Sometimes small changes can have a huge impact on the curb appeal of a house. In fact, only 3 simple things: a fresh coat of paint, new porch lattice and flooring and adding corbels changed the look of the house from this:
to this:
Paint color- the very best Exterior Cream
I knew from the outset that I wanted the house to be a warm creamy shade of paint, but, that being said, paint selection is never easy. It took me a long, long time, and many samples from the good people at Benjamin Moore Colorize to find the right shade of paint. If I could impart one tip I learned from this experience it would be this; If you are painting the exterior of a home with a porch be very careful not to exclusively try your paint samples on a part of the exterior under the porch roof! The color will look far more pigmented in the shaded area than it will appear in the sun and you will likely end up with a lighter shade than you wanted for the overall look of the house.
The paint color I ended up using is Benjamin Moore Sugar Cookie 2160-70. It has a very warm, peach undertone and is beautiful in both sun and shade. I painted the clapboard satin and the trim, windows and shutters a semi gloss of this shade. This gave an ever so slightly difference between the trim and siding – which reminiscent of the mostly monochromatic paint used on Early American New England homes.
Here are some examples of that look:
The front door was painted White Sage 1125-2 by PPG paint.
Porch floor Glow-up
As you can see in the video below, the porch on the cottage was a cement slab which dipped down substantially in one spot and the cement stairs leading up to it were both uneven and pulled away from the structure.
I love the look of an old fashioned, wood floored front porch so to achieve this we simply constructed one around the slab. This created a beautiful surface and also has the added benefit of creating an over hang of a few inches so that old fashioned lattice work could be used around it. As a nod to the age of the house, we went with water resistant mahogany for the porch floor, finished with Tung oil and cedar for the lattice which was painted with exterior paint.
Corbels
I love the little touch of charm that corbels give a house! We made our own by gluing up redwood 2×12 boards and then cutting them out with a band saw. To decide on the correct size and shape we practiced on pieces of hard foam insulation that had been glued up and then cut with the band saw. We also needed to calculate the angle of the roof so each fit perfectly. This is what the corbels looked like when cut!
I love how much they added to the house for so little cost. Even if you don’t have the tools or skill they can be purchased online as well!
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