Do you have it yet...that feeling of Spring Fever? Well if you have it and it's making you want to tackle some outdoor home projects that have been put off for months, I'm saying it's now the prime season for house painting. Choosing paint color can be intimidating; it may take you weeks to decide on the look that you want for your exterior redo. So let's start planning now!
We purchased our house a little over a year ago. It was originally built in 1920 as a small raised bungalow. This is what the house looked like after priming it for the new paint job.
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| Primed and ready for fresh paint! |
I thought if nothing else, I wanted to paint over the black trim and the dark red door, but after a few months of living there I wanted to do much more than just that. The stucco was painted white, once, a loooooong time ago, and visibly repaired in a few places. It was in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint as you can see.
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| Painting prep: repair stucco cracks |
*It helps if you have a focus, or at least one color that you love and must have. Personalize the look, make it your own. In my case, it was the door. I just knew we had to have a bright yellow door. Narrowing it down to the specific shade of yellow came later!
*Think about the neighborhood. One option is to coordinate with your neighbors a bit since they are part of your curb appeal. Also, think about location. If you're near water, maybe you are inspired to create a palette based on cool blues of the sea or the beige colors of the sand. Maybe you're in a wooded area with lots of green and landscaping...then you would want to pick contrasting colors so that your house doesn't blend in too much and get lost in your surroundings. Living in a beachside community with close proximity to our neighbors, we decided to embrace the sand with our main color and contrast with crisp white trim that screams beach! We saved the bright colors for accents like the door, furniture, and (coming soon) accessories. Doing this made our house look bigger (yay!) and not stick out among the other neutrals on the block.
*Consider any special characteristics that you want to highlight...like ornate trim, or the ceiling of your porch. We brought in the surf with a light blue porch ceiling color. It's so relaxing sitting under there. Maybe you want to play up the colors of your roof? After taking a good look in daylight I realized our slate roof tiles weren't just blue-grey; they have lots of rich beige-brown in them. This totally helped with the paint decision. The main sand-beige paint color I chose for the stucco really brings out the color variations in our roof tiles. We've been getting plenty of compliments from people walking by who say they didn't realize we had a slate roof until the house was re-painted!
*When it came time to make color decisions we just painted samples directly on the house since it was white(ish). But painting samples on white foam core board will really help you decide where to put the color, and what colors to choose. Have fun with it!
*Relax...there's lots of other details that you can update easily if you're not ready to tackle a paint job: replace your house numbers/mailbox/doorknocker/hardware. These minor changes will create an overall makeover without breaking your budget or costing you lots of time.
We used Sherwin Williams Duration Exterior Paint (HIGHLY RECOMMEND) which was colormatched to these Benjamin Moore colors: Body- Alexandria Beige HC-77, Door- Bright Yellow 2022-30, Ceiling- Jamestown Blue HC-148, Floor- Tamarind AF-120, Trim-Frostine AF-5.
I loved every second of the planning, shopping, and paint swatching. I'm all smiles each time I come home and see our bright yellow front door. Trust me, this type of a makeover will have you feeling unbelievably fresh and happy...after all, the exterior of your house is something that you look at every day. My next project for Spring will be the porch. On my to-do list: redo the landscaping below, add planters on the railing filled with fresh flowers, buy bright new pillows on the sofa to pull the paint colors together, paint a rug on the floor, and accent with some candles or mirrored mobiles.
What's going to be your Spring Fever project? Let us know if we can help you with anything.
PS- I have a fantastic painter you can contact...!
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