Sunny Goode is adding author to her long list of accomplishments. The owner of Sunny's Goodtime Paints will unveil her first book, Paint Can!, this November.
"This is like the gestation of an elephant," jokes Goode. "I started working on the book in the spring of 2005."
Goode honed her decorative art skills at the Isabel O'Neil School for the Art of the Painted Finish in New York and through an apprenticeship under Nancy Baker in Washington, D.C. In 2001, Goode formulated a line of color washes and glazes known as Sunny's Goodtime Paint Products. Her patented Deck-O-Rator Cards that preview the finished result soon followed. Writing the book, she says, was a natural progression.
"A lot of my customers wanted to see my ideas and also see the finished rooms. The book has 120 inspirational pictures of rooms that have been decorative painted."
Initially, Goode's publisher, Sterling Publishing of New York, wanted her to pen a how-to book on painting. Goode was intent on specifying the use of her own products in the publication. "Sterling was receptive to letting me do that," she says.
Paint Can! features the interiors of many Richmond homes, including Goode's own eclectic abode. "My living room has had three different treatments in three years. It's kind of like an experiment." The room has gone from stripes to an apple-green glaze to its latest transformation – pale pink with a gray border and a neutral, patterned canvas affixed to the ceiling.
As the whirlwind of a book tour draws near, Goode is already working on her second book, Nurseries and Kids' Rooms – a publisher-suggested topic. It will come out in 2008.
Open Book, Open Store
This fall has been a busy one for Goode. Along with publishing her first book, Goode opened Sunny's Goodtime Paint Products store at 5703-A Grove Ave. She sells her paints along with selected hand-painted furniture and accessories. "We found that a lot of people want decorating advice and color consultations," Goode explains. "We'll have regular store demonstrations and also carry artful things we like along with our paint."
