Since I last posted anything on the blog, we’ve made some really great progress on our spring-turned-summer project to spruce up the exterior of our house … as we should have, considering that it’s been OVER A MONTH since I’ve posted anything.  I had such super great intentions of posting frequent updates throughout the entire project … but clearly that didn’t happen.  Ugh.  Anyway, I figured it was time to post a few “afters” and catch you up on what’s still remaining.

For anyone who’s having trouble remembering (since it’s been FOREVER), here’s where we started:

Our official "before" picture.

Our official “before” picture.

And, the project for this spring/summer was to get a fresh coat of paint on the exterior of the house and complete a few related curb-appeal-type updates at the same time.

So, let’s start with paint – the house is painted … as in done.  The whole thing was done by one guy (yes, one!) and it was a SLOOOW process.  After the house dried out from pressure washing, it still took over 2 months, working every day that it wasn’t raining (including Saturdays) to complete the project.  But, the end is here and we’re so happy with it!  So, without further delay, some pictures!

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The “after” picture.

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Another of the front (south) side.

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The sunroom (east) side of the house.

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The deck (west) side.

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The back (north side) of the house.

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And one more of the front.

And let’s not forget the garage:

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The front of the garage.

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The side of the garage that faces the house.

Color-wise, we landed on using the Sherwin Williams color match to Andersen Sandtone for the trim color.  This choice was made because it was similar to the trim color on our inspiration photo, but also super practical since it’s a standard color for any maintenance free items (gutters, doors, garage doors, windows, etc.) we might want to replace in the future.

For the body color, we landed on Benjamin Moore Classic Gray (also color matched to Sherwin Williams paint) in a flat finish to mask some of the imperfections left by previous layers of paint.  And as far as accents, we chose Sherwin Williams Indigo Batik (SW7602) for the back door and Sherwin Williams Van Dyke Brown (SW7041) for the front porch and the back steps.

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The back door (and storm door) are painted Sherwin Williams Indigo Batik (SW7602) and the steps are Sherwin Williams Van Dyke Brown (SW7041).

Indigo Batik is a nice blue color that’s not too dark and also not too bright.  My first choice for the back door would have been a darker, smoky navy-type color, but since there is so much shade in the back and it’s also the north side of the house, there just isn’t much light, so any dark colors read black, which just didn’t look right.  We tried a variety of samples before landing on Indigo Batik.  At first, I wasn’t sold, but figured we could easily re-paint the door down the road if we came up with a better option, but the color has really grown on me.  I love that adds a spot of interest to the back of the house.

The Van Dyke Brown color that we chose for the back steps and front porch is a really rich brown color.  I love how it looks, although we’ll have to wait and see how it is from a maintenance perspective.  The concrete stain in the back has been fine, but the paint on the front porch looks pretty dirty most of the time.  We’ll have to see if it gets better now that there aren’t contractors working outside all the time.

Sherwin Williams Van Dyke Brown on the front porch floor.

Sherwin Williams Van Dyke Brown (SW7041) on the front porch floor.

Overall, we’re super happy with how the paint has turned out.  We were really worried that the body and trim colors would look all wrong when they went on the house, but it turned out fine … even though we really sweated it until we saw the front completed.  I just don’t think picking paint colors will ever be a stress-free event for me!

So, that’s it for our “after” pictures of the new paint.  I’ll be back tomorrow to share some more details on the other updates we’ve made to the exterior of the house along with painting … and then, it’ll be time to re-group and pull together the list of everything that’s remaining before we can cross the project off the list completely … because, no, we’re not quite done.  Ugh.

But, first, one more look at the before and after:

Before.

Before.

After.

After.

So, what do you think?  Please tell me I’m not the only one who loses sleep over paint color selection.  And also that I’m not the only one to buy embarrassing quantities of sample quarts only to turn around and take them to the hazardous waste disposal place a few weeks later.  That’s not just me, right?

Filed Under: Home Improvement,Painting

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10 thoughts on “An Update on Exterior Paint

  1. Jan says:

    Love it. Looks like a different house. All the details show now.

    It’s rained almost everyday since I bought the primer AND when you are painting raw wood any rain is a real stopper.

    I swear I’ll get the front of my house painted this year if I have to paint in the snow!!!

    1. Sarah says:

      Thanks, Jan! Isn’t it “funny” how the weather is exactly the opposite of what you need it to be as soon as you have an outside project to tackle? We had a super wet spring/early summer here with way more rain than normal right up until our paint project was finished …. and now it’s been dry. Crazy. Sending some dry weather wishes your way! :)

  2. Britten says:

    What an improvement! The exterior went from old and dingy to understated classic elegance. I’m sure it was a tremendous amount of work but it made a huge difference. Also, I love the color scheme. My own plans for new siding and paint this summer have been derailed by a broken ankle, so I’m just going to have to get my paint fix by looking at pictures of your house.

    1. Sarah says:

      Thanks, Britten! I so struggled with the decision to make it something other than a totally white house since we think it’s always been white, but I’m so glad we did. Like you said, I love how all of the little details that just blended into the background before are standing out more now!

      It stinks that you’re having to take an unplanned break from your projects this summer! You guys have a pretty major transformation underway at your house, too – I’m so excited to see how it turns out! :)

  3. Dewald says:

    Wow what a complete transformation.

  4. George says:

    Hi,

    What color is your trim? I’m looking to match Andersen Sandtone as well.

    Thanks!

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi George, It’s actually Sherwin Williams paint color matched to Andersen Sandtone. They have all of the Andersen color formulas in the computer, so we just asked for them to mix it up to match Anderson Sandtone (rather than asking for a specific SW color). Good luck on your project!

  5. Danny Phillips says:

    Can you teference the Sherwin Williams number for the Sandtone color match? This is ridiculously hard to get. Anderson Windows has been of no help.

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Danny, There isn’t (to my knowledge) a Sherwin William’s color number for the match. We just went to the paint counter and asked for the color match to Andersen Sandtone and they had it in the computer. Hope this helps! -Sarah

  6. Cooper says:

    Hi Sara, we are looking at replacing all of our windows and I have been reluctant to choose Sandtone because its not traditional. I have to say seeing your house with them makes me feel like that is a good choice. Are you still happy with the windows?

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