- Posted:
- 09/11/2008
- By:
- Kellie
- Comments:
- 7 »
I Need Advice
We have lived in our house for 2 1/2 years so far and the outside of it needs a lot of help! So I am in the midst of planning how to make it better on the cheap. And so I need your advice :)
Here is a picture of the house (I can’t get a direct picture because there are huge trees blocking the front of the house):
and an up close of the porch
These pictures were taken right after we found it (we hadn’t even bought it yet!) when my parents were visiting. Sadly, it hasn’t changed at all. This poor house needs a major facelift.
So the plan is to have the whole house cleaned and then I want to put a whitewash on the brick like this:
We had done this whitewash on the kitchen brick (hence, the picture above) and I really like it. It softens the brick (makes it not so orange) and is really fast, easy, and cheap. My favorite combination!
Since this is supposed to stay an inexpensive project, I can’t paint the rest of the house but I can paint the shutters and the front door. I hate the color they are now! I’m thinking of painting the shutters gray (I prefer not to have black shutters because every house in the South with brick and white siding has black shutters) but here is my problem: what color should I paint the door? I really want a fun color and I just can’t decide. I need your input!
Then, with a couple of new light fixtures and house numbers, the transformation will be complete… for now :) I’m not even going to begin to talk about all of the landscaping it needs!
By the way, if I could have anything I wanted, it would be this:
Oh how I love that yellow door (from Martha Stewart Blueprint)!
Also, if anyone knows how to paint outdoor tile (on the front porch) that will wear well, let me know! Thanks for all your help!
Hello, and welcome to my little blog! What started out as a blog to show some of my scrapbook pages ended up being a blog that shows all of my projects, ranging from scrapbooking to decorating to sewing to photography. I also run a little online shop called
Comments
Kel,
Before I even scrolled down to the next picture I was thinking “she should do the yellow I saw in a magazine (the very picture you posted)! Brave it girl! I love the idea of the gray (be careful not to get too blue like I did in the grandkids room) – are you thinking light or dark? I was thinking a dark, chalky gray… Can’t wait to see what you come up with. (would love to see your stair railing change eventually…something alittle more contemporary…I know, Money!!!!
I second the yellow door (did we all tear out that page from Blueprint???) and I also second the railing. Truly though, I think that a great white railing would give you the biggest bang for your buck. Yes, it will cost more than a can of paint but the impact it would make is incredible.
That yellow is awesome! You should totally do it, Kel. And I really like your mom’s idea with the dark grey. It would be fabulous!
P.S. There are incredible sales on pre-painted railings right now at Lowe’s and Home Depot!
I love the yellow, I am painting my front door yellow. I will send you a picture when it is done. I agree about the shutters. Grey will look awesome, I have a gray house, so am trying to figure out what color to make my shutters, after I get them!(: So fun.
i check your blog occasionally and have ordered from you before. i too live in the south, so i understand your thoughts about the black shutters. here it is all about painted brick and there are few colors you can paint it. so, when you make the plunge, you have to consider all the homes around you to make sure you don’t look like everyone else. right now, we are the only ones on the street with painted brick and the girl next door laughed and said they were going to paint soon to lay claim to their color so everyone would know it was theirs. but it is our last house i wanted to tell you about. when we bought it, the door and shutters were painted that color yellow. it is part of what sold me on the house. yellow is my absolute favorite color because it just makes you happy! i would have never thought of painting the doors and shutters that color, but it was perfect. the brick of that house was painted as well—a taupe colored grey. it was grey but with a lot of brown undertones. the two looked great together. i just wanted to share a true life yellow door story because where as everything martha does looks great in her magazine, it is not always practical. so, go for it!
I like the idea of a brown shutter though I don’t care for taupe. I must say that I don’t care for the yellow door. I think a blue or rich purple would be great. Of course, I am biased as our front door is rich purple.