Earn bragging rights for your home by entering the Chicago Paint and Coatings Association’s 38th Annual Chicago Painted Ladies and Her Court Competition.
This “beauty pageant” for homes and businesses recognizes that homeowners are holding on to their homes because they can’t get away from their low interest rates and recognize the scarcity of homes coming on the market.
This contest encourages entries not only from more traditional Victorian-style homes and businesses, but from other styles as well. The home or office must have been painted between Labor Day 2022 and Labor Day 2023.
Examples of other styles include Tudors, Georgians, Colonials, etc. In addition, other creative projects will also be considered as separate categories, such as gazebos, entrance gates, etc. You can find a list of categories on the online entry form.
The CPCA is a not-for-profit trade association made up of member companies that are manufacturers, suppliers of raw materials, and distributors to the paint and coatings industry.
“Repainting the exterior of a home adds significant equity to the home’s value when homeowners are ready to sell. Even in tough times like today, painting provides a cost-effective new look to the exterior of homes and businesses,” commented Christopher Wrobel, spokesman for CPCA.
Entries are judged on how paint and colors chosen were used to enhance the appearance of the property. The judges also take into account how well the colors match the neighborhood and/or the area surrounding the structure. The trend to pay more attention to the choice of color and details seems to be a part of life today. In some cases, entire neighborhoods have been inspired to refresh their homes and there are hundreds of colors or shades of colors to choose from to create a better looking home or business.
The Chicago and Northwest Indiana areas are divided into five sectors: North, Northwest, West, Southwest, and South; and two categories “non-professional” and “professionally painted”. Entrants are requested to submit before and after photographs or high quality digital images printed on high quality paper to ensure accurate color representation. Paint chip samples must be submitted along with the official entry form. Winners are selected from the categories found on the entry form.
Not all categories may produce a winner each year and more than one winner may be selected from a category. Once selected, winners will be notified by phone. As in the past, the home or business owner will receive a professional photograph of their home or business that will be framed and presented at a special dinner in the fall. In addition, a Grand Prize winner will also be selected and honored with an engraved plaque.
Applications are located on the CPCA website www.chicagopaint.org.
For more information, email [email protected] or write Chicago Paint & Coatings Association, 360 W. Schick Road, Suite 23-#191, Bloomingdale, IL 60108.
