Curb Appeal: The House is Painted!

…okay, so the garage isn’t quite finished in the back, and there are still a ton of small spots to fix up… But I couldn’t wait to share the results of our new color on the house!

It’s really the perfect color for this home and Kevin and I are so happy with our choice. Over the top happy!

It might not read the same on all computers, but picture a slightly smoky tan that is not quite a true beige (in the yellow ways that beiges can go) but a tan with grayer undertones and one that really highlights the true Spanish charm of this bungalow. And one that goes so, so well with those red, umber saltillo tiles.

Both of the houses on either side of us are a little bolder in color choice (brown on the left, a light orange on the right), so it was important the the home still keep that light, neutral, casual color between the two (both are beautiful – we lucked out with a set of neighbors that are invested in some curb appeal as well).

What’s amazed me most about the transformation of white to tan is how much the home appears to have grown up! It’s hard to explain, but I drive home now and think ‘wow! check out that mature, sophisticated house. That’s my house!’ If a you could compare a paint color to a a clock, our home went from a teenager (not that there’s anything wrong with being a teenager) to a classy, polished Spanish overnight (or over a month?).

Bah, I’m trying not to go over the top here but seriously we’re pretty stoked on how it looks in person.

Yes those windows are a bit mismatched ;). Still haven’t decided on a trim color… more on that soon.

Here’s a before and after, a quick reminder of the white coating that adorned her prior to very recently:

And today!

If we really want a blast from the past, here’s a reminder of the house the year we moved in:

Tan suites her well, don’t you think? I could not be happier with the Dusty Trail color we chose from Olympic. Choosing paint can be so risky! And even if you love a 5×5′ swatch on the side of your house, it’s quite the adventure covering your entire home in it, fingers crossed while you anxiously await how it will look as various light from various angles hits it, how the different times of the day result in different shades…

Now that it’s up I’m sure we could not have chosen a better tan. As I mentioned above, in person it’s sort of a husky, grey/green tan – no under tones of yellow or orange or pink.

It’s beautiful in full sun, but it’s equally alluring at dusk when it most reminds me of a new and improved house. I will have to take a setting sun shot so you don’t have to just take my word for it… but it’s very pretty.

What was a really helpful tool in helping us with this process was this online ColorClix tool that Olympic suggested we use when we first began our partnership with them earlier this summer.

Which led us to uploading a photo of our exterior and playing with different shades. Here’s Dusty Trails (and here’s a few others that we considered):

Maybe a little bit darker than how the house actually turned out, but pretty darn close, right?

Ignore that bright white retaining wall! That’s on the to-do this week.

I believe the tool is at peak performance for playing with the color of indoor rooms, so it’s definitely worth a trial if you have any indoor painting projects coming up (and it’s so much faster than photoshopping! for those of us that try a bazillion colors by using my favorite photo editing tool).

Here’s that upgrade one more time:

I wish you could all see it in person at this moment, I know you would love it even if you weren’t a full blown Spanish home type person (it’s a Southern California thing, I think).

But I would only ask that you ignore that trim. We’re not there yet, and we’re very. very. slow decision makers. We know that both the house and the trim colors will make a huge difference, and that we won’t be changing them for a very long time! So we are patiently painting and repainting those two window frames there in the front (just as we did with big ol’ swatches on the side of the house) until we either A. happily agree on a color or B. let the mutual patience run out and make a swift decision. We have four color ideas left in the running.

And you can always find more yard-related posts right here!

PS We worked with Lowe’s, Olympic and Graco on our summer curb appeal project and we plan on sharing all of our feedback on the application of paint, recommended exterior types and suggested tools very soon.