Exterior Paint Colors

In 2010 we embarked on a complete residing of our exterior. It was a big project for us in all ways. I don't even want to remember how expensive it was, and to learn how much an intricate paint job was going to be... I'll never forget hearing those bids!

 

Needless to say, we survived and conquered! A few words of advice that we learned along the way: TEST SAMPLES. They are worth their weight in gold. The last thing you want to do is not be happy or have to repaint.

We knew we wanted to accent the brick, but not let the house feel too colonial. The other hurdle was playing up the timbering that we had, but was previously blending in.
Lastly, the saying "location, location, location" also applies here. The lighting conditions change the color of the paint... full sun, south facing, in shadow, cloudy, etc. So paint it and look at it during various times of day for a few weeks to check out how it changes. You'd be surprised!

Lastly, the "black" accent trim. Black itself is too harsh, so we went for a very dark blue to serve as black... If you want the look of "black" look at the darkest color on your paint chips if you want something more sublte and warm.

Test Location 1 (front of house, east facing)

Test Location 2 (south facing)

 

How did we do?

Rain, rain.... and more rain

Despite the "unusually wet" spring we've had (again) this year... work progresses. We had a fun meet-up this morning with another fellow Portland house fixer-upper, Jason from Portland FourSquare. He stopped by to check out our Marvin Tilt-Pacs. Which gives me ideas of other posts, including the various types of Marvin windows we have installed in the house. Hmm... In the meantime, here's more on what we've been up to here!

new entry fixture

MANY thanks to Chris at HardtoFindHouseParts

AND...

bedroom trim has been primed and paint color has been selected!

next project

Master Bedroom Sunporch!

This photo is of our painting progress this weekend. One last coat of trim paint and we'll be ready to paint the floor a nice gray. This room is off our Master Bedroom and we'll be using it as a private office retreat. It's a bit quirky and our budget is basically large enough to pay for paint (aka $0).

Visions for this room? Some low cabinets/ bookshelves under the windows, a big comfy chair for reading and some major desk space for both Joe and I to spread out and for all my crafty things to have an organized home. Oh, and Joe wants to put a small coffee maker up there for his insane coffee drinking habit.

The quirks of this room? The windows are hap-hazardly installed on 2 sides... the trimwork is mix-matched... there is no heat to this room... and the floor has a large crown (roughly 1" in the middle) where it straddles the exterior wall of the house below.

The previous homeowners of the house had this room as a bedroom for at least 1 person. Talk about COLD in the winter! You might remember this room as our temporary kitchen when we first moved in. You know, where the coffee pot froze...

so close, i can smell it

and the fumes of the idling truck in our driveway. but hey, that means that the painter is finally able to reach to hard to get places and working to finish up. sweeet! john and his wife have been at this for close to 5 or 6 weeks. i've lost count, working on off hours as a side job. the good news for them, they're on the home stretch.

i'm pretty sure he wants to be paid and done

when a 40'-0" ladder won't get you there...
an old pacific power bucket truck will... barely.

taken from our 3rd floor bedroom...

And then, there was light

Don't worry, this light is only a placeholder

It's a big day. The circuits have been landed and all systems are a go - the Master Suite has working power and lights. This is the first time ever, for that part of the house since we've moved in! Our alarm clock will no longer be powered by extension cord...

Master Bath Progress

David is kicking B-U-T-T when it comes to the carpentry and trimwork. We help were we can. Next will be installing the flooring and waterproofing/ tiling the shower. The waterproofing kit we ordered came with some missing pieces... so we're trying to make progress while we wait for the loose ends.