Early in the year, as in January 3^rd, I got a reminder that spring is fast approaching. I know; I couldn’t believe that I was behind the ball on my list of spring projects in JANUARY. What was this reminder? It was a letter from the HOA saying that my house needed a fresh coat of paint. I thought to myself, it’s January why would I even think about this now. But little did I know, putting a new color of paint on your home takes time. There’s the fun exercise of picking a new color (or deciding to keep the same color) and then an approval process, which you may think is crazy, but in The Meadows, there are standards and that’s what makes this community beautiful, literally. There’s also planning for those unexpected spring snowstorms as well as scheduling. I’m probably not the only one who got the reminder. So if you’re like me, and feeling behind the ball, here’s a little insight to the process. Don’t worry, it’s not that bad.

First, review the Architectural Guidelines, they can be found on meadowslink.com.

The ease of the process depends on how bold you want to go with your colors. If you’re throwing darts at a Crayola color wheel – good luck – Magenta is not going to fly. My advice would be to drive around your neighborhood (each neighborhood has distinct character even with the paint colors) and take a look at similar houses and try and find something at least within that color family. Take pictures – it’s not as creepy as it seems. If you want to make it really easy, some of the local paint stores have books with the guidelines and approved colors.

Choosing a Painter

For me, my choice was easy, my brother in-law just happens to be a painter and well, it’s time to cash in some favors. However, you’re most likely not in this situation, so picking a painter with experience in The Meadows would be helpful. Chances are your friends and neighbors have a recommendation (some may have even painted within the last year or two). If your painter is familiar with The Meadows than chances are they have experience with our HOA and a good idea of the approved color schemes.

Show them the (not creepy) pictures of the homes you like or tell them your ideas, they can probably either do a color match to the houses you like or give you suggestions based on your ideas, if not, you might want to look at a new painter.

Your Colors are Picked, Now What?

You’ve got a couple of color schemes picked now it’s time to submit for approval. Download and fill out the Architectural Review form. You’ll need to submit your color schemes with the paint manufacturer codes, paint cards with your colors and pictures of your neighbor’s house. You’ll need a picture of the neighbor on either side of you and the neighbor(s) across the street. Once you’ve submitted the appropriate info, you wait. The committee meets once a month and will get back to you with a letter saying approved or not.

Once you’re approved it’s up to your painter and Mother Nature. Be sure to take a picture of your house once it’s finished and submit it to the HOA as an indication that the project was completed. I haven’t exactly reached this step yet but if my brother-in-law knows what’s good for him, I will soon enough.

There you have it, a friendly reminder that spring is on the way and you should get on the ball with your painting if your house needs it. If you have questions or want more information regarding The Meadows architectural guidelines visit Meadowslink.com or call The Grange.