Rainbow colours over Castro Street.

There are times when I think I have the best job. Like last week when, poor me, I had to go to San Francisco to do a colour consultation and squeezed in a day walking the town with Susy, one of my clients.

Our reflections in a store window on Haight-Ashbury.

Here are some observations:

One should start the day with a hearty breakfast at Orphan Andy’s to get into the Cisco groove.

Does bold colour always look silly or juvenile? Not when it is done with the skill of an artist. You may not want to try this at home, but, I must admit that this bright blue is one of the most novel applications of exterior paint colour I have seen in a long time. It seems to flaunt any possible rules about colour and placement and yet it really works! It is both bold and sophisticated.

The famous Painted Ladies were looking rather bland compared to some of the boldly coloured houses nearby.

Lately, some of the most elegant houses are painted in very dark colour palettes.

By and large, all-white buildings looked clinical or as if they had a deathly pallor and were unwell. The exception was this stunning Art Deco building. Here the white looked appropriate for the early modernist style and period. The proportions were good, the shapes created balanced rhythm, and there were enough decorative details to add texture and interest. Phew. It could handle the riggers of white.

There is a big difference between pasty and pastel exterior colours. Buildings with faded grey and beige tones unrelieved by colour look sad and neglected – as if they weren’t invited to the colour party. However, there were pastels that were playful and fun, like this sherbet green with pink, blue and mauve accents highlighted by sky blue lions.

Some people still like to push the envelope. It puts a smile on my face when I wonder what the inside is like. By the way, have you ever noticed that when people like purple they really like purple? It becomes an obsession.

Even when people seemed sartorially achromatic, there’s usually a colour surprise somewhere about their being – a red bike basket, or neon pink toenails to coordinate with a hot pink cast.

Even if you're not about to paint your exterior the blue of a San Francisco sky, or add a mural encouraging others to "Brighter Faster", after a few days in San Francisco you will likely want to be less chromatically conservative.

Maybe upping the visual voltage of your front door or adding a colourful tile welcome mat to your front porch will add the shakeup you might come to crave.

[BTW Susy is now in the throws of adding colour to her place. Stay tuned to see what transpires....]

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