A perfect white gown is what most brides dream of when getting married. However, if we rewind a few centuries back, the scene was quite different. Back in the day, green was the official colour of the wedding gown. The brides in the Renaissance era wore green gowns as a symbol of their fertility. According to Celtic myths, the Green man was the God of fertility. As seen in Van Eyck's 15th Century wedding portrait, the colour green was the best choice for the bride's gown because of its symbolism. However, the colour was discontinued in the later centuries.

In 2007, geneticists at the University of Maryland recommended that early life on Earth might have been purple in colour. The plants that now use chlorophyll to bind the sun's rays, ancient microbes used retinal (a form of vitamin A) to photosynthesise. Retinal is easier to produce in a low-oxygen environment similar to that of Earth. It absorbs green light and reflects back red and violet, which makes the microbes appear purple in colour. The team believes that microbes using chlorophyll later grew to absorb those red and blue wavelengths that retinal did not use.

In ancient Greece, the dye Tyrian purple was very popular. By the third century BC, it was more expensive than gold. The place from which the dye originated was called the land of Tyre and Sidon, Phoinike, "the land of the purple". 250,000 shellfish helped produce one ounce of Tyrian purple dye, making it very slow and rare. Vast heaps of shellfish were collected and decomposed in the sun. The dye was then produced and exported around 1,200 BC and powered the Phoenician expansion across the Mediterranean.

Painting becomes much easier when you use the right tools. For water based paint, use a nylon-bristle brush and natural bristles for oil-based paint because the water in the paint can make the natural bristles loose. Similarly, a foam brush is ideal for tricky work such as painting details or window exteriors. The brushes are use and throw kinds as they turn hard and can’t be cleaned easily. If you are planning to work with oil-based paint, natural bristles like ox or hog hair work very well as they hold paint better than artificial bristles. In case of latex paint, go for nylon and polyester brushes as they don’t absorb water like natural fibres.

After a hard day’s work, cleaning up the brushes can be a challenge but it is essential. It’s important to use the right techniques to clean the paint off the brushes. For latex paint, use soap and water to clean instantly after painting. And in case the paint dries, use special solvents to take it off. Use your sink area to clean the brushes and be careful not to dispose of paint in an area where it might seep into the groundwater. Similarly, when cleaning oil-based paints, use a solvent such as a paint thinner or mineral spirits. Take a metal container, use two inches of thinner and twirl the brush till the paint comes off.

When you are done cleaning up the brushes, pack the moist paintbrushes and wrap them in plastic, close it with aluminium foil or paper. To maintain the shape, hang them upside down. For touch-ups, keep aside paint in a plastic mug or glass container. Label the containers with the name of the colour and brand. ‘Hatbanding’ is a common problem that occurs when you use a paintbrush for cutting in and a roller to apply the paint, resulting in an uneven texture along the ceiling and trim. To prevent this, roll the paint as close to the cut-in areas as possible.