I think I may have mentioned our move in December and you may have seen my Before & After Fireplace post, but I've failed to share any details. Well, the hubs and I purchased a perfect little project house. Some of the big work is already done (new kitchen cabinets and flooring and the bathroom has all new tile) and now we're starting to roll up the sleeves and get to work on all the other things that need to be done (or fixed - like the millions of holes in the cardboard-type drywall) and all the fun things that we WANT to do (like turn our backyard into an awesome hang out spot.)
Here's what it looked like when we purchased it 2 months ago. (Interior photos in due time. Patience, my friends, patience.)
It's a two-story (2nd story is unfinished) 2 bedroom, 1 bath 1200 square foot home. We have hopes of finishing the 2nd story and adding two gable dormers off the front and one shed dormer off the back to add some square footage and create two bedrooms (and hopefully one bath) upstairs. As with most older homes, it's very compartmentalized, so we will also be removing a few interior walls to open the space up.
Here's what it looks like now (not much of a difference.)
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| Two exterior wall mount lights? I placed the second one out there to see what it would look like and forgot about it. Oops. |
We replaced the old tongue & groove porch that was falling apart with a new cedar porch, which also required re-installing the posts. The posts on the old porch were just sitting on the ground. Crazy right?! Well, that's just the first of the "fun" little treasures that we're sure to uncover during the renovation. Anyways, this is where we are currently.
And here's a general idea of what we're hoping for...two gable dormers, some nice architectural details by adding shutters, window boxes, thicker trim, a couple planters and finishing the porch posts. (Hmm...It's actually looking kind of gray here.)
I think that these additions alone make an incredible difference in the overall look of the house. But, of course, I can't stop there. I'd love to add more architectural details like wooden bracket supports. I'm thinking something similar to this...
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| {Source} |
So that's the house and the idea.
Now onto the problem at hand. Paint. The house is currently a beige color and I am not so much a fan. I feel like with beige you can see all of its flaws. So, the hubs and I talked paint and we agreed upon a pretty buttery yellow like this.
I've always disliked light yellow houses (I'm more of a warm color type), but we thought with the hedge around the perimeter and the multitude of gray days here on the coast, it'd be a perfect color. And then we moved in and noticed 4 yellow houses on the same 2 block stretch of road that our house is on. Our town is small. Tiny, even. 4 yellow houses is a lot and 5 would be a bit crazy, especially since there's one kitty corner and another two houses down. So, yellow is out. Now what?
We went back to the drawing board. We want to stay semi-traditional with a modern twist. I'm totally a "gray house with bright front door" kind of girl and love the idea of introducing even more color with landscaping & outdoor furniture/decor. Gray is the absolute perfect neutral, in my book. Light, dark and everything in between, it just works. But as I mentioned, we have many, many, many gray days. Would a gray house be too much? Do we go light or dark? Or even navy? Well, luckily Pinterest was invented so I have an endless supply of ideas!
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| Source: realsimple.com via Meagan on Pinterest |
I love all of those options, but think the husband is not as gung-ho. And I can't quite shake the idea of doing a fun color scheme - as in multiple colors. We're young, we're hip (not hipster hip, but cool enough.) I'd love our house to reflect that, but don't even know where to begin. There's a fear that our house would end up more "Florida Keys" than "Washington Coast." And with the lack of architectural detail and that crazy-huge hedge around the perimeter, I'm not even sure that we have the right type of house for a full-fledged scheme.
Very "Florida Keys", but fun.
So, now we're at a loss for what to choose and I could really use some of my design-minded reader's help! Like the gray idea or have you seen any killer exterior color schemes that you think would totally work? Anything spark your creative mind when you look at our house photos?
Until next time (and back to Pinterest I go!),
