piece of art.
After Halloween we switched colors. I wanted to mix Xmas with the Beatles and a Yellow Submarine. The words “All you need is love” were integrated as well. I was fairly adamant about the details and my friend got it right.
Soon after the garage door was in full colors people started to line up to take pictures. Entire families came over to take their holiday photos in front of the door.
Many people walked by singed or whistling, including the mailman and the UPS driver. Many of my neighbors asked me to keep the door as is. But in the meantime I had another conversation with my friends from the HOA. I told them that the door would be white again in January. They were wondering if they could have this in writing. I gladly obliged and that settled the case.
I remember it was rather cold when I got the white paint out and it took at least four coatings plus primer. But eventually the door was white again. The pictures and the memories will always remain though.
Lessons learned:
If you have an idea that might be a little edgy for your neighborhood then talk to your neighbors. If you have their support it might very well be worth pursuing it.
We can all be creative and turn our ideas into reality. Getting a little professional help might greatly increase the results though.
If you are really going far out then making things reversible can be a good idea. In some way my door was like a temporary tattoo. I tried it, got some great results and then went back to “normal” again.
If you do something unusual in your neighborhood you’ll get much more support and have more fun if there is a community aspect baked into it. I didn’t paint this door just for myself. Yes, I very much enjoyed looking at it but so did all my neighbors as well. If anyone didn’t like the Beatles or the Yellow Submarine then they “forgot” to tell me.