tips for choosing exterior paint colors house

the first time other people will judge your home is the exterior design of the house. so choosing exterior paint colors for home very impressed determine whether or not others of the style of your home. paint colors to be memorable not boring and can reduce the frustration.

There are some things you should be a consideration in choosing a paint color for the exterior of your home, including:


1. prepare the walls to be painted, clean the walls with a clean surface and wash the walls with little emphasis. allow some time for dry wall and cover wall damage.

2. choosing paint colors. first specify the main paint color if you want the feeling of cold can try the color shade of light, neutral color for a natural feel, color selection you should think carefully

after receiving the primary colors, then determine accent color. accent colors will help to divert people's attention certain miss from home. accent color should be bright, to make it look too contrasting paint shutters with an accent color you choose.

3. environmental factors, this can also affect the exterior design of your home. because you have to adapt the house exterior paint color with the environment such as: forest, ocean, or a noisy environment colorado suppose to make it look more unified with the other.

all the above aspects should be taken into consideration before painting the house exterior

Living With It...

My turquoise wall.

In our entryway.


I'm living with it.

For now.

Don't get me wrong, I like it.

But that's the problem.

I like it. I don't love it.

And, more than anything, I want to love it.

The way I love my family room blue.

In the morning it's such a pretty color, but by the time the afternoon sun hits it, it turns a color that I am just not a fan of.

After I got the paint up on the wall I thought...

"Ok. I'll leave it up for a week and see how I feel about it then."

And then summer vacation took over and my plans have given way to family plans.

But I wouldn't have it any other way!


I will find a solution for that wall.

I considered mixing two colors that I already have and Googled it to see if it was even a good idea. Unfortunately, what I read was just scary enough that it has kept me from moving forward with that plan.

So I have to ask...

have any of you mixed paint colors and been successful not only with the color that you ended up with, but also successful with the application of it? I read things about peeling paint and bubbles and all kinds of crazy things that can happen when you mix paint.

I'm definitely open to hearing what you have to say about that!

For now, it's back outside with the kiddos.

We've had way more rain than sun up here, so when the sun comes out to play, so do we!


I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

Craving Turquoise...

...in a big, bad way!

I want a fun color for our entryway and it's going to come by way of turquoise...

or teal...

or aqua...

or whatever you want to call it!




Something like this...



but with a little gray in it to tone it down just a bit...


I've got my gallon of "Thunderbird" and hopefully by the end of the day my entry will have the pop of color that I've been craving.


I've got all the photos and decor in place to create the new look and feel that I want...

Now...

I just need that color!

Nine. Eighteen...

That's our number.

918

It represents September 18th, which is the day, waaay back in 1993, that we started dating.


So when I was looking for a way to add a little visual interest to one of the oars I got while thrifting this summer, it hit me...

918

perfect!


Remember the oars?

They were just meant to be in my house. It was pure luck that no one had swiped them before I got to the Garage Sale...

One of the oars found a home in our entryway from the garage, but the other has been leaning in a corner of our living room, waiting to be put in just the right spot.

As I said a few days ago, final details are being worked out in our Master Bedroom...

this oar was one of them.

It just needed a little extra something to make it special.

That's where 918 comes in.



Since many of you have asked in the past just how I get my letters and numbers on signs and furniture, I thought I would take this opportunity to show you.

First, I find my font on the computer and then size it to fit my project...

(make sure you change the character setting to "outline" - no need to waste black ink printing out solid numbers)

After I print them out, I cut it down to size so that it will fit on the area to be painted. This will be my tracing paper...

(the G.I. Joe figures were left out from Owen's birthday party the night before...a common accessory found on our counters, tables, floors...)



Once I have my tracing paper spaced just right, I tape it down only on the top side...

For your project you will need white or black transfer paper depending on the base color of your project and the color of paint for your lettering. In this case, I was going for white letters and my project surface was fairly dark, so I went with white transfer paper...

I slide my transfer paper under my taped down tracing paper...

and start tracing...

It is worth it to stop and check that your numbers are transferring onto your project surface. I learned this the hard way, on a sign that had a whole lot of letters! It only took once to learn that lesson!

After my tracing is done and I am sure that my lines are clearly visible, I remove the transfer paper and take off my tracing paper...

Now it will be a cinch to fill in the numbers...

I use a paint pen for all of my lettering. You can find them at Michael's, JoAnne Etc, even most of the one-stop shopping grocery stores. To see an example, click here.


The paint pen that I used for this was on it's last leg. Not much ink left in it at all...but, it ended up working to my advantage! It just meant that I wouldn't have to do any sanding to remove some of the paint. I was going for old and aged, and that's what my nearly empty paint pen gave me...

Now...to hang the 7 foot tall oar vertically on the wall...

I had Will drill a hole through the handle and then I strung thick rope through it. I wrapped the handle in a haphazard way (I liked the look!) and then just hung it on a nail.

And there 918 hangs...

Just a number on an oar.

A random number to those who see it,

but a visual reminder of our beginning, for us.

Before and After pictures of our Master Bedroom are coming soon.

I promise!





P.S. I will posting this for DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land
and Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch

This Little Light Of Mine...

Two coats of porch and floor paint - check

painted rails and banister - check

strung lights - check

We don't even have anything back up on the deck yet, but it looks party ready to me!

Doesn't it look like it's just begging to be danced on?

Seriously.

There's just something about those little lights...

Love 'em!

The entire "inside" of the deck is finished being painted...

meaning that the entire outside has not.

I still need to paint all of the balusters and posts around the outside.

Let me tell you how excited I am about that.

(That last sentence was thick with sarcasm, just in case you couldn't tell.)

It's shaping up to be great additional space for our

Annual Chowder Cook-Off!



But, there won't be any painting happening today...

Today my best friend, Kelly, and I are heading out to


Do The Puyallup

and ending the night listening to her

We're meeting some friends there for a Girl's Night Out.

Should be fun!

And the concert is bound to be good!



Happy Friday, everyone!

It Was Supposed To Be Catch-Up-On-Laundry Day...

When I woke up yesterday morning, I had already psyched myself up for a day of laundry. Yes, it takes psyching up for me. Laundry is easily my most despised chore. We were so wrapped up in preparations for the wedding, and then spending the weekend in Woodinville, that the amount of laundry I have as a result is...let's just say, I'll be lucky if it only takes me one day to do it all!

Anyway, I was ready for it.

Until my husband woke up.

We went out on the deck to look at the beautiful sunrise...

No harm in that, right?

The next thing I knew, he was saying "let's paint the deck today" and we were suddenly clearing everything off of it!

I'm sure by now that if you've been following our blog for any length of time, you know that we're a bit impulsive when it comes to projects for our home.

This project being no exception!

But we have good reason for doing this project without notice...

the weather has been perfect!

Slip-N-Slide kind of perfect...

So we had to take advantage of it!

So are you wondering "why bother? Fall is here. The rain is coming. No need for your deck"

I know. It doesn't make much sense does it? The nights are already really cold up here in the Pacific Northwest, the days are getting shorter and shorter, and the rain is sure to set in soon...

But around our house, when Fall arrives, it signals a party.

October is when we host our annual

Chowder Cook-Off!

This will be our third year in a row and we invite a whole lot of people: family, friends, co-workers, neighbors...

It's a fun competition and always super yummy!

With all those people here and tons of hot chowders filling the kitchen, it gets pretty hot in the house, so we want to open up the French Doors from the family room onto the deck and use it as overflow and a place to get some fresh air.

So, it's the perfect time for the deck to get a makeover!

As you can see, it was in pretty bad shape...

The floor boards are so worn that the stain has been almost completely worn off.

And if you look closely at this next picture you can see drips running down the side...

Nice, right?

*sheesh*

The previous owners just slapped on the stain and called it good because the sides of the deck were hidden by huge rhododendrons.

I used Kilz a while back to go over the brown stain drips and it worked for a while, but we just removed a weeping tree that had sat right there in front of the deck and now you can clearly see how bad the original paint and stain job were.

(Don't worry...we follow the "remove a tree, plant a tree" rule, so we're planting the new apple tree you see up there in the photo. It will be much better for the space and provide much needed shade, which this yard is sorely lacking.)


Will was able to patch some boards that were rotting away by using deck boards from a neighbor down the street who is rebuilding their deck. They had a huge pile sitting in their driveway and they were cool with Will taking some, since the boards were of no use to them anymore.

Score!

And then we began painting...


and painting...


and painting...


and painting...


and painting...


All. Day. Long.



And then...


we did something that I've been wanting to do for a long time now and that will be the perfect addition for the Cook-Off.

here is a little peek, since it's not quite completed yet...

It's so pretty!


We have more painting to do today - a good second coat on the floor boards and finish work on the rails and stairs.


Which means, laundry is getting put off once again.


Oh well, I'd rather paint anyway!


I'll be sure to show you how it all turns out!






P.S. Don't forget! It's DIY Day over at A Soft Place To Land! Be sure to link up if you've got a DIY project to share!

Tropical Coral...

That's my color...

Well, not my color (my color falls somewhere in the beachy blue family), but it is the color that I chose as my FREE quart from the Glidden Promotion a while back, and it just arrived today!

I wanted to choose something that felt a little out of my comfort zone - something that (if I actually had to involve my own wallet) would make me think twice (or three or four times!) before walking up to the paint counter and saying:

"Mix me up a quart of this, please!"

That's the swatch from the Glidden website up there, and it's pretty tame compared to the actual color!

I had been wanting to add a color like this as an accent to the interior of the kids' playhouse! So when I went to claim my FREE quart from their website, I knew exactly which direction to scroll, without any hesitation!


So...many thanks to the kind folks at Glidden for the FREE quart of paint!

You managed to get quite a few of us DIY'ers very excited!

And, just for the record (still speaking to those kind folks at Glidden), I'm all for this sort of giveaway again!

Just in case you were contemplating whether you should do it again...

Now, off to shop the house to find playhouse decor that will get a fresh coat of Tropical Coral...

Makeover In a Can...

I love it that a can of spray paint is sometimes all you need to get just the right look!

Case in point, my Pasta Jars!

Many years ago I painted the lids with the "Rust" spray paint kit that you can buy at craft stores. For a long time, I loved the look!

But that time has passed... and it's time for a new look!

I wanted something more like my cookie jar, so I grabbed a can of black textured spray paint and...

...in no time I had brand new (to me!) Pasta Jars!

I think next up for black lids will be the cereal containers!
I'll tackle this project tomorrow...

Next up for a quickie makeover was the Urn that my Boston Fern lives in.

I've had it for years and it moved back up with us from Arizona.
For the past year and a half it has sat, unused, in the backyard in our shed.

It works perfectly for the fern, but it is definitely worse for wear!

Nothing a little spray paint can't fix!

I like the look of it now more than I ever have before!

And I really love how the texture came through by putting a uniform paint color on it!
Before, the paint was so mottled that you couldn't really see the texture. You noticed the variations in color instead.

But I think it has much more character now with all of its crackling and indentations!

And it definitely stands out in front of the fireplace now instead of blending right into the background.

I would say that both of these projects together took me no more than 15 minutes - total!

Definitely worth it!

I got the new look that I was going for and was able to reuse something I already had without having to go out and buy new!

Best case scenario, if you ask me!
........................................................................

To see more "before & after" makeovers head on over to Between Naps On The Porch for Metamorphosis Monday!
Many thanks to Susan for hosting this weekly event!


And after you're done there,
head on over to visit the Thrifty Decor Chick's Spray Paint Party!
She gives some great tips and tricks for applying perfect coats of spray paint and what to do just in case it doesn't turn out quite so perfectly!
There are some seriously crafty ladies over there!
You've got to see this chandelier for a baby girl's nursery!
It is too cute!

Enjoy!