Getting close to the exterior home stretch: SIDING & PAINT!

We have been patiently waiting for this and now summer can’t come soon enough to get started.
Danny and I have been going back and forth about paint colors for yeeeears. I originally wanted to do green but then both houses to either side are now a navy blue… along with like 3 other houses on our block, so we figured it would blend in too much and decided we wanted to be different, bold, but traditional.

Over a year ago while we were on Whidbey Island we walked by this book store and we really liked their paint scheme, sans the teal trim. After doing more walking and biking around Portland we can across other homes that were similar and we were sold. But… finding the correct tones that worked for both of us proved a little more challenging.

At first we thought we could to color combination on our own especially with Danny’s history in color theory but this color combo had proved to much more challenging than we thought. Danny would mix colors on his own and we would paint samples and still nothing “WOWed” me. It came down to the question: Do you want people say to “the purple house” or “the red house”? ANSWER: RED.

So finally when schedules aligned, we headed over to Powell Paint in SE Portland to meet with their Color Coordinator, Mary. After describing our vision she very quickly, and VERY excitingly, started pulling swatches. And let me tell you: she was spot on. She helped us narrow down the exact historic shades we both wanted. Red-brown but rich with a gold trim and a green-almost-black highlight. In addition to the giant paper swatches she gave us, we also got decent size samples to paint large portions to confirm this is what we want. But it still being winter in Portland, we have not been able to just yet.

SO once again, here comes Danny with his skills and photoshopped four different variations of paint schemes. The very first option at the top of this post seems to be our favorite with the others following in order. We will also be painting the chimney likely in Waller Green. Excited to test out these colors in real life in a few weeks!

But before the paint can happen: we are also re-siding the entire studio as well replacing some boards on the house. The studio will be completely re-done in Hardy Plank which will hopefully last for as long as we are living here. This will also help with the paint because there will be almost zero prep involved. Other items we are considering adding is maybe a Dentil Shelf on both the front door and across the horizontal beam above the porch and a cupola on top of the studio where we will install our Pomeranian weathervane. Silly, I know but it’s Portland and it’s normal to be weird. Stay tuned!

A short but sweet post about a space of the house that really doesn’t gets talked about or renovates: the closets. It’s really something no one thinks about unless you’re like us and bought a 1920s home where closets weren’t a consideration and therefor you literally have one if not none. Our home is also on the smaller side coming in at about 1600 sqft so optimizing space & storage is so important.

Back in 2018 when we moved the staircase we saw an awesome opportunity to create a walk-in closet in the space underneath. At the time though, we did not have the extra funds on top of not really having a plan yet for it so the space remained a deadzone for sometime. Then come 2021, we finished replacing all our windows as well renovating the office/guestroom and hallway and finally got this drywalled.

Then come 2021, we finished replacing all our windows as well renovating the office/guest room and hallway and finally got this drywalled.

We added in some can lights which are extremely bright (still need to add in a dimmer) and got to painting. I went with a higher sheen paint in here to keep it low maintenance and looking fresh. I used my favorite: out of the can white from Miller in Satin. We also didn’t want to go completely all out at this time and add in matching hardwood floors (will do another time) and compromised a some simple but cute Terrzao patterned peel and stick flooring and some quarter round.

Danny then made a custom coat rack and stained it to match our stairs. Since this is under the stairs, the space is a little funky in terms of use so we maximized the length of the rod and pushed it forward so we could store bins and cleaning supplies behind coats where they would be hidden but still functional.

Last but not least, we got some decent but inexpensive shoe rack as well as some cheap hooks, threw my summer hats up and now she’s cute as a button. I know it’s just a closet, and it literally took us FOUR years to get together but it’s a super nice space to have that matches the home.

Friends & family always comment on how much we have done in the last five years of owning our home. I guess they are right but projects like this that literally take YEARS make it seem the opposite. But it sure is nice to another completely re-done space but feels appropriate to the home. I can’t wait to keep going. Cheers to 2023!

Paint - Miller - White - Satin
Floor Tiles - Terrazzo Peel & Stick
Stain - General Finishes - Candle Light
Shoe Rack - Bamboo 2-Tier Rack