Now a staple home service in our modern lives, the history of house painting has some very interesting — if unknown — facts that may surprise you with their origin stories.

Here are 5 fun facts about painting that you may not know.

Found all the way back in the time of cavemen and ancient Egypt, the first house paint — or paint of any kind for that matter — mixed plant dyes and other natural pigments with milk, lime and/or honey. Mostly used for decoration, later it was found to be used for protection means as well 

In the late 1200’s, painters and stainers created “guilds” to standardize the professional and protect its trade secrets. The two guilds, Painters Company and Stainers Company joined forces in 1502 to prevent other trades, like plasterers, from using their trade secrets and was granted this protection by English Parliament in 1606.

Thought of a display of vanity, immodesty and wealth, painting your home in the early 1600’s would have been a criminal offense of sacrilege!

In Feng Shui, a Chinese system of harmonizing with one’s environment, the red door signifies a “welcoming energy”, or literally “welcome”.

In the Biblical times, a home with a red door was protection from the “Angel of Death”.

With its roots starting in Scotland, painting your door red meant that you’ve paid off your home’s mortgage.

When the White House was first painted, a lime-based whitewash was used that was meant to weather over time, limiting the white look to only cracks and crevices. The whitewash was not allowed to weather, however as it was periodically re-painted.

The nickname “White House” was around for about 10 years before the house was more permanently painted white with lead-based white paint in 1818. The nickname was only that — a nickname — until 1910 when Theodore Roosevelt made it’s official, iconic name that has remained to this day.