Bolder! Terracotta and ivory. That would look good with Texas limestone. I wouldn't do black windows with terracotta though. What if instead of black trim (ivory would go with the limetstone when you get it), you did it a darker brown?

Wow- that place has a boatload of possibilities and you're already doing great! What a fun house to work on.

Before I even looked at your pictures, I thought of all the wonderful cottages in Cottage Living Magazine that show black windows - either the grills or sashes or both. Personally I love the look and when it's well thought out with other colors or neutrals, it's a classic look. I'm not familiar with the look of the rock you mention, but I've seen many stone houses with black windows and it looks great. The key is placing that black in other areas like plant pots, or porch lights and not overdoing it - keep it as an architectural accent.

I understand the low upkeep thing - we just did vinyl shake siding on our whole house. White is sometimes harder to work with when you are planning to go in a more earthy direction with stone. Not sure if that's staying long term or just for now. You could paint the block so many colors and have it work in the meantime. Check out the range of colors in Ben Mo historical Colors, particularly the mid to deeper tones from about HC 77 to HC109. Not all of them but there are many in that range that would look great. HC-86 could be yum!

Thanks for the replies!

Rob333 - so, you think painting the building terra cotta & the trim ivory or dark brown? Would this work with the white siding on the eaves & porch?

dlm2000 - Texas limestone is a rough cut, off white stone usually cut in blocks - more like bricks than flagstone. What color is HC-86???? The white siding IS a problem, but it's here and we've got so many other places to spend time & money. In a few years when we prepare to move here full time, we'll probably replace it once the stone is picked. Who knows - it we find a paint that looks great, we may decide to keep both the painted block & the siding....... wouldn't that be great!

Really appreciate the input!

I don't really have an opinion on the outside (Hard to tell details in that photo,) but I wanted to tell you that it looks like you have a wonderful property! The changes you have made to the inside are really nice. Love that kitchen!

Do you have photos of your lake view?

Yes, yes I was. I just thought, what the heck, it's a home you can come and go from, so go hog wild! You have carte blanche and why not do it "less" than traditional. Terracotta to me says earthy, woodsey, and just plain outdoors. Outdoors=weekends. To me anyhow. I think you could do anything you wanted and it'd still look good; it has a nice foundation to work with. The sky is the limit on this one. I'd photoshop it for you, but it's really hectic today!!!!!!!!!

newhomebuilder - here's a link to the view. Thanks for your nice comments about the interior updates. We've been doing everything craigslist, close-out or garage sale, so we're just sort of making things work together! It's a cool little house though - the west wall is built into a hillside & it's loaded with casement windows so we've got good views from every room.

rob333 - Thanks for clarifying. I am going to look at paints this week & will keep an open mind to the hog wild!!! We are so tired of sanding & priming those panes & we're only doing one small section to test paint color on. The living room alone has 120 little panes - or should I say "pains"...... this is going to be the most tedious project yet. Even worse than the bathroom!

Here is a link that might be useful:

Beautiful setting!

What a lovely property! Just yesterday I was watching a show on tv and these folks redid their lakefront cottage...painted the exterior in a pretty deep sage green, white trim & black accents (mailbox, porch lights, planters, etc.It was strikingly beautiful. Their cottage was a 2 story, so they painted the 1st floor siding in the sage & put shakes in the same color for the top half. Lucky you residing on that pretty lake!!

Found a suggestion on Cottage Living's website for a waterfront home that looked a bit like yours:

"Try Sherwin Williams Exterior Preservation Palette SW2852 Plymouth Green and SW2865 Classical Yellow"

Great suggestions - I will look at those this week when we go paint picking.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the roof is green metal. I know... that's a BIG thing. That will probably make green a no-go? It's more of a faded dusty green - not mossy or sagey. You can see the green astro turf on the porch that looks pretty accurate for comparison. So, the things we're forced to work with are: green roof, white siding on the eaves and porch & probably black casement windows.

We are painting a small bank of windows black this morning as a test. Another thing we thought about is that the interior panes are already black so if we do get a little outside the lines, it won't be a glaring mistake like it is now with the white on the outside. Also, we do have black vintage porch furniture that will serve as an accent.

Pardon the mess on the porch - it's a work day around here!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

I also have a lake house and when we bought it the owners had just painted it a bright yellow with white trim. Since it's surrounded by the lake and mountains, I couldn't stand the glaring colors of the house so, being an artist, I knew I could change it by glazing it with a semi solid stain. We chose a dark barn red and applied it with large sponges. It was a breeze and knocked the color down to a great dull barn red. We used a tan for all the window trim and did the roof pitch and the door a forest green. That's a Maine look. You could so the same treatment in a fourth the time of painting the house and then do the trim in real paint since some day you're planning on changing it. You have a wonderful house there. I'd love to see the progress when it happens. Good luck!

yayagal - That sounds like an interesting technique. Do you have a picture? Would love to see it.

I love your house guvnah!

Am I remembering right that you had a antique store in Forreston?

Hi marti8a!!!! Yep - it's me. Still live in your area & the old bank building is still ours. Hoping that it does sell at some point though! We are thinking that we might open it up and do a fall/Christmas sale to empty it because maybe lookers can't see beyond the fact that it's currently an antique store? Now, before I get in trouble for not moving this to the buying & selling forum....

We stumbled across this little lake house online & could not pass it up. We hope to retire there when the time comes. In the meantime, it's only about 2 hours and we're sort of enjoying the challenge. That is until we got to these windows... there are a million of them and they all need sanding & priming before painting.

Nice hearing from you!!!!

We also have a lake house that will need major attention next year. It's in pretty good shape, but needs a paint job badly. We'd love to re-side it, but that won't be in the budget for a few more years. Any thoughts on color combos? This blue/gray is not my style. There are many homes on the lake. Many are white, many are beige, many are blah! There are a couple that are a navy blue with white/cream trim. Those really stand out and are beautiful, but our house sits back from the water quite far and gets lost in the shadows. Please let me know what you think. The pic is from winter, I'll try to get a summer pic posted.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lakehouse

Here's the summer pic...

Here is a link that might be useful: Lakehouse summer