House Refresh: Picking the perfect exterior white paint
Aww hi you guys! Man it has been a minute since I have written to you. I sure miss it! But, between working (loving it), momming so hard with Bennett and Georgia, and just life right now, it’s tough to get in here and do you all proud. So here I am, showing up anyways and sharing with you about my home’s exterior repairs and how freaking fun it was to make my home sweet home even sweeter!
Okay, so in early May my Dad came out to visit from Santa Fe (yes, I’m super jealous too and need to get out there again it’s been way too long), and we were chatting about all the things and decided to take a look around the house and see what the shape of it was…overall the bones and thangs are great. But, man the wood rot and siding needed a lot of repairs. Like, you could see dark brown soft wood around the exterior my window to my living room, there were literal birds nesting it up in a hole just on the other side of the wall in my living room (yes, it was loud and yes I had gotten used to it…). But, overall just wear and tear from years of Kansas weather doing her thing. Oh and my back gutters were crunched and plants were growing out of them….so those most definitely needs to be replaced. STAT. With those repairs needed to be done asap I started to reach out to local companies to get bids on each of the jobs; gutters, repairs, and paint.
I reached out to one of my girlfriends who is a realtor to ask her who she would recommend. She gave me a few that I called. But then she said, if you want it all done by one company Crown Town Restoration can do it all! I was nervous and expected them to be crazy high - just because there was a lot to do and I just assume everyone is charging a lot for house repairs because the lumbar and supplies too are much higher! But after getting a few bids and then seeing what they could do, I was in. I could tell from our initial consultation that they knew what they were talking about. What supplies were in stock, creative ways to still make everything look clean and ensure the longevity of their work. They were incredible to work with! I’m still not over it. Their crew was so kind and cleaned up really well, and totally got what I wanted and delivered.
My vision board for this project.
Let’s talk about the fun stuff, shall we, the painting! First of all I knew I wanted to do black gutters and everyone I talked too suggested getting larger 6” gutters with a leaf protector (of course) and I had gone with a very bright white the last time we painted our house…so I wanted to make sure this time it was warmed up a bit. But, not too much - like no thank you to the buttery yellows and Joco beiges. Just a warmer white that still reads white and not another color over all. I know the search for the perfect white can be tough, as theirs so many! And I’ve watched my friends Gwen from The Makerista and Andrea from Life Love Larson go through it and definitely learned from them. And actually grabbed samples of white paints they both used on their houses: Gwen - SW Moderne White, Andrea - SW Oyster White, and the other sample we put up was our interior white SW Greek Villa.
It was almost immediate, once the paint dried…can you guess which color I picked?
So, let’s walk through my thought process here. I can OBSESS like crazy! Research to the cows come home and usually don’t feel satisfied until I know I’ve scene allllll the options to know I can finally do an analysis to pick the best option! I knew I didn’t want anything too warm, too cool, too bright and thankfully knew the people (Gwen and Andrea) that owned homes in my area chose these whites for the same reasons. And they’re super picky too. SO that most definitely helped my confidence in these choices.
Right off the bat I felt like Greek Villa was TOO bright, as it more or less blends into the original bright white, that I had the painters in like 2014 paint…straight…from…the….can. I honestly thought “Why, mess with a good thing.” Assuming that the white in the can was the purest of whites…I guess. I always liked it, and only over heard one neighbor comment on how bright it was…lol so there’s that.
Then onto Moderne White, I was feeling it. The clayesque muddiness to the color really intrigued me. I didn’t see that coming from the original swatch and from the photos of Gwen’s home (that also happens to face the same direction as my house does). I was a bit worried about how grey it looked compared to everything else. But, I knew that it would based on just how bright the current house color was. And that I did want something with a lot more character than before.
And then Oyster White…man, it immediately red way too warm to me. I still dug the gray and warm tones for sure. But it was way to warm for me. I couldn’t even pretend. I dig it on Andrea’s home. But it just wasn’t a fit for me.
The white exterior color winner was… MODERNE WHITE!
I am so in love with this white and am pumped to hear what you think!
Picking Triorn Black for the refresh of the shutter color was a no brainer. I love the classic combo of black and white (y’all know this, I know I don’t need to explain) and Tricorn Black is uber popular on the interwebs and Instagram and I’ve scene it used in a bunch of spaces, and when we looked through the swatches it was definitely the deepest option that didn’t read blue or green. A total classic that looks so good!
I’ve LOVED my bright yet distressed turquoise front door since I painted it 10 years ago. I still loved it. I just knew it was time to do something a touch more mature and refined but in the same tone. But, just a little bit more of a French blue. Once we knew the house was going to be a Moderne White, it made it a lot easier to pick a blue for the front door!
I truly love it and think it still has star power and looks so good with the new white and black shutters. And you know what else. I’m super obsessed with how it looks with the brass floral door knocker! I am so obsessed with it and how feminine it is! Love a good blue and gold combo too! And how feminine it all feels. It’s so me!! Okay okay, are you ready to see how it ALL came together!! Okay but first can we just take a moment to take in the wonderful job they did on the repairs! I can’t get over it! They didn’t round any corners and did an impeccable job. I feel like they treated my home as their own. Which really means the world to me!
Oh yay! Now onto the pretty pictures of my sweet cape cod that I just love SO so much!!
I am just so so so happy with how this whole project and am so thankful to call this beautiful place home!
Shop this post:
I am truly just overwhelmed with gratitude that this is my home. I love taking care of it. Having fun while I design a space I love for my family. I love creating a space that is both functional and pretty. And now that the outside matches the inside, I cannot wait to show you more of my projects on here! Let me know what you think about this exterior home refresh below! Would you have made these same choices? I’d love to know!
xo,
