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Painting partial exterior of house, colors

Lars
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago

I added this to my project book here and got some good information on colors - it identified the color I chose as BM "Gentleman's Gray", but I may use a different brand. Anyway, here are some photos to show my existing house color and the color I chose for the existing white woodwork:

This is a before photo, showing the white color; old photo before we replaced the gutters.

Proposed color:

Same photo with "teal" color added.

Another before photo:


And another proposed photo:

Here's another before photo showing how the woodwork wraps around the left side:
As you can see, it does not extend very far towards the back of the house - only a foot or two. I have not Photoshopped this photo, as I though the previous two were sufficient. [Note: It is difficult to photograph this view of the house because it faces north and is normally backlit with a bad glare, except on cloudy days.)

My brother and I have already removed the shelf that was under the windows, as we never used it. However, we discovered that it was probably original to the house, built in 1950, as it is solid redwood and quite heavy. We will be using this wood for another project, possibly a bench. We will also be getting rid of the faux shutters, which we never liked, and I think painting the wood a dark color and leaving the trim white will make up for the loss of contrast. My brother originally wanted to leave the garage door white, but I talked him out of that. We'll also paint the gate to match - it is already a dark color but needs to be repainted also.

Now my brother is talking about painting the stucco part of the house, but it does not need it, and we have plenty of paint to maintain it as it is. It is not one of my favorite colors, but I think it looks okay with the teal color and even Houzz recommended an almost identical color as a companion color for the teal.

I am wondering if we should add more framing around the front windows - there are two on the front and one on the side next to the entrance. I guess we could do this later, but if it's not necessary, I would rather not bother.

My other issue is that I have not seen examples of houses that are stucco at the bottom with vertically planked wood at the top where the wood is painted a darker color than the bottom. Should I be concerned about this? I did not put the grooves of the planking back in the photos when I added the teal color, and I think this will also add more interest. Also, I did not compensate for shadows from the eaves. BTW, I will be keeping the eaves white and only the vertical portion of the facade will change color.

If I'm making any glaring mistakes, please let me know! I did finally get a bid from a local painter, but he has not confirmed a date for me. When I asked for a bid from him, he was working on a house a down the street from, about ten doors down, and so I've been able to inspect his work. The woman who owns this house has lived in this neighborhood for decades (Her husband is a pilot for AA), but they have moved to another house and they are renting the house on my street. I did get to meet her last Sunday, and she knows everyone in the neighborhood, including the people on the street behind us.

I would be interested in seeing any examples of houses with stucco bottoms with painted wood above (not natural or stained wood, which I have been able to find). I am curious what other people do in my situation. I might consider painting the stucco a different color sometime in the future.

Comments (59)

  • House Vixen
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Hi Lars --

    Wow, the teal creates an amazing backdrop for your lovely yard.

    I'm on the fence about it being "top-heavy" with the beige, but DON'T want you to flip it as the top half of the house is much more prominent. Unless you repaint the upper half, that is!

    So...team Lars' brother?

    I know it's more work and more money to paint the stucco too, but I think you're going to be so much happier if you go with -- at minimum -- a deeper-than-current color, or one that's closer to the value of the teal.

    These are all for bottom-half potential colors.

    For pic below:

    • Does the bright rust fall too close to your "NO MORE BROWN!" line? I'm not worried about it against the front door, but the brick steps might need to be painted out.
    • The deep blue-greens here would create a more blended look for the house, and I don't know if you want to keep a higher-contrast look.
    • Since you love color, I have to say the pea green and tangerine would echo the landscaping colors and look amazing against a California-blue sky.

    Cognac, tangerine, and butter yellow energize muted shades (deep warm blue, slat · More Info

    For below -- again, maybe TOO BROWN [ducks] but I generally love teals with that sort of "old moss" shade of greenish-brown -- the boulders below convey that type of look.

    Adirondack Mountains · More Info

    In general I'm also a little intrigued by how a medium grey would work. I think you could skew warm or cool-toned against the teal and mahogany door, so it would come down to experimenting and preference.

    Lars thanked House Vixen
  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Thanks! I think we may start with just painting the top part and then change the stucco color if we end up hating it. Anyway, the top part needs to be painted fairly soon, as the paint is peeling and it looks like there is mold at the top of the gable.

    Here are views of the NE side of the house (note the morning sun) - the front of the house faces NW. The house is pretty much on a 45 degree angle from N-S. The corner with the gutter you see here points north.

    This photo was taken from the neighbor's driveway and it probably the worst view of the house. It looks particularly fragmented from this view and could possibly benefit from being just one color - especially from this side. However, the entrance and driveway are on the other side, and so we seldom look at this view of the house. I don't think I want the whole house to be dark as that could raise our A/C cost. Heating costs are minimal, since we have springlike winters.

    Here's another house across the street with a white bottom and darker top:

    This house is two doors down from us, opposite the other blue house I showed, but this one is next door to the Centinela Adobe, which is a small park that has a museum that is open only on Sunday from 2-4 PM.

    BTW, my brother moved in with me in Venice, shortly after his divorce, as he was very depressed, and I wanted to help him get over it. He had moved to NY with her soon after they married so that he could get his MFA at SUNY Albany. He did not like the winters there, and after he got his degree, they moved back to Austin. When they got divorced ten years later, DB thought he should move to Manhattan to pursue a career as an artist, but I told him he could be an artist just as easily in Los Angeles, and he has had shows here. I don't think he really liked the NY art scene anyway. When I was doing fashion design, I had to sell mostly in NY, and I did not like the fashion scene there either, and so I changed careers. I was living in San Francisco at that time and I moved to Austin to get an Interior Design degree, but instead of becoming an interior designer, I got a job at a furniture company and have been designing furniture instead.

    I think that replacing the beige with a pale green might be nice - sort of like the green lettering used for the Adirondack poster.

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  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Here is a quickie, didn't get the colors right and you can ignore the landscape. This is just one idea so don't panic lol.


    Lars thanked just_terrilynn
  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Thanks, Justerrilynn, but the white garage would not work, since it wraps around to the back of the house - it is not a separate building. Also, white is what I want to get rid of!

    The house looks nice as all blue, and there are several houses on the street that look like that, but they are all stucco and not a combination of wood and stucco.

    Here's a photo of the back of the house:

    Photo from July 2010, right after we stained the concrete patio. The garage is on the left behind the hot tub, and that shows how deep the house used to be - there was a straight line from the back of the garage to the other side of the house, and everything that is now beyond that was added on. When the house was built in 1950, it was half the size it is now, but all houses in this neighborhoods were built with extremely deep back yards so that extensions could be built. Anyway, the garage is part of the original house and the walls of the garage are continuous with the house. It would not make sense to have the garage a different color from the house. We replaced the white door to the garage (it was hung on the wrong side) and painted it to match the cover of the hot tub - not a color I like, but I'm okay with it outdoors as it reminds me of dirt, or the red soil of Utah. It also reminds me a bit of Tuscany, and I think it was a good color for the fountains that we added. However, I want less of this color now instead of more. I want to cover the concrete patio with tile, and I might go with Saltillo tile even though it is this same color, but for an outdoor patio, I think it is fine. I'm okay with the color on the ground or even on a floor, but I would not want it on a wall. I made an exception with the back garage door because I wanted a simpler palette. Also, I think it looks good with the green of the back yard. You can sort of see that the white back door of the garage is a bit blinding, and it really did hurt my eyes before we got a darker door. The patio is SW and SE of the house, and before we stained the concrete (it was white before), it was impossible to go outside without wearing very dark glasses. We get intense sunlight pretty much all year, even though it is not hot in the summer (except for a few days), and this is especially evident in the back yard.

    Here's the back door to the garage, painted, but not rehung:

  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Okay. This was my inspiration but there are other ideas to try.

    I live in Florida where no one is concious of separating paint colors by house materials so it must be different here. Not to say some don't it's just that it is not overly considered.

    I'm not sure where these homes are located as I found them on a search... a variation of these in a shade you like would look nice. All one color.


    My own home has a cbs/stucco bottom and wood paneling on top. It is almost the same color, I just picked one shade darker on the same chit for the top. There are many part stucco part wood paneling homes in this neighborhood. No one here does the chopped up color scheme but that might be regional . There are a few with white garage doors but most either have them the same color of the house or a shade or two lighter on the same house paint color chit.

    This is an old picture before remodel was complete...before finished landscape and new lighting/post.

    This colors would be to boring for you but it's ok with me as my landscape is colorful,

    I don't love the exterior style of my home so my goal was to bring attention away from it to the colorful plantings.

    My door has color though. I would like to change the style though...however, that pesty hurricane glass is $$$$$

    I LOVE your door!

    Lars thanked just_terrilynn
  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    I think you are right about there being regional differences. Also, northern California is very different from southern California in the way house exteriors are painted. I often find it difficult to respond to people on this forum when I have no idea what region of the country they live in.

    I might not be painting my house two different colors if the whole house did not need to be painted, and I want to paint only what is necessary at this point, although the paint on the garage door is not in bad shape. Still, I do not want it to be white any more. In general, I don't like to change things unless I have to, or unless I hate them. I will tolerate things I don't hate just not to have the spend the money.

    If I had a tile roof like yours, my choices would also be different, but I do not need a new roof at this time. I do like your roof a lot better than mine, however.

    I sent photos to the painter, and I'm going to see what he thinks about it. He grew up near here (Culver City) and has been in this neighborhood for a very long time. Culver City is adjacent (and more expensive), but Westchester (where he and I now live) has bigger houses and is quieter.

    Your yard looks very lush and green - we only have consistently lush yards around here in the winter when it rains. In the summer and fall, they often turn brown, but since our drought is over, people might go back to watering their yards in the summer. I especially like your cannas - I used to have some but they require quite a bit of water.

  • PRO
    Anglophilia
    6 years ago

    Paint the entire house a light, neutral color. It's a small, simple house - not a house to go crazy "making a statement" with paint color. Make you statement with glorious, colorful landscaping - easy to do in LA.

  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    It's already a light neutral color, and I'm bored with it.

  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I wonder if when it came time for the neighbors to paint their homes they became stumped. What followed was everyone sort of doing a bad copy of each other but using a different broken up color scheme.

    Live on the edge Lars lol break that bad cycle.

    Don't be squeaky paint the whole thing and be done with it.

    If one side of your head hair grew faster than the other would you just get one side cut & styled?

    Same thing.

  • House Vixen
    6 years ago

    Agree -- time for you two LA creatives to get the party started!

  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Since I also cut my own hair, I do just cut one side if that is all that is needed. I have not been to a stylist in over ten years. I use two mirrors when I cut my hair - one is a standing mirror that I put in front of my bathroom mirror so that I can see the back. To cut the left side of my head, I use left-handed scissors in my left hand, and I taught myself to be ambidextrous - not an easy feat when you are looking into two mirrors at the same time, which is confusing enough even while cutting with my right hand.

    This should give you an idea of how much a conformist I am.

    BTW, in my neighborhood, most people have a two-toned color scheme, and so it does not look odd whether a house is one color or two - both are represented here. The one color houses tend to look less interesting. People here also do the opposite of copying what their neighbors do, partly because there are only four house plans on this street, and people want to personalize their facades.

  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Okay Lars lol but I have to say I'm a bit disappointed at your unwillingness as a creative person to break the mold. I was even picturing a sculpture out there with your very nice colorful landscaping.

    However, I'm glad you cut your long bits.

    Sorry, this hairdo cracks me up.

  • pennydesign
    6 years ago

    What about Hale Navy? It's a blue that's pretty neutral and goes with just about any color. Once the top is done, you might think about doing a nice gray on the bottom...

  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    There is no mold to break - the houses on my street all look different - some are two-toned and some are now.

  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago

    Okay I looked and beg to differ.

  • elohbee
    6 years ago

    I can get on board with teal siding, but I'm not digging the teal garage door. It makes the front of the house look too choppy and it really highlights the garage door, which should not be your best architectural feature! I vote beige garage door to match the stucco.

  • House Vixen
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Hi again Lars --

    Sooooo, I have a barely outside-the-box question.

    What if you painted the stucco around the front door, the garage, and the garage door the same color as the TBD upper wood color?

    So on the NE side of the house you'd have your partial upper "wrap" of let's say the teal, then on the side perpendicular to the front you'd have your lower "wrap" of the beige or TBD color #2.

    Personally I don't think it would create too much of a massing on the right given how you have your pretty door and windows in the recessed section and a nicely scaled garage. And it would let you blend in the garage door without resorting to more beige!

  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    I do not plan to paint any stucco at this time. If I painted any, I would have to paint all of it, and that is not necessary at this point. To paint around the front door and around the garage door, I would have to stop at a stucco corner and have two different colors of stucco butting each other, and that is not something I want. One thing I do not like is that on the NE side, the woodwork stops at the stucco without a vertical molding, and this would be the only place where the teal would be adjacent to the beige stucco without a white molding separating them.

    I am sort of on the fence about whether to paint the garage door teal or beige, but if I paint it a color I do not like, I would be able to repaint it myself, and so I'm not terribly concerned about that.

    As for breaking molds, I'm not sure what you mean by that, but if you mean that I should paint my house all one color, that would be the opposite of breaking a mold, since many people in my neighborhood have done that and I find it boring.

    Here's a photo of how I cut and dyed my hair November 2002 when I still lived in Venice:

    This is just to give you an idea of how much I like color. BTW, I really like the half-Afro haircut. I was very much into styles like that in the 1980s.

  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Groovy Lars! My aunt sent some pictures of me in 1982 83' a few days ago, oh the hair and shoulder pads lol.

    Anyway, how about applying some skinny bands on garage to line up with the other side? Then, paint the garage door and the section above the same tealish as the upper on the other side. It's not ideal but it might look good and be less choppy.

    Could you mock that up? I'm on my cell so can't manage it. It would only take about an hour and a half to apply molding and paint yourself. Longer if you do the strip in a masonry style from a Lowes kit. I know you don't want to paint stucco but that is just a tiny little bit.

    Lars thanked just_terrilynn
  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    That's an interesting idea. I'll mock it up later today. I've always been a bit unsettled by the choppiness of the the house. If I were going to do that, I would want to add wood paneling to those sections, to make the texture the same.

    The painter is supposed to start week after next, and so that part might not get done right away, but it would be a fairly easy fix later on. I'll have to see how the mock-up looks.

  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Here are the new renderings:

    Not sure which garage door I like better, but I could leave it white and paint it later. My main concern with this configuration is that the teal would stop just beyond the right gutter at the corner of the wall, and then the wall on the next side would remain beige. I would probably want to put a white trim on that corner, so that all of the teal would be bordered with white.
    I think this was a very good suggestion, as it makes the house look less choppy. I'll have to think about whether I need to cover all of this area with wood, as that would be difficult behind the gutter, but it might not be necessary.

    I also like the way my house numbers stand out against the teal. They were quite expensive numbers - about $65 per number, I think, and this would show them off better.

  • chispa
    6 years ago

    I'm in the LA area and I see plenty of houses painted one color, regardless of the materials used on the exterior. It provides interest and depth, to a monochromatic paint job, with the different textures of the materials. I see few houses done with blocked colors as shown in Lars' photos ... but my area might be more traditional, and less trend setting, with their paint color choices.

    Lars thanked chispa
  • chickadee2_gw
    6 years ago

    If you don't want to paint all the stucco, my vote is for the latest option. I think that looks very nice. Balances things out.

    Lars thanked chickadee2_gw
  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Hey Lars, that looks a lot better to me because there is one sight line across instead of my eye rolling around. I like the beige door. Did you try the door in teal? If so, what did that look like?

    The wood up there isn't necessary. It would look good with as well as without.

    Agree your numbers look great on the teal!

    Another idea...how about a faux weathered wood look garage door that would mesh with the beige?

    A little more beige than this example but some depth with color variation might look good. Not too heavy on the grain as you would not want it to clash with the front door. A light touch. That way you wouldn't be stuck with a full on beige that you hate. And, lucky you with two artists in the house to pull it off.

  • Louise McCarthy
    6 years ago

    I don't have any advice but I LOVE that teal :)

    Lars thanked Louise McCarthy
  • Bunny
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I love the teal, too, but not the rendition on the garage. If you keep the garage door beige, it looks like a bar chart to me.

  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Here it is with a teal garage door:

    There's a good chance we will do this in stages, painting what it urgent first, and then we can add more later if we feel it needs it. My brother and I could paint the garage and entrance part ourselves - the other upper portions would be difficult, and I could not paint the gable parts myself.

    As we drove through our neighborhood on the way to Trader Joe's, I saw a house that is pretty much identical to ours about three blocks away, and it was repainted blue with dark blue on the wood (including the garage door and shelf) and a light blue on the stucco. I'll have to take a photo of it tomorrow - it was too hot today to walk over there, and we decided to stay inside today, since it was 90° outside - very hot for this neighborhood. It should be cooler tomorrow, but it's been hot for three days now.

    I also made a point to notice how other people in the neighborhood had painted their garage doors, and they were all different. Some were dark, some were a different color altogether, and some were just a dark wood. I checked our own garage door, and it is indeed solid redwood, unpainted from the inside.

  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    That looks nice as well Lars!

    Linelle, what's a bar chart?

    Are you talking this?

    (((()))))Or, this?)))))))))

    Lars thanked just_terrilynn
  • Olychick
    6 years ago

    Great suggestion JTL! Either of those last two renditions look so much better than before, with the teal on the garage side, too. Love that color, esp with the front door.

    Lars thanked Olychick
  • Bunny
    6 years ago

    JTL, you crack me up!

    I've been looking at website stats all day (in the form of bar charts, the vertical block kind) so that's all I can see at this point.

  • chickadee2_gw
    6 years ago

    Lars, I'll bet you're going to start a trend, and you'll begin to see more color on your street.

    Lars thanked chickadee2_gw
  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Today we took a tour of our immediate neighborhood and drove around the block taking photos. The block is quite long, and the photos include houses on the street behind us, which were built at the same time as ours. One thing I did notice is that we did seem to have started a trend with house numbers, as I found at least four houses with new house numbers that are exactly the same as ours, and these were not there when we put ours up. I did see house numbers similar to mine in Venice, and that's sort of where I got the inspiration, but it seems to be spreading in Westchester now.

    Anyway, here are the neighbor houses photos:

    House pretty much identical to ours in its 1950 plan in mirror image; here's another view of same house
    The door used to be mahogany, and I have no idea why they painted it. (BTW, I took these photos on garage collection day, and so you will see more trash cans than you normally would.

    This house is pretty much identical to mine, and they chose a dark blue for the top and the garage door plus the shelf, which they have kept. It looks like they need to repaint also. They added a concrete screen in front which I do not like at all - it looks like it belongs in Palm Springs. Plus they have some sort of iron security door, very rare in this neighborhood. They must be especially paranoid, like the Japanese woman who lives next door to me and also has one of these doors.
    I photographed this house because it shows what happens when you have a different color on a wall that wraps around from the front. I don't mind when inside corners change colors, but for some reason, it bothers me when outside corners change colors. They also have an ugly security door.
    This is one of the houses that has copied the house numbers I used. They also share part of my back wall and they planted a pomegranate tree that has been dropping pomegranates into my pergola - when the squirrels don't get them.
    Here's another one that did the same thing. Note that they have a darker color on top, although they did keep the garage door white.
    This house is just down the street from me - they also now have the same kind of house numbers I do, and they also have an outside corner where the color changes, although at least they put a white trim there.
    Another photo of the same house, showing how they kept the woodwork one color and the stucco another color, but they did keep the garage white.

    We went to Home Depot today as well and picked out a color we like for the exterior wood: Tsunami. The paint chip looks completely different from the on-line sample, but I am inclined to believe the paint chip.

  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Hi Lars, I really like the way this house did that fencing thing to match the garage door so the eye moves out a bit. Don't love the whole house but I think that part was smart.

    Your neighborhood looks very charming!

    I think your house will look the best when you are done.

    It will look the BEST but still blend without the chop.

    How could it not with you creative mind?

    Lars thanked just_terrilynn
  • chickadee2_gw
    6 years ago

    If you think you'll probably paint that section above the garage teal eventually, why not just let the painter do it now? It's a small section and he's already there with his ladders. It won't take him very long and shouldn't cost much more at all. You can always add the wood later if you think it needs it. What if you put it off too long, and then you start to wonder if the teal on the other side has faded when the garage side is freshly painted? Just get it done and enjoy it. Carpe diem!

  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    My brother is against painting it teal at all, which is why we will wait, and so I do not think that we will probably paint the section above the garage teal eventually. We might, and we might not, but I would rather do it myself and when I am ready rather than be rushed into it. If we do decide it needs to be painted, we will paint it ourselves fairly soon and do not need to spend the money on the painter. I really do not like the idea of the teal ending on an outside corner, especially after seeing how that effect looks on other houses in the neighborhood. It will also be impossible to get a wood trim to go behind out fairly new gutter on the right of the house.

  • PRO
    Lars/J. Robert Scott
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    As an update - the painter will be starting tomorrow (Wednesday Sept 20), and he told me that he uses Sherwin Williams paints. Therefore I had to reselect the color. It was easy to pick a white - I chose Origami White, which I've used before. This white blends with most of the whites on our exterior, even though we have several shades of white already. Eventually I will change them all to Origami. Anyway, SW did not have a color to match the teal that I had chosen from Behr color samples, and so we settled on their "Really Teal" SW 6489. It looks more green on the computer screen than the sample does, but it is slightly more green than my original choice. However, my brother prefers it, and it is not quite as dark as my first choice, which I did think was a bit too dark. I considered having custom samples made but then decided that it would cause too much delay and cost, and I am okay with the Really Teal color. My brother loves it, and I think it will be okay. I told him that if we don't like it, it will be on him. The painter thanked me for confirming a color choice - I guess a lot of people take more time deciding. I could have done this also, but I don't think the result would have been significantly better, although it may have been even more individual.

    Once my house is painted, it will make it easier for me to find it on the street. Even though my landscaping is unique for this street, I still sometimes drive past my house. I've done this pretty much everywhere I've lived, however.

    I will say that for color choices, I much prefer Benjamin Moore, and I wish the painted would have used that brand instead. I also like Behr choices better. I have a feeling that SW paint is cheaper, but he said he would use paint that is mildew resistant, and I do have mildew on my house at the moment.

  • just_terrilynn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Lars, I love that color! In fact, I think it's nicer than the 1st choice.

  • PRO
    Lars/J. Robert Scott
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I like it also, and I think in the end that I will like it better than my first choice as well. I'll post photos after the house is finished, probably next week.

  • aprilneverends
    6 years ago

    I'm like Louise-can't suggest anything but am following the thread with great interest..am stuck on the garage door..also love that teal, it reads very upbeat(actually took a photo in Hawaii just to remember a color, with a wall like that)..and waiting for the update!

  • PRO
    Lars/J. Robert Scott
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Rain this morning, and so I guess they will not be able to paint. Yesterday their power washing revealed what looked to me like termite damage on one of the wood panels on the front of the house, and that panel will need to be replaced, but I do not think that is in their contract. In fact, very little is in the contract at all, but at the end of the job, I will add notes to it before I pay the invoice.

    I'll go home at lunch and check on their progress and perhaps talk with them about what to do with the damaged panel. Here's my current weather. It says partly cloudy, but it is actually drizzling.

    PM: Rain did not last long, and the painter said he would repair the damage to the wood plank so that it will not have to be replaced! I'm happy about that. He then called me at lunch to confirm the finish of the paint. He recommended eggshell (as opposed to matte or semi-gloss) for the Really Teal color, but he will keep the white trim a semi-gloss, since that is what I already have.

  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Job is over, and here's how it looks today:

    I'm happy with the results and do not want to make any more changes, although we have yet to put our mailbox, security camera, and porch light back. I'll post photos of the mailbox and porch light after we put those back, as they should be fairly interesting.

    The final color is a bit greener and a bit more intense than what I originally chose, but I do like it better. The painter also liked it so much that he asked me if he could take photos for his portfolio, and he wanted to leave his sign in my yard a bit longer. I think he always likes to leave his sign, no matter what, however.

    I am glad this is finally over, and I'm also glad to be rid of the shutters and shelf.

  • Debbie Downer
    6 years ago

    Well all rightee then! I was going to suggest a particular dark inky-blue that my neighbor has that I really love (not ordinarily a fan of blue houses). Like your same blue only a notch or two darker & slightly blacker.

    Your point is well taken about regional differences - even cultural differences in one part of a city vs another. Whenever I venture out of my downtown urban artsy enclave I come across these vast swaths of former farmland that are now covered in all monotone greigy mushroom-colored subdevelopments, and I wonder what it would be like to live there.

  • deegw
    6 years ago

    Looks terrific. Very fresh and the house looks more impressive. Thanks for the update!

    Lars thanked deegw
  • aprilneverends
    6 years ago

    I think it's way cool.

    Lars thanked aprilneverends
  • artemis_ma
    6 years ago

    Nice! I really like, and I'm glad you didn't go neutral.

    Lars thanked artemis_ma
  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Here's the front porch with the new porch light:

    My brother Kevin bought the red mailbox in Palm Springs the last time we were there - it is difficult to find interesting mailboxes, but I think this one is okay.

    The porch light is new, and I bought it and installed it temporarily before the painters started because I wanted to get it fitted in first. It is from Kuna, but I bought it at Lowe's, and it was the first one (and only one) I found that has LED lamping and motion detection with a modern design that I found acceptable. It's not the greatest or most interesting design, but I am okay with it, and it is infinitely better than what we had before (see photo way above). This sconce does much more, however, and I have decided that I like the added features. First, it has an additional security camera that only starts recording when someone approaches the door, and it makes a doorbell sound outside as well as on my phone to let me know that someone is at the door. I also see the photo/video of the person on my phone. The other two security camera that we have are hardwired to a screen just inside the door, and these cameras start recording when a moth flies by or when a cat walks on our driveway, and so they are a bit too sensitive, but I think I might be able to adjust that. The old security cameras are not equipped with WiFi (I didn't have a Smartphone when we got them), but the video screen does have a memory stick that saves the videos, although we have to take it out and download whatever we want to keep. The video screen also has an intercom so that I can talk to someone at the door if I want to, whereas the light does not. We used to have a clear window in our old door, but when we got the new door, we had to get the security cameras so that we could see who was on the front porch without opening the door. We've not had any Jehova's Witnesses visit us since we put up the security cameras. I don't like the look of the security cameras, but I am pretty much stuck with them.

  • OutsidePlaying
    6 years ago

    Lars, I have been following along, and I LOVE the new paint. And the new mailbox and light as well.

    Lars thanked OutsidePlaying
  • amykath
    6 years ago

    Perfect! It looks so happy. You did a great job!

    Lars thanked amykath
  • chickadee2_gw
    6 years ago

    It looks great. I especially like the color with your plants. The brighter greens and orange really "pop"! Doesn't look like the same house in the photo you posted on 9/3/2017.

    Lars thanked chickadee2_gw
  • Lars
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    There is an orange hibiscus in the front yard, but the flowers were all turning the wrong way for me to get them to show in the photos. There is also a yellow hibiscus nearer the front of the house, but it is still quite small.

    We installed a new doorbell button yesterday, and I looked at the photos I had taken of the old button before installing it. I noticed from these photos that the upper portion of the house had previously been painted turquoise some time in the past, but I don't know how long ago - possibly in the 1960s.

    I think removing the shelf and the shutters did a lot to change the look of the house, and I like the sheen of the eggshell paint. It's not so shiny that is shows too many flaws but still is not flat or matte.