This post has been a long time coming. I’m so excited to share our exterior refresh with you today! Let’s take a look at how our house started out and what we did to freshen things up.
I took this picture the day we moved in. At first glance things look pretty nice. The front siding is wood lap and the back and sides are vinyl board and batten. I’ve never seen a house with a vinyl and wood mix. Vinyl and brick, sure. Wood and stucco, all the time. But this mix perplexed me. The wood needed painted and the vinyl wasn’t in the best of shape.
I wondered, “can you paint vinyl?” Right away I heard a lot of nos. But I was persistent in my search, and it turns out Sherwin-Williams Emerald Exterior fits the bill. This premium performance paint is self priming which meant prep was faster and stands the test of time – so crucial when you’re dealing with an exterior. Finding the right paint was easier than I expected, but the right color was a whole other ballgame. From the first day we looked at it, I knew it should be white. But which white? There are more whites than any other color.
I searched extensively for the perfect shade. Because we spend most of our time in the back I needed something that looked amazing in west-facing sunsets and wasn’t too blinding in them either. The new vinyl fence we put in posed another issue. Do we match it? I wasn’t sure that I loved being forced into that color just to be satisfied with the two places those elements met. I tried gobs and gobs of samples and so many were too creamy. Or too stark. I landed on Sherwin-Williams Moderne White, and it couldn’t be more perfect. The undertones are a pinch of green/grey. In the sun it looks pure white without needing to squint. It’s warm, but not yellow. I can’t recommend this color enough! Ok, enough about the paint, let’s get to some before and afters, shall we?
The front feels so much cleaner! I like how nice the brick looks and your eye is drawn to the dental moulding now that the colors are calm. I really wanted to rework the portico and front door entirely, but tackling the exterior and the decks at one time was project enough. Micah did appease me by getting rid of the sunburst in the arch when he was replacing some of the wood siding, and we added the most beautiful house numbers from Dropcap Studio. I love the look of the scripted numbers you see on older homes, but I wanted a fresh approach that still felt traditional.
Dropcap Studio does completely custom numbers and letters. I was able to choose the font, size, style and finish to suit my needs and wants. They did a custom font for me using Trajan Pro. And they make installation surprisingly easy! These are aluminum, but they do acrylic in loads of colors, and all of their products are guaranteed for life. Awesome when you’re dealing with anything outdoors.
Along with the fresh paint and numbers, we also updated the light fixtures. What was there was very traditional in shape, but it had 80’s stained glass details (like the sidelights around our front door) that were dating them. Craftmade has a wide range of lighting options, but I loved these classic, Straight Glass Cast post lights and Straight Glass Cast pendant. They’ll never go out of style.
We also added this pole wrap to beef up our post light a bit more.
The south side houses our sunrooms and the windows look so much more calming enveloped in white.
The north side is really the only place you can see that the white isn’t stark white. Around 6pm when I took these pictures the color really comes through on that side and there is a definite difference between the house and the fence. It still looks beautiful to me though. Oh, that stone? Micah pulled it up from a McDonald’s he was renovating. You don’t just put that kind of thing in a dumpster, right? You’d be shocked what people throw away, remember our bedroom chandelier? He’s hoping to build an outdoor fireplace with it.
STRAIGHT GLASS CAST WALL LIGHT | DOOR HARDWARE
Right behind the fence is an spot I turned into a little gardening area. This potting bench is really affordable and I added a mirror I got off of Facebook Marketplace to dress it up a bit. I love having a place to play in the dirt, it’s good for my soul.
I’m so happy with how things have turned out. We hope to replace most of the landscaping this next year the white really makes the overgrowth apparent and someday rework the portico and front door to undate the house even more. I know I didn’t show you the back of the house, but you’ll have to wait to see that when I reveal the decks the end of this week. The transformation back there still blows me away!
Before someone asks, our neighbor’s company did the painting. They do the best work, but unfortunately they are a commercial company and don’t typically do residential work.
*Thank you to my generous partners; Sherwin-Williams, Emtek, Craftmade, and Dropcap Studio for gifting product that made this project possible. All selections, thoughts, and opinions are my own.
Inspirations for our colonial style home can be found here.
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Ashley says
I actually gasped as a scrolled down! So so so good as always!
themakerista@gmail.com says
That’s so nice, thank you!
Tanya says
That was my reaction! It looks like this is the color it was always meant to be…like the house chose the color for itself:) Love it!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thank you!
Angie says
Stunning. I loved the blue but this is classic and beautiful especially paired with the black detail. Another triumph!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thanks, Angie!
Joyce L Johnson says
Just wonderful! My only objection is the four pots in front – too much! Get rid of the ferns or move them down to the sidewalk and also, get a new, prettier, bigger door mat. I love your blog and don’t want to sound too critical.
themakerista@gmail.com says
Ha, thank you Joyce. For the pictures I can see what you’re saying. In real life they look great this way! I try to show things just as they are and not style for photos. And I’d love to get a new door mat, but life with three kids and a puppy and renovations make my to do lists longer than I can keep up with.
Chris novosad says
Del only thing they didn’t tell u is that it expands and contracts so when u paint it it will not slide it will by bubble and warp in a year good luck with that .. looks nice now check back next year .. sorry they didn’t inform u of that
Lori says
GORGEOUS! And so inspiring. Thank you!!!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thank you, Lori!
Darcy says
The white is GORGEOUS! And calming, like you noted. A thought on the landscaping- I wonder if you were to do a serious trimming (in early spring) if that might be a suitable fix?
themakerista@gmail.com says
I have thought about that, but they’re pretty thin and I think they would just be sticks on top if I trimmed them, ha!
Noel Emswiler says
Beautiful! Especially love the removal of the starburst and new numbers.
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thank you!
Julie Bayerl says
Your house is amazing! Thanks for showing us the exterior.
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thank you, Julie!
Deborah Bethay says
Your house was wonderful before but now it is amazing and elegant!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thanks, Deborah!
Alex - The Interior DIYer says
This is SUCH a good transformation and perfectly shows how powerful paint is. And you picked the perfect shade!
The new house numbers and the black shutters and the topiary, it’s so perfect all together. Definitely pinning this.
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thank you, Alex!
kathy says
So beautiful Gwen! I love how clean and classic it looks and the dental molding is really showcased. Super cute potting area too!! Can’t wait to see the back. 🙂
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thank you so much! Can’t wait to share it!
Kristen says
Oh my goodness, I am obsessed with how this came out. White houses are my favorite, and especially white colonials… We currently live in a Craftsman, but your exterior is basically my ream home! Pinning this to my dream board!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thanks Kristen! I love a white colonial too!
Jessica McAfee says
What exterior paint finish did you choose? I have similar plans and have been advised “flat or low luster”. We are doing all our windows and trim the same white.
Love the transformation! The power of paint!!
Looks amazinging, love your blog💕
Jess says
This is so gorgeous! And it makes me so excited. I’ve been researching painting vinyl siding but hadn’t seen many examples. We are hoping to paint our khaki siding white at some point. This pretty much seals the deal for me!
Michelle says
I am so surprised at how much the trim details around your windows and facias stand out now! I had to scroll up to be sure they were there originally when the house was blue and you didn’t add them. The calm white color is really stunning and a great choice over stark white. Well done, Gwen, it’s gorgeous!
Wilma says
It all looks amazing!! I would love to see an update in a few years to see if the paint on the vinyl stands up to the elements over time–hopefully so! Would you ever consider painting the garage doors or the side door black?
Kelsey says
It looks fabulous, friend! I love white houses. Would you ever consider painting the window trim black, or is that not your style?
Kate says
It looks beautiful! A definite improvement. I do wonder how the paint will hold up to cleaning, though? I have vinyl siding and moss grows on the north side of our house every summer. It’s *really* tough to get the moss out of the siding’s woodgrain-texture; it has to be pressure washed. I think even light pressure-washing would strip the paint right off the vinyl. I guess, be proactive about cleaning so it doesn’t get out of hand. Or maybe you’ll be lucky and your siding won’t grow moss the way ours does.