Saturday, April 7, 2012

shades of gray : choosing exterior paint colors

Picking exterior paint colors is tough.
It's so much commitment.
Besides, do you have any idea how many shades of gray there are?
There are brown-grays, green-grays, gray-grays, and blue-grays.
There are whites with hints of gray.
There is 'greige.'

Below you can see just some of the more than a dozen colors we painted on the exterior of the house we are renovating.  The house was built in 1859 and needs a lot of work...but we love it.  We want to do whatever work we can while we try to sell our current home.   The first step we decided to take is painting the exterior, as it is currently the pink color you see at the top of the photograph:


But even more important than the aesthetic reason, we need to paint and apply a sealant is because there is evident water damage on some parts of the inside walls due to water seeping in through some areas of the brick exterior.

There are a lot of  historic brick homes in our neighborhood - part of why we love it!
This is part of our rusty iron fence.  We are forbidden to take it down {historic society policy} but maybe someday we'll refinish it.  Very low on the priority list!

Here is Baby hanging out on the front stoop, ready to paint!

 The house came with this beautiful trailing phlox:

 "Hmmm...how can I get the cover off of this brush?"
Cormac's solution to everything:  put in mouth.

All in all, it was a productive day.  We decided on a base color - now just have to pick some accent colors.  I even got some gardening in over there...
with a red, itchy rash all over my arms to prove it!  Eek!
{Clearly there were some weeds or bugs that didn't like being disturbed.}

More on the house painting project to come!

But for now...
Happy Easter!
He is risen!
g

7 comments:

  1. I think grays are really hard. Can't wait to see which you pick. Sorry to hear about your rash. Adorable pics of your little guy.

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  2. How about the gray or slate with a bold shutter? If it has shutters? I haven't gotten an invite to the new abode so I don't know:0)

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    1. LOL - no one has!!! But I'll take you over any time you want. :)

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  3. Your son is so precious! I love these pics! At first glance I thought he was wearing a life jacket. Rofl!

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  4. Cool house! Can't wait to see the renovation projects! :) Rusty = charming. :)

    Happy Easter, Cormac and fam!

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  5. I am so excited to hear you are starting on your new home. I heard so much about it before you bought it :-) It is just awesome. I love that you are going to rehab it. It deserves it.

    The pic of Cormac sitting in front of the door from far away is so precious.

    Good luck picking out the color. I know it will be great since your current home is stunning.

    Cynthia

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    1. We are excited about the painting as well! :) I'm sure Paul talked your ear off about the house -- but we are just in love with it, so you can't blame him. Thanks for your sweet words, Cynthia!!!

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