Page 99 - Southern Oregon Magazine Fall 2021

LET’S TALK ABOUT PAINT!

krissy millner, owner, terra firma home

Terra Firma Home | 309 E. Main St, Medford
541-770-2728 | www.terrafirmahome.com

ince we are all inside…Let’s talk about paint! Here I sit, on
this beautiful fall day, there’s no smoke, the air is crisp and it’s
time to share some more design for Southern Oregon. For this
Sarticle, I thought it would be great to give a bit of advice from
the pros.

For over 20 years I have shopped with Drakes Paint to select colors
for my projects. Drakes uses Benjamin Moore, and the range of colors
and nuance of the paint has been beautiful. No matter which brand or
company you choose, quality of paint does make a huge difference in
the outcome of your project.

I recently asked Dan Drake, co-owner of Drakes Paint and Supplies,
a few questions, so here goes:

KM: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN THE PAINT BIZ?

DD: I have been in the paint business since 1992, and I grew up helping
my dad paint during the summer because he was a house painter.

KM: WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE ON CHOOSING THE BEST
QUALITY PAINT?

DD: For choosing the best paint usually we need to ask a few questions:

First, are you painting exterior or interior? Then we need to find out
what type of surface will be getting painted (for example, interior trim
or exterior doors will be painted with a different product than interior
walls or exterior siding typically.) Next, we will try to find out if the
customer is wanting to get a paint that will just get them through a
short period of time because it’s just going on some siding that is being
replaced. If this is the case, than we will recommend something a little
different and less expensive that still covers well. If our customer is
doing a lot of painting and needing it to last as long as possible, then
we will recommend Aura or Regal, due to its ease of application, and it
will last the longest. A customer who will be living in their house for
many years will always spend less money over the life of the paint job
with a higher quality more expensive paint than if they buy something
inexpensive. Likewise, a customer who is painting a color over a color
that is difficult to hide (red, for example), buying the best will always
be less expensive and take less time. If you can paint it in one coat
instead of two coats, you have used one half of the paint you would
have for two, and the savings in time is worth even more in my opinion!
Typically, the higher quality products are more eco-friendly as well.

fall 2021 | www.southernoregonmagazine.com 97