--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I ordered a modern purple martin house…" description: "\"“I ordered a modern purple martin house myself and proceeded to construct a dreadful object: unpainted, it looked like a cheap motel; painted blue and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/eleanor-perenyi-34833_blue-and-white_i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-m_2400964.jpg" --- # I ordered a modern purple martin house myself and… ![“I ordered a modern purple martin house myself and proceeded to construct a dreadful object: unpainted, it looked like a cheap motel; painted blue and white, it looked like a cheap Greek motel and had to be thrown out.” quote by Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/eleanor-perenyi-34833_blue-and-white_i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-m_2400964.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/eleanor-perenyi-34833_blue-and-white_i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-m_2400964.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/eleanor-perenyi-34833_blue-and-white_i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-m_2400964.jpg) > ““I ordered a modern purple martin house myself and proceeded to construct a dreadful object: unpainted, it looked like a cheap motel; painted blue and white, it looked like a cheap Greek motel and had to be thrown out.”” [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker built a birdhouse that turned out ugly and useless, highlighting how poor design and execution can ruin good intentions. **In simple terms:** Bad design defeats purpose. Key Takeaway Focus on functional design before aesthetics. Themes design craftsmanship expectations Mood frustrated reflective Type cautionary personal narrative When to use this quote - home improvement projects - birdwatching - handmade gifts - learning from mistakes Key Concepts aesthetics functionality DIY failure Questions to Reflect On - How can you test a design before finalizing? - What priorities should guide a DIY project? A Different Perspective Even with effort, a project can fail if practical needs are ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blue and white](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue-and-white/) ## Related quotes > [I feel like there's too many paintings left unpainted that I just don't want to take the time away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bean/i-feel-like-there-s-too-many-paintings-left-unpainted-that-i-just-don/) [Alan Bean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bean/) > [God gave man the challenge of raw materials not the ease of finished things. He left the pictures unpainted and the music unsung and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-gave-man-the-challenge-of-raw-materials-not-the-ease-of-finished/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“R.O.TC. kept me away from sports while the other guys practiced every day. They made the school teams, won their letters and got the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/r-o-tc-kept-me-away-from-sports-while-the-other-guys-practiced-every/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [some journalists have described the South Pole as 'hell on earth.' Others refer to my time here as 'an ordeal.' They would be surprised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerri-nielsen/some-journalists-have-described-the-south-pole-as-hell-on-earth/) [Jerri Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerri-nielsen/) > [The Scottish aren't embarrassed about their nation, or their flag. Far from it. You can't move in Edinburgh or Glasgow without seeing a blue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-boles/the-scottish-aren-t-embarrassed-about-their-nation-or-their-flag-far/) [Nick Boles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-boles/) > [Meanwhile, as we read, two little girls slept as if couched on zephyrs on the south side of the parlor floor, in a room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-cantwell/meanwhile-as-we-read-two-little-girls-slept-as-if-couched-on-zephyrs/) [Mary Cantwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-cantwell/) > [Early violets blue and white Dying for their love of light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-arnold/early-violets-blue-and-white-dying-for-their-love-of-light/) [Edwin Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-arnold/) > [“A city of squalls, foggy mornings, intervals of blue and white so immaculate the eyes ached. A city of readers, coffee drinkers, kissers on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-miller/a-city-of-squalls-foggy-mornings-intervals-of-blue-and-white-so/) [Keith Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-miller/) > [I love Israel for its blue and white flag as it matches my legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-love-israel-for-its-blue-and-white-flag-as-it-matches-my-legs/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [“The variety of our skin tones can confuse, bemuse, delight, brown and pink and beige and purple, tan and blue and white. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-variety-of-our-skin-tones-can-confuse-bemuse-delight-brown-and/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“Her small bedroom was decorated with cheerfully embroidered samplers, which she had stitched herself, and a shelf containing an intricate shellwork tableau. In her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-gleeson/her-small-bedroom-was-decorated-with-cheerfully-embroidered-samplers/) [Janet Gleeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-gleeson/) > [“Day after day, day after day, 115 We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. \[Sidenote:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/day-after-day-day-after-day-115-we-stuck-nor-breath-nor-motion-as/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [My favorite name for a color is "puce." It's kind of a dried blood color. It's a hideous color. But I love the word.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-favorite-name-for-a-color-is-puce-it-s-kind-of-a-dried-blood-color/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [“I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of, let's say 100,000 miles, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-collins/i-really-believe-that-if-the-political-leaders-of-the-world-could-see/) [Michael Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-collins/) > [I'm gonna say it one more time. We are Georgia Southern. Our colors are blue and white. We call ourselves the Bald Eagles. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erk-russell/i-m-gonna-say-it-one-more-time-we-are-georgia-southern-our-colors-are/) [Erk Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erk-russell/) ## More by Eleanor Perenyi > [Sooner or later every gardener must face the fact that certain things are going to die on him. It is a temptation to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/sooner-or-later-every-gardener-must-face-the-fact-that-certain-things/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [A gift of flowers to a woman implies that she is as deliciously desirable as the blossoms themselves; but there may be another and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/a-gift-of-flowers-to-a-woman-implies-that-she-is-as-deliciously/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [A garden is a private world or it is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/a-garden-is-a-private-world-or-it-is-nothing/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [I have spoken to plants myself, and if pressed for conclusions would have to say that those I threatened did better than those I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/i-have-spoken-to-plants-myself-and-if-pressed-for-conclusions-would/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [I love blue more than any other color. I am inordinately attracted to any blue substance: to minerals like turquoise and lapis lazuli, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/i-love-blue-more-than-any-other-color-i-am-inordinately-attracted-to/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [It takes a while to grasp that not all failures are self-imposed, the result of ignorance, carelessness or inexperience. It takes a while to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/it-takes-a-while-to-grasp-that-not-all-failures-are-self-imposed-the/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [To see things in black and white is to see the basics, and I would recommend to any designer of gardens that he go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/to-see-things-in-black-and-white-is-to-see-the-basics-and-i-would/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [September is the time to begin again. In the country, when I could smell the wood-smoke in the forest, and the curtains could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/september-is-the-time-to-begin-again-in-the-country-when-i-could/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [Or perhaps you notice a congregation of ladybugs on a rose stalk. Don't invoke the old nursery saying and ask them to fly away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/or-perhaps-you-notice-a-congregation-of-ladybugs-on-a-rose-stalk-don/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [Americans resent the vagaries of weather to a degree unknown to other peoples. ... Weather is a force we have lost touch with. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/americans-resent-the-vagaries-of-weather-to-a-degree-unknown-to-other/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [ \[Petunias are\] as hopelessly impractical as a chiffon ball dress. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/petunias-are-as-hopelessly-impractical-as-a-chiffon-ball-dress/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [Gertrude Jekyll, like Monet, was a painter with poor eyesight, and their gardens - his at Giverny in the Seine valley, hers in Surrey…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/gertrude-jekyll-like-monet-was-a-painter-with-poor-eyesight-and-their/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [To garden is to let optimism get the better of judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/to-garden-is-to-let-optimism-get-the-better-of-judgment/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) [Explore all 14 Eleanor Perenyi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) ## More Blue and white quotes > [I'm gonna say it one more time. We are Georgia Southern. Our colors are blue and white. We call ourselves the Bald Eagles. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erk-russell/i-m-gonna-say-it-one-more-time-we-are-georgia-southern-our-colors-are/) [Erk Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erk-russell/) > [“I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of, let's say 100,000 miles, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-collins/i-really-believe-that-if-the-political-leaders-of-the-world-could-see/) [Michael Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-collins/) > [My favorite name for a color is "puce." It's kind of a dried blood color. It's a hideous color. But I love the word.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-favorite-name-for-a-color-is-puce-it-s-kind-of-a-dried-blood-color/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [“Day after day, day after day, 115 We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. \[Sidenote:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/day-after-day-day-after-day-115-we-stuck-nor-breath-nor-motion-as/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“Her small bedroom was decorated with cheerfully embroidered samplers, which she had stitched herself, and a shelf containing an intricate shellwork tableau. In her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-gleeson/her-small-bedroom-was-decorated-with-cheerfully-embroidered-samplers/) [Janet Gleeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-gleeson/) > [“The variety of our skin tones can confuse, bemuse, delight, brown and pink and beige and purple, tan and blue and white. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-variety-of-our-skin-tones-can-confuse-bemuse-delight-brown-and/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I love Israel for its blue and white flag as it matches my legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-love-israel-for-its-blue-and-white-flag-as-it-matches-my-legs/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [“A city of squalls, foggy mornings, intervals of blue and white so immaculate the eyes ached. A city of readers, coffee drinkers, kissers on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-miller/a-city-of-squalls-foggy-mornings-intervals-of-blue-and-white-so/) [Keith Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-miller/) > [Early violets blue and white Dying for their love of light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-arnold/early-violets-blue-and-white-dying-for-their-love-of-light/) [Edwin Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-arnold/) > [Meanwhile, as we read, two little girls slept as if couched on zephyrs on the south side of the parlor floor, in a room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-cantwell/meanwhile-as-we-read-two-little-girls-slept-as-if-couched-on-zephyrs/) [Mary Cantwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-cantwell/) > [The Scottish aren't embarrassed about their nation, or their flag. Far from it. You can't move in Edinburgh or Glasgow without seeing a blue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-boles/the-scottish-aren-t-embarrassed-about-their-nation-or-their-flag-far/) [Nick Boles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-boles/) > [some journalists have described the South Pole as 'hell on earth.' Others refer to my time here as 'an ordeal.' They would be surprised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerri-nielsen/some-journalists-have-described-the-south-pole-as-hell-on-earth/) [Jerri Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerri-nielsen/) > [“R.O.TC. kept me away from sports while the other guys practiced every day. They made the school teams, won their letters and got the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/r-o-tc-kept-me-away-from-sports-while-the-other-guys-practiced-every/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [The Blue and White government, led by me, will assemble the strongest security cabinet against terrorism and restore deterrence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-gantz/the-blue-and-white-government-led-by-me-will-assemble-the-strongest/) [Benny Gantz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-gantz/) > [Memory is a tenuous thing. . . . flickering glimpses, blue and white, like ancient, decomposing 16mm film. Happiness escapes me there, where faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/memory-is-a-tenuous-thing-flickering-glimpses-blue-and-white-like/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) [Browse all 38 Blue and white quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue-and-white/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I ordered a modern purple martin house myself and proceeded to construct a dreadful object: unpainted, it looked like a cheap motel; painted blue and white, it looked like a cheap Greek motel and had to be thrown out.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Perenyi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-myself-and-proceeded-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blue and white" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-myself-and-proceeded-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/eleanor-perenyi-34833_blue-and-white_i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-m_2400964.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/eleanor-perenyi-34833_blue-and-white_i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-m_2400964.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/eleanor-perenyi-34833_blue-and-white_i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-m_2400964.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I ordered a modern purple martin house myself and proceeded to construct a dreadful object: unpainted, it…” — Eleanor Perenyi", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Eleanor Perenyi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I ordered a modern purple martin...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-myself-and-proceeded-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/i-ordered-a-modern-purple-martin-house-myself-and-proceeded-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```