Hi Terri, you have a very nice property. The quickest most cost effective way to up date a house is with paint or stain. If that's agreeable with you, here are a few ideas: Paint main body of home in a medium gray with some brown in it to help tie it in with the roof. Paint all the window & door trim and fascia white. Replace all the railing with a more updated version. Build out a pergola patio cover. Update light fixtures and maybe paint the fireplace exterior. Best of luck with your project. Jerome DeMarco ART.chitecture

The cedar has been lovingly maintained. if you want grey, let it weather.
btw, your home is quite lovely. Enjoy!

Jerome, would you explain what you mean by a medium gray paint with a hint of brown in the mix?

One of my favorite waterfront homes. The trim is Crisp Romaine from BM

Rustic Exterior · More Info

Crisp Romaine 686 Paint · More Info

I would add an outdoor living space...with a roof and perhaps screened in...furnish for comfort ...add a TV ...a sink/bar/fridge area...live outdoors in comfort...

We use our outdoor space 5 months a year...no bug problems so no screen

Outdoor living

Sorry about re-post...

Your house is lovely. I can't see anything in desperate need of change. What is it that you do not like?

What is it that you think needs "updating"? Aside from replacing the circular stairs with something safer and more functional the problems are not evident.

Wow your house is beautiful. I would absolutely not paint any trim white. And while I love the home and paint color tech posted, this is not that type of home. This house was meant to blend in to the landscape, and it is doing it nicely. Lose the white stair, even if you just paint it to match the cedar.

I mean, if you are dead set on spending cash and you don’t have any interior projects that could use it more, a beautiful update would be replacing the side by side sliders with one large slider with a center opening to really bring the outdooors in. But for gods sake don’t paint the trim.

like This. It would be amazing. But not in white.

The spiral stair can be removed, sand blasted, then re-painted using the "powder-coat" process (it will NEVER rust)...but not in white. As is, your home is a classic, perfectly suited to it's lake location.

All the wood does look a little worn and faded ...I think painting everything would make this look like a new home...a sage green with ivory trim would be beautiful...

yes power coat the stairs/railing black & leave the rest alone.

Groveraxle, how did you tweak the staircase making it brown? Also, my five French doors that are 30 years old are in bad shape and I’m going crazy trying to decide if I should just stay with the Anderson terratone color for the exterior even though I’m tired of all the brown. White looks awful with my brown cedar. How can I change the colors on here like you did so I can change the door colors?

If you have been in that house 30 years....I can’t imagine fixing the stair and new doors are going to qualify as a new look...that maybe long enough for a big brown house that is getting a little shabby and feeling too dark...a fresh lighter colored exterior and trim will turn this into a whole new experience and feel....I realize my suggestion for adding an out door living space may have been misleading from my pics...In your case the added out door living space would be attached to the house..... screened in....opening out onto the deck .....thru the doors you want to replace .....so you can leave them open while enjoying the outdoor living room ....with an open flow between the in and outdoor spaces...you can eat ...sleep...watch tv....entertain...in the fresh air all summer long...if you have family visit...kids love to sleep “out doors” play games ...have picnics in these types of places

I see upon closer inspection that the doors are a bit shabby. How do you feel about deco's crisp romaine?

Not sure about the green. What program are you using to change the colors? I would love to place with that myself. Can you share?

I would stay with the brown. And folks, you don’t paint cedar! It lasts forever but not if you paint it. You can stain it but not a solid color.

Have been using CwF cedar stain for years.

Terri, I use Photoshop, but it's not for the casual user. Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore have some paint tools you can play with online. They don't paint as well as I do though.

Charcoal and black?

@Greenfish, our cedar real cedar on our house came painted when we bought it. U can ms me on what u meant not solid color?

The spiral stair looks perilous to me....so easy to fall down, and a hazard for kids. If it's a waterfront property, you have the added danger of people going up and down with wet feet. Slippery!

SAFETY ISSUE.

I wouldn't spend money to change anything about the outside of the house EXCEPT that staircase. It doesn't suit the house and I'd worry about it every minute. It also looks like it's rusting through in spots.

Can you replace the stair with a cedar version?

Happy leg painting cedar creates a maintenance issue , kinda like painting brick. It is a high quality, expensive wood, so IMO it is a waste to paint it. By not a solid color I mean, solid stains act exactly like paint in my experience-they eliminate the natural beauty and variation of the wood AND they chip.

If if you wanted it to be More “on trend,” a mistake given the gorgeous surroundings IMO, you could stain it dark charcoal.

Tangerinedoor, the spiral stair is likely emergency egress from the master bedroom. Yes, there's some surface rust (easily remedied), but the poster hasn't enough room for a traditional stair.

@greenfish thank u!

this is a gorgeous house. do not change anything.

I would hate for you to make it worse trying to update it.

as the saying goes - if it ain't broke don't break it.

Terri, I have an Andersen Terratone sliding door and it is NOT the color of what your door shows. Here is what mine looks like.

I think the color either changed on your doors due to age and weathering or maybe the company changed the colors.

But agree with no white, paint the stairs and splurge on new sliders. I saw your one picture had a sheet up for shade I suppose? How about installing a retractable awning? If you need to block the sun coming into the house, maybe a sun-reducing film can be applied to the windows?

LOVE the Crisp Romaine with your brown!

I can understand being tired of the brown, or wanting an update. Maybe look at redoing the deck if that needs some love?

If you want a change or refresh, get new lights, sliders, awning....you’ll feel like it’s a new place.

I usually dislike brown houses intensely but I was in a nearby historic town and spotted this color combo that I loved and maybe you would like the red?