House Transformation

I love our humble home, but its light brown color was dating it so. It felt like Brady Bunch meets bad '70s architecture. Well, the transformation into cozy, timeless cottage has begun. I felt a little (no, a lot) daunted by all the colors out there. And let's face it, a bad paint color inside the house is easy to fix, but a bad color on the outside . . . that's a neighborhood eyesore not cheaply remedied. And so when I went to my local Benjamin Moore paint store and was told that the owner, a color specialist, could come to my house and help me with the colors for $85, I figured it money extremely well spent. And it was. First I drove Becky to a house nearby that I've always loved. Granted, it's worth 3x what mine is and has the charm of the English countryside, but I wanted to give her an idea of the look I was going after. Pure cottage.

She poured over the gajillion shades of gray and landed on this one. The trim, which I would have painted white, is now a warm ivory. The front door will be red (again, a gajillion shades of red . . . I'd have pulled my hair out to decide on one if it'd be me making the choice). And I'm adding shutters. And she chose the most warm shade of black (hullo . . . yes, there are tons of shades of black out there!!!! Who knew????) for those.

The shutter story is worth telling. I went to Lowe's and got the greatest salesman. Sense of humor, knowledgeable, my age (and despite the fact that he had a wedding band on, Harleigh and I agreed I need to marry him). He worked up the price for wooden, flat panel shutters. Pricey, but the charm they'll add to the house is worth it. And then he pulled me aside and told me to get a price from a local millwork company. Which I did. Bought them, saved myself $100 per pair, had the customer service that you only get from a family-run operation, and the shutters are a piece of art! Custom made to my windows.

Here is the before, and where we stood as of yesterday. The weather has NOT been on our side. The college student boy across the street is painting the house for me (at a very good price, and he's done three other houses in the neighborhood; I'm thrilled with his commitment and attention to detail). I feel good about giving the work to him. And some of the siding needed replacing, which his Dad helped him with.

I'm falling in love with the outside of my house!!!!!!

BEFORE:

IN THE WORKS to becoming a charming country cottage: