lottamoxie...I LOVE your home. It turned out just beautifully. Do you mind my asking what part of the country you live in?

What an inviting front porch! It looks great, and I love the door color choice.

Gorgeous home!!!! And the front door color is perfect!

LOVE your porch railings -- just wonderful!

Thanks so much for sharing!

Jan

What a charmer! I just love it!

I live in North Carolina in the Raleigh area. The front door will look a lot better once it gets the final paint and the blue painters tape is removed! ;-)

There are some houses that look great in white and this is one of them! Perfect!

It was the same color before (only really dirty and with bad Masonite). I tried to work out what other color the siding should be, went through various beiges, taupes, grays, dark, light...the consensus on this forum was that this house needed to be a light color and probably stay in the off-white or very light grayish category. The color I chose is off-white, with a grayish tone to it, but it still appears quite bright in person (and in pictures).

So the real changes will come then from the accessories like new shutter color and new front door color and maybe some other accessories I'm able to find to dress it up a bit.

BTW, that front door color you're seeing is the primer. You can see what the final color will be as you can see through the glass panels of the storm door to the main door behind it, which has the final color on it. The color of that storm door will also be the darker/richer red.

So charming! Everything looks beautiful.

Hey, I just saw your post on the city-data forum too! I'm in Chapel Hill and have been reading that forum occasionally since relocating 2 years ago...this one is more addicting than that one though.
Your house looks great!
Judy

lottamoxie your home is beautiful.

Your home is ever so charming, wish it were mine. What a lovely job you all have done. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Jmck! I've gotten addicted to this forum too. It was very helpful as I was trying to work through what color to paint that siding. The smart folks here helped me realize it needed to stay a light color.

Beautiful! It's turning out fantastic, what a wonderful classic look. Hang some boston ferns on the porch and a couple of pot of red geraniums ( if you get sun ) or red impatiens ( if you get shade ) and you're done. :)

We're also in NC, but a bit west of you. What color are you using for the shutters?

Hi Zipdee,

Those are the new shutters and they are black.

The porch stays in the shade so it will have to be red impatiens. And yes, a couple ferns too!

Today I am spray painting the rocking chairs glossy black.

Lottamoxie,
I got a beautiful fern at Lowes Foods this week for $3.50! They are trying to close out that stuff. I didn't really need another one, but couldn't pass up the deal. I'm sure I'll find a place for it.
Judy

"and the blue painters tape is removed"

thank God

my first thought was '2 reds outlined in blue?' then it hit me that it was painter's tape - lol!

then i saw this also: "that front door color you're seeing is the primer. You can see what the final color will be as you can see through the glass panels of the storm door to the main door behind it"

after I realized it wasn't going to be 'outlined' with blue, 2 toned red was no problem...

lol!

OMG. I love your railing. That is fantastic.

>>

Okay, cool! I was hoping you weren't going to change the shutter colors from black. It's going to look fantastic when your done. I really like the chippendale railings, they give your home so much character.

Those chippendale railings were on the house when I purchased it 3 yrs ago and I LOVE them. They're also on the back deck but the ones on the deck are getting replaced tomorrow because they're showing areas of rot and they are not up to code. I've chosen a simple rail & post for the back deck. But I will continue to keep the chippendale ones on the front--it gives this house character.

I knew the front door pic would confuse some folks, which is why I talked about the blue painters tape and also the fact that there are TWO doors--the storm door, with those clear glass panels (that's where the blue painters tape is) and that door is still only showing the primer, and then the solid 6 panel main door behind, which you can see through those glass panels of the storm door and see the darker red. That darker red will be put on the storm door tomorrow and also will be used on the door to the shed in my backyard.

Today I spray painted the 2 front porch rockers from green to glossy black so they now match the new shutters. Much better! Tomorrow I will look for some plants and things. It's going to be HOT her (100 degrees), so I don't know how much shopping I'll be in the mood to do.

I'll take updated pics of everything when it's done (tomorrow hopefully) and post so you can see the final/final of the house.

Any changce of getting a close=up head-on view of the railing? Hubby and I at some point in the future (samdwiched amongst all our other projects) are going to be building a deck and I'd love to use your railings for inspiration,

I lived in Raleigh several years ago. It was a pretty nice place to live.

Charming! Now let's see the 'Before' --

Oh well the before's not too bad because you can't see where the Masonite was failing and the pic was taken far back enough. The only truly visible changes unless you see it in person are the shutters (from green to black) and the color of the front door (from green to red), but here you go:

Those are being built today...they are plain vanilla parallel (NOT chippendale), with no toppers. This is a basic post & rail, on a budget. The old chippendale railings on the back deck are now removed and discarded. They were worn & rotted. I will take a pic when the carpenter is done with the new railings.

lotta, I love the colors you have chosen for the exterior of your home. Great job! I'm looking for exterior color/colors and I think your ideas have struck an idea or two for me. Even though it looks white I see a different shade on the body compared to the railings and trim. Just love your home!

I can't believe it. They were able to complete all the new rails & posts in ONE day! Here are the pictures of today's work. NEXT my painter will strip and sand the painted parts of the deck to take the remaining paint off, then stain/seal.

This is not yet finished, but just to show you the new rails/posts

{{!gwi}}{{!gwi}}

AND.... my rocking chairs are now glossy black

{{!gwi}}

I finished painting the storm door and this is how it all looks (now without the blue painters tape). Propped open to dry...

{{!gwi}}

The house is absolutely charming! I love everything you're doing. The red door is the perfect finishing touch and your rockers look great. I, too, love that classy railing. Cut doggy too, with a sweet face.

What's your next project?

Next project is getting new gutters & downspouts. I've gotten a couple quotes and am awaiting one more then will pull the trigger on that this week.

Also the deck is not yet finished; that will happen this week with the paint removal/sanding/sealing.

I would like some deck rail planter boxes and some red impatiens and some hanging plants (ferns) for the front.

Does it ever really end?

Okay here's the comparison from the older colors to what it looks like now. Remember, this job wasn't so much about changing the house color per se, it was really about replacing the old Masonite with new James Hardie fiber cement siding. However, new black shutters and new paint on the door were simple fixes to change things up to give it an updated look. Sure wish I could normalize the colors on both pics so the new one doesn't look so yellow and the older one doesn't look too blue. Oh well. You get the idea.

June 2007:

{{!gwi}}

June 2009

{{!gwi}}

pbrisjar,

You asked for a better view of the chippendale railing--here's a view of the railing from the side where it wraps around the front porch

{{!gwi}}

Oh wow. That's gorgeous and your house is wonderful! Other than my love for painted lady Victorians, your style of house is near the top of my wish list for a dream house. Alas, I am stuck in a California suburban tract home bungalow so I must do what I can to add charm and character.

Thank you soooo much for the pics of the railing. I'm going to save them it show it to Hubby.

Hmm, we were just talking about putting in a decorative fence in the front (mostly to keep the neighbor fogs off). I betcha this would work for that...

What a great job! I love the new paint colors, the house looks so fresh and inviting. I love your red door and the Chippendale railing!

Lottamoxie, I love your house, it is beautiful! The new paint colors are perfect and are so appealing. Will you please share with me where you bought your glass storm door? I've wanted one forever and can't seem to ever locate one.

Hi Honeychild,

That storm door was on the house when I purchased it 3 yrs ago. The house is now 21 yrs old, has had 5 owners before me, and I think that storm door has been on it most of the time, if not the entire 21 yrs.

Wow Lottamoxie (love the name btw) that is beautiful! I love the red you picked for the front door and your rockers look great in the glossy black! I really like that storm door as well! Raleigh is such a great area, we were just in NC at Lake Lure for a family get together with my in-laws and we drove right through Raleigh on the way there.

Kat :)