Many of you emailed me to say you still aren’t getting my blog emails, so I wanted to give y’all a little update. The email problem is happening all over blog land and there’s nothing I can do to fix it. I did what I know to do and it still didn’t help everyone. I’m suggesting that folks sign up to read their fave blogs thru Bloglovin or Digg or another reader service. I’m not sure this email problem will ever be fixed, it’s the email providers that are not letting them come thru.
It’s been 2 years since we bought my house and started renovations and one of the things on my to-do list has been to get the house painted. I wasn’t sure how long it would take, but this spring seemed to be the right time to hire that job out and just get it done. I got 3 bids for painting companies and chose the one I thought would be best and they came out and got it all pressure washed, rotten wood replaced, caulked, primed and painted. I am ecstatic with my house now, as you can imagine! All of those months of waiting paid off. We got the inside done and now it was time to move to the outside.
Just as a reference point, I paid $2800 for my whole house exterior paint job. I used a local company, but I am hesitant to share, because someone used them after I put them on here and was not happy with the outcome. They did a good job for me, but there were a couple of things that I didn’t like that they did, mainly not priming my front railings and new wood on the front porch. I know prices are different all over the country. My neighbors have certainly noticed the changes too!
Just as a reminder, I’ll show you the house when we first bought it so we can really appreciate the after shots. It’s come a long way baby! Wow, at the difference, it’s amazing to look back 2 years ago. How quickly we forget how far we have come!
I’m so happy with the paint color I chose. It’s Sherwin Williams Dovetail, with Pure White Trim. I don’t have room for shutters on all my windows, so with 2 colors on the house, I went deep and rich with the white trim as an accent and couldn’t be happier with the outcome.
Grays sometimes photographs with a purple hue, but I can assure you this is a true gray, rich and deep. My house isn’t sitting in Nantucket or Cape Cod, but I think it has a little bit of a coastal feel now with the new porch and paint.
Here’s a reminder of what the garage side of the house looked like with the rotten little red door. I had that replaced with a bigger one and what a difference on this side as well.
The garage side looks so much better too with the garage doors painted gray as well. This end of the house really has come a long ways too. I’ll be tackling that retaining wall when the front yard landscaping is finished and at least get a good coat of stucco paint on it to make it look better. In fact, the folks working on my landscaping are going to add a drain to that wall to take the water pressure off of it. It’s already leaning and we are trying to save it in the long run, so it needs a way to have water drain out. Houses are always a work in progress, aren’t they?
The front of my house has changed so much overall and I am SO happy with the new front portico. I had that built right before Christmas, if you missed it and knew that getting the whole house painted in the spring would change everything and it certainly did.
They used a Sherwin Williams solid stain matched to Dovetail for the porch floor and steps. All the other trim and railings is Pure White, which is the same trim color I used inside my house. It doesn’t show up as vibrant, but I just painted the front door in a beautiful turquoise.
Side view of the porch. Next week the landscape process begins and I am jumping up and down over that too! The sides of the porch will be hidden once plants go in. We’re going to tackle the fireplace too and disguise it from the floating feel it has now.
This will all change soon as plants get installed.
Here’s a shot of the new turquoise door and it really is bright and pretty, it’s just hard to capture it with the morning light and shadows. I painted the porch ceiling the same as my screened porch ceiling, Rainwashed by Sherwin Williams. It’s a light blue and very subtle.
If you missed yesterday’s post about the front door color, it tells all about the paint color (colormatched to Annie Sloan Florence) and how I did it all.
New Welcome mat from Target in vibrant colors.
With the storm door propped open, you can see the new turquoise better.
I love how it turned out and I will go back and add a quick poly coat of satin just to give it a little protection and less of a chalky feel. Inside the storm door, it will be protected anyway. I love my leaded glass door and so happy that I have it. It adds just that cottage touch to my house and I really wanted to achieve and now with the front porch, I do have that cottage feel. You can see I have a little bit of hole patching to do where my old light fixture was.
Did you notice the new fixture? I knew you would!
A big THANKS to Ballard Designs for providing this fixture for me. It’s a beautiful addition to my front porch. With the seeded glass and bronze body, it really adds a nice touch to the porch. At first, I wasn’t going to change that light out, but the more I looked at the old one, it just needed to be a bit bigger and I knew a hanging pendant would be the icing on the cake. The fact that Ballard Designs provided the fixture was extra special. I had my electrician hang it for me.
So, that’s the tour of the new house exterior paint project. You can imagine how excited I am about all of this. A dream come true for sure to have this done 2 years later. And wouldn’t you know it, my AC unit just went out and it’s the original, 35 years and counting so time for a new one. I’m just thanking the Lord that I have the money to pay for a new one!
Life is good and I’m loving my cute house!
Rhoda, love, love, love the new look of your home!! The grey/white color scheme is so crisp and fresh looking. I agree with the commenter above that white trim and corbels along the bottom of the jut out on the front of the house would add even more of a cottage feel and white shutters on the windows above would be the icing on the cake! As you know, it’s all in the details to create the look and feel that you want and I think these fairly inexpensive additions would really enhance that cottage look you’re going for. You might even want to consider adding a corbel supported trellis (for esthetic purposes only, not for plants) across the top of the garage doors to tie in with the front and add even more detail. Whatever you decide to do, it looks great and can’t wait to see the finished product with the landscaping!
Oops, just noticed you have another jut out over the garage doors so a trellis might not be possible.Bet something could be worked out to add interest to that end of the house though. Just have to get innovative!
LOVE LOVE Dovetail!! Just painted my daughters room in this color. Used a beautiful yellow for some small furniture pieces and a spray painted lamp. Crisp white for trim.
Onto the main living areas of the house with a lighter shade of SW. Your blog is my go to for any questions I may have on a new project. I too have a 70s house….ugh then…….LOVE now!!!
Thanks!!
Rhoda, it all looks fabulous! Your dad may be proud of you but so am I! I think you should have your own show on HGTV. There would be thousands of us who wouldn’t miss an episode!
I don’t think the turquoise goes with theody color of the house, JMO, but otherwise, the house looks fantastic with all the improvements you’ve made. Can’t wait for the landscaping to complete the look!! Well done!
Rhoda, I love the paint colors, the turquoise door with the gray is gorgeous. Isn’t it amazing how paint can transform a home from okay to WOW!!
Rhoda, your home is looking so lovely! A friend of mine just moved to Atlanta from here in the Chicago suburbs and we were so shocked at how much home you can get for your money there. Prices are ridiculous here! I am loving the front door color too! Can’t wait to see more.
xoxo Michelle
Watching your journey with this house and seeing all the love you and your parents have put into is wonderful. I can’t believe it’s been 2 years already! The new color does look perfect. And yes, they are always a work in progress. Something always needs attention or maintenance. Great price on the painting! We paid more than that for the little cottage. Our home needs a fresh paint job this Summer but I know it’s going to be about $6000 for the work so it might be waiting until next Summer 😉 I hope the new AC unit isn’t too, too much!!
Oh Rhoda, it looks fabulous! I love the bright turquoise door. I’m a painter, and I believe there’s nothing like fresh paint to instantly upgrade a place! Gray wasn’t my favorite color, but I really like this gray and I think it is rich and very attractive! The place is looking wonderful! Blessings, Linda
Rhoda, LOVE the new house color and the pop of the turquoise is fabulous…You got a great price on the paint job too…I’m jealous at how less expensive work is in the South.
I can’t wait to see the new landscaping, your home has come a long way in such a short time and the landscaping will be the icing on the cake!
I just love your blog! I look forward to every nudging email informing me of new status. I always get such wonderful ideas…but mostly I get inspired to see what you’ve accomplished on your own – with help from your AWESOME Dad! Happy Mother’s Day to you, your sister, and your Mom….
Squeal!!! Oh my goodness Rhoda love love love the new exterior paint job and the porch too!!! So beautiful!!! So classy but I wouldn’t expect anything less from my sweet friend Rhoda! You know how to make a place look absolutely stunning!!!
I have really enjoyed watching the transformation of your house. It is inspiring to watch how you took a house that needed so much and made it over into something just beautiful. Whenever I need inspiration for my own house, I can always find it here. I wish I had your touch.
it looks amazing, Rhoda!! Love the gray against the white trim. The new porch adds so much ! Can’t wait to see how the landscaping changes things! 🙂
Hi Rhoda….so glad to find that I wasn’t the only one who suddenly realized I hadn’t heard from you in so long…..will check about downloading bloglovin – may be other blogs that I’m missing also. Love your new exterior colors and you’re entire home is just lovely. We downsized two years ago and are still working on projects every day – much smaller house, much larger yard (what were we thinking)! After this past horrid winter, I’m replacing numerous shrubbery that didn’t live through our frigid temps and full-winter snow which is not the norm.
Looks amazing, we are painting our house dovetail too. What color is your blue ceiling pain?
I love that
HI, EMily, my ceiling is Rainwashed by Sherwin Williams.