Is this paint on my Valencia St. Victorian too yellow?  

A Valencia Street homeowner who was repainting her house put up a piece of cardboard to ask passerbys’ opinion on the color — “TOO YELLOW OR TOO AWESOME!?” she asked. 

Within hours, the sign was filled up with all kinds of comments, ranging from praise, “Love it!! More lemon for contrast,” to criticism, “NOOO…! Too much!” or simply a cute little drawing of male genitalia. 

Kimberly Conley, owner of the bright-yellow house at 935 Valencia St., between Liberty and 20th streets, is amazed at the enthusiasm with which people are participating in her little experiment in democracy: They thought they could influence the shade of yellow on the house. 

The truth is, “We weren’t going to change our mind about it, but we were curious to see what everybody thought,” said Conley.

Conley moved into the house with her family eight years ago. From the beginning, she was unhappy with its kind-of-gray, “very dull” color, she said. “We always knew we were going to paint it. We really liked bright colors and just bringing bright, cheerful things to the neighborhood.” 

She finally had the chance to make it happen amid a lengthy construction project to electrify the house — old Victorians are rarely all-electric. 

She displayed a sample of the dazzling yellow paint outside the house, and people started commenting on post-it notes. Then, criticism ensued. 

Most people, including her painter, love the color. But one felt that its brightness might not quite match the setting of the Liberty Hill Historic District. “One of the neighbors came by and said, ‘Wouldn’t you consider painting this a color more in line with the historic neighborhood?’” said Conley, whose house is within the district.

She was unconvinced. “What? Have to be dull to be historic? They’re called painted ladies. Hey, let’s bring some color. There are enough houses that are painted to match the pavement,” she said. 

She put up the board with a pen attached to it on Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday, the board was so full that “people started squeezing things into all the spaces,” she said. 

As Conley expected, most of the participants, a healthy mix of neighbors and tourists, were unabashed in their compliments. “Be the sunshine you wish to see in the world,” read one of her favorite messages. 

But she’s also fond of the creative criticism. “Drink more water,” wrote one passerby. “When you don’t drink enough water, your pee is really yellow.”

“That’s my favorite negative one,” said Conley.

“Looks good — but I don’t live across the street,” wrote another. That means “I like it, but I don’t have to look at it every day,” said Conley.

The debate over the degree of yellowness is apparently not Conley’s first time engaging the community. When Valencia Street was closed down on Saturdays during the pandemic, she brought out a TV and chairs to host movie nights in the open air. In the summer, she cut up watermelon and handed it out to pedestrians. She also took advantage of the parklets down the street for World Cup viewing parties. 

For those interested in weighing in on the color, there’s time: The paint job will be completed next week.