Exterior Color Agony

There have been two tough decisions so far in our house renovation: the exterior color and the countertop material. The siding color decision has been made (in that we've ordered samples, not that I can't change my mind...) and the other decision (marble versus granite) has not been made and will receive individual attention in it's own blog post, coming soon.

As for the exterior decision, I knew I wanted darker grey and of course figured out right away that "darker grey" is not a final decision. There are so many choices still - brown-grey, green-grey, blue-grey. Flipping through the color deck, Jeanne helped me narrow things down to these:

Felted Wool, Westchester Grey, Peppercorn, Gauntlet Grey, Cityscape

Actually, the truth is that #3, Peppercorn, was not in the original top 4. We started with four choices and two were quickly eliminated for being too light. So from there I had it narrowed down to Westchester Grey and Gauntlet Grey. Then I read this post and in addition to feeling relieved that I was not the only one struggling with my decision, it helped me decide that Westchester Grey was the one...or so I thought. For some reason I still doubted that decision and after flipping through the paint deck late one night, decided to add Peppercorn to the mix. It looks so black compared to the others, but by that point I had experienced enough wow - it's amazing how different that looks when you paint it out moments, that I decided to give it a shot.

So I texted some friends/family this photo to solicit opinions:

It was a fun way to connect with people and while there were a few outliers, the majority picked either Westchester Grey (#2) or Peppercorn (#3). By the way, I think this has been one of the toughest decisions for me because Nate did not have a strong opinion - - he didn't really see a difference between the various grays.

Not easy to see the difference, but left is Peppercorn and right is Westchester Grey

Peppercorn, Pearly White, Westchester Grey

I asked Nate's opinion once I had it narrowed down to these two. His answer? He had a slight preference for Westchester Grey, but didn't dislike peppercorn. My neighbor said "Go bold! Choose peppercorn."  I also had a few friends who encouraged me to go darker. That was my gut feeling too, so that's that! Peppercorn siding (material choice: LP Smartside) with pearly white trim.

I'm really excited about it. We'll have to wait until fall for the siding, but that's fine with me. We've had a Tyvek covered house since Christmas, so what's another couple of months?

Floors (Like New)

The floor contractor made my day last week Thursday by calling and asking if they could start one week earlier than planned. After a quick call to Nate to make sure that was okay with his timeline, I said "yes!"

They dropped off their trailer and tools on Monday afternoon, then got started, sanding away 110 years of scratches, stain and such, Tuesday morning. By Wednesday evening, the attic and the second floor was looking so nice! We're crossing our fingers that the main floor will look equally pretty. Our plan for now is not to stain the floors, but we'll see how the main floor looks before we make that decision.

Progress feels great! July 4th is our deadline, since we need to move out of our rental, and it's looming!

Speed Painting!

I'm amazed at how quickly the walls were painted at the house! Tonight we went for a bike ride, then came home to eat dinner. While Nate was grilling, Peter and I walked over to the house to check out the progress. Only last night did James start painting the ceilings, so I figured things would still be mostly white. I was wrong! The only walls that have not been painted are the main staircase, the attic, the mudroom and the laundry room. I'm eager to go back over in the daylight, because at first glance, the living room (Cupola Yellow) was not quite right - too brown/yellow? When I mentioned my fear to Nate, he brushed it off, reminding me that I'm slow to warm up to most colors...and things. Really? Is that true?

This line-up makes it look like we'll have more yellow than we actually will. Colonial Yellow is the back door color, which is mostly glass. And the yellow at the top is an idea for the inside the attic dormers.

So I'll put a couple of photos here because it would be rude not to, but promise me that you'll keep an open mind until I get better photos with better lighting tomorrow!

The bike ride

Exterior color test strips. Which is your favorite? Mine is the lower right - Gauntlet Grey

This is Cupola Yellow by Sherwin Williams. I think better lighting, refinished floors and trim will help me like it more

Portico by Sherwin Williams

This was a risky move - Sea Serpent. (Below: my guest room inspiration)

Calming and neutral Stone Lion for our bedroom

Below, Louisa and Cora see their room (in Teaberry) for the first time. The smiles mean they approve, right? And the last picture, the sweet, sweet attic. It has not been painted yet, but I think it will still be something really light, perhaps Modern Grey.