OUR EXTERIOR: THE PAINT PLAN

March 13, 2023

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!

OUR HOME: THE EVOLUTION OF A CLOSET

January 9, 2023

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

OUR EXTERIOR: THE PORCH

October 20, 2022

Our one and only big house project this year: The Porch!
After speaking with some GCs earlier this spring and getting pricing for the remainder of our exterior projects we decided to break it down into a handful of smaller jobs. First up is the porch! Apart from curb appeal, we really want to tackle this first to make better use of the space and have a covered place to sit outside when it rains.

After many walks and bike rides in our neighborhood we already had a sense of how we wanted this to look while sticking with the 1924 era of the home. Luckily, Danny is really good at SketchUp and drew up a to-scale model which came very handy when conveying our vision to contractors. In addition to replacing the header and siding, we wanted to extend the porch and re-model our posts and railing.

After that, finding the right contractor was the real mission. As luck would have it again, one day when I was on my run I passed by a house a few blocks from us getting the same exact work done that we need AND what seemed like the homeowner was outside. I first ran past feeling too shy and invasive, but I turned around and introduced myself. I asked her how their project was going, are they happy, how’s the crew, etc. I am so glad I did this because after the roof fiasco we made a promise to never to use anyone without getting first hand feedback. She said all great things and gave her thumbs up so I gave them a call, we met, we liked the guy, and we got a quote. Some things felt fair and some felt high. But, first to follow the rules, we also contacted a few other recommended GC’s to gather other quotes. Those others either were ven higher and pushy, never sent us a quote or just fell off the side of the earth. Who knows. Either way, we ended up hiring the first guy. Eight weeks later, work began!

TOP
Top to bottom! The header has been sagging ever since we bought the house and it’s been driving us nuts. Luckily it never got worse, just stayed ugly. The plan was to replace it with a single 25’ glulam beam. This would increase overall support and is incredibly durable. When the crew started demoing we were able to see that the existing beam was actually six smaller beams nailed together, and not well either. No wonder! At least it was a relief that nothing was actually sagging and it was just poor craftsmanship. They also removed all the cedar siding above since it was uneven and old. After this was complete I couldn’t believe already how big of difference this made. Straight lines! What a concept!

MIDDLE

Next: The posts! My god the posts! Another part of the porch that we have never loved. Literally four 2x4’s just standing there looking like crap. Our GC also pointed out that they were actually never properly anchored so literally just standing there. When they went remove these they just pushed them out. What a joke. Anyways, back to keeping with the 1924’s era of the home… we wanted to do a thicker, tapered post with moulding because we all know I love it. Danny also drew up an awesome detailed rendering of what he wanted. The carpenter, Vlad, was so great and he made our dreams come true creating exactly what we wanted. He followed our design to a tee and truly was a craftsman at what he does. And he did it alone! Vlad is welcome to work for us again anytime! We also replaced a few of the fascia boards ourselves.

BOTTOM

Last but not least: the actual porch. We had two sets of stairs: one leading up a little pathway from the sidewalk and then another from the driveway. In the five years we have lived in this house, I have only seen the middle path be used TWICE. Everyone goes up the driveway. So when we decided to extend the porch out I wasn’t concerned about losing this option.

For this part, we hired a different GC who specialized in hardscaping. My colleague at work had used this guy before and gave her seal of approval and once again first hand feedback did not disappoint. To make things look seamless, he first demoed the existing top portion and front facade. He then framed out what would be the extension. Doing this prevented us from having to demo the old stairs and everything would be skim coated to look solid. They then filled in the hollow parts with what seemed like all the gravel in the world.

After, he then had “Mini Mix” filled in. The whole process was fascinating and seemed to satisfying. It was so much fun to watch! Also, once the concrete was poured and set enough, we of course etched in “ D-A-S 2022” for “Danny-Andi-Steve”. I couldn’t love it more.

Finally, but not least, we had our new railing installed. Welcome in Contractor #3! Once again, full recommendation from not my colleagues. And prior to us using him, our friends had him build their deck. We were sold. Due to the nature of our the old house and existing factors, the porch was probably the most challenging piece. Silver lining, there’s almost nothing a conversation can’t fix and it turned out perfect. Danny and I picked a picket that match the width of the trim and is also sandwiched between the railing so it looks good on both sides. Just like things with this renovation, it looked like it should’ve been there the entire time.

Caulking and painting was by the far the least fun part of this renovation. Though we are hoping to completely change the color of the paint next year (more on that later) we wanted to paint to match because a year is a long time and we also wanted to protect it. But my mentality when it comes to painting: sucks now, will be happy later - pulled me through.

As mentioned, we could not be happier with out it all turn out it. It makes the entire home feel optically bigger and also physically bigger. Literally a dream come true and can’t wait for many more years enjoying this addition.