Yeah so what? I haven’t even finished with the inside of the house yet and here I am thinking about painting the outside of the house. WELLLLLLL It is getting warm and now is the time before it gets sweltering hot!! When I painted the house a few years ago I waited until full Spring and it rained every weekend then it got hot as heck, so it took forever to finish.
Why am I thinking of painting my house again? Because:
- I removed a window and I don’t have the money to re-side the house so I am going to repaint the house and camouflage the window with a metal sculpture I saw in Ross that will look AWESOME there.
- I am sick of green
So here is my story and I am sticking to it!!
When I first moved into my house this is how it looked. Notice the overgrown yard, trees everywhere, jealousy windows in the door and the windows, the handrail, and what you probably can not see is that the walkway was flat bricks. I liked them and would have liked to keep them but I needed more and I could not find them anywhere so I had to make my own cobblestones with a cement mold. That is a project I will NEVER do again.
So I needed windows and when I priced them I had to get custom windows because of the sizes and they were through the roof in prices so I went to a salvage yard and purchased double-paned windows (half of a double sash window) for $5 each (x 6 windows) and I had someone install them and the door for $125. The windows do not open. I wanted a fancy door but I could not afford it so I got the cheapest door they had. I HATE it but I see no point in changing it when I have a perfectly good door. The rest of the improvements speak for themselves.
I need a storm door but I can’t decide what kind to get. Because the house is so old I want the plain old white door. You know the kind I am talking about…
It is not fancy but it is what was used on a 30’s to 40’s house. But my heart says I want a full glass door but I don’t think it will match. I don’t know what to do so I have done nothing. I would also love an overhang over the door but as you see the roof line is too low so that’s out. Something has to be done to the steps but I don’t know what. They are not deep enough and they are too low from the door. I have hesitated to do anything because they are stone steps and I want to keep them but I don’t know what to do. I have been clueless on that for the last 5 years LOL.. I also want to change the color of the house. This green is irking the hell out of me. I have a thing for pink. Yessssssss I want a pink house!!! The more I think about it the more I want it. I painted my bedroom Valspar’s Cherry Mocha and I want to paint the outside of the house the same color. It is a chocolate cherry. I think the color will look something like this outside. I am going to Lowes to get a sample made up and paint a piece so I will see how it looks. I hope not ridiculous LOL.. Do I need someone to talk me out of this? I have worked in historic districts for the last month or so and I have seen the color on several houses built in the 20’s and it looks GOOOOOOOD to me!! I saw it with light pink trim but I think I like cream trim because the light pink trim is too much for me.
Here is my back door which is my main door. One thing you can not see in this photo is where the door needs to be trimmed and it all needs to be painted. Right now there is a 4″ gap in the wall. LOL yeah I better hurry up before the bugs get in. I guess I better find someone to do that for me before I start painting huh? I also hate the red paint on the porch AND I want to paint under the light blue on the porch ceiling. Its for protection or something…I forget. Oh and please excuse all the junk. I have to make a trip to the dump pretty soon. I can’t find the title to the truck to register it and without the truck I can’t get the stuff to the dump. I am almost scared to move this stuff because I surely did find a snake skin out here the other day and it was a small snake, meaning there is a family of many more somewhere. EWWWWWL!
There is the culprit window on the left
<EDIT: You might be wondering what in the heck is on the other side of the boarded up window? That is my kitchen. See in the top right corner of the boarded up board there is a small vent? That is over my stove. Here is the other side of the wall… I had a craftsman come in and make a fake stone/brick wall. It was quite easy too. I wish I took photos of him doing it. And yes you are seeing right. My ceiling is lopsided. LOL the cost of an old house.
END OF EDIT>
In the window resides my bottle collection for my bottle tree. I will make it one day after I get some more trees cut down. I don’t want the bottles to get broken by the constantly falling limbs. Plus I like the effect of my poor mans stained glass when I am sitting in the room. I always wonder when people see these bottles in the window if they think I am a lush? I don’t drink. If you been following the blog then you know I stole got the bottles from my nieces. They are the lushes. LOL (they are going to kill me for saying that, but I am not worried because they don’t read my blog)
That center window has to be fixed. I have to find a storm window (that is a home-made screen on there probably made in the 50’s). The window itself needs to be re-glazed. I have the stuff and I practiced on the window I took out and made my cabinet door. It’s not too hard. That room freezes in the winter because the window pane is barely hanging on to the frame. Once I take that screen contraption off I have to put something up there. I can not find a storm window 49″ x 48″. or two storm windows 20 3/4″ x 47″ so I am considering putting a piece of plexiglass up there in the meantime. I am not sure yet. I don’t want to leave the window by itself for safety reasons.
I am also wondering if I should paint the brick foundation. its ugly! What do you think?
I talked about a lot here so if you would like to give me some feedback, that will be most helpful!! Thanks
And I probably won’t write any more for a little while because I will be super busy this weekend…
Happy Easter…
A City Girls Country Dreams 
There is a small house down my street about the same as yours. It is a little craftsman. They painted it a very deep red/purple, trim is dark green blue. I love the place every time I drive by. Never would have considered this scheme.
Now I know why that stupid concrete form has sat around for 10+ years. Every time I looked at it I saw a bag of cement that needed to be mixed for at least 2. Honor yourself for all of that hard work. It looks great and like the coloring.
What is behind the window you took out? Is this the kitchen? See your old window on the ground? I would fill the opening with insulation, cover with sturdy plywood that fits and seal all around. When you paint your house, paint the plywood too. Then clean up the window/take the back wood off, and paint same as trim….hang it over the area. You can also add some insulation film to the inside of the windows and it will hide the fact it is not functional. Or spray paint the glass with some poly.
Also, I wouldn’t think it would look bad if you put up closed simple shutters or a similar covering over the hole, like you have done to expand beyond the garden window.
You really need to get the other window fixed. By the time you pay for heat to match the loss, it has to even out.
I added a small fence in front from house to end of steps and a gate. My porch is small too. It is more a craftsman style then cottage and made the front cozy.
Do you have a Habitat Restore around? They have tons of old windows, the storm door you are looking for, among more things for rebuilding. A mixed bag of new, good and just okay. I have to stay out of there. Do a search for Habitat for Humanity and they have an option to find Restore near you.
Hopefully, not to much rambling. I like your home.
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Thank you. I am on my way to Lowes right now to look at paint colors so I am glad someone else co-signed on that. I was thinking of a green door as well. I don’t know what it is with me and green this year…but I been feeling it more than once. I do have a Habitat restore here and I hate it. They are way too expensive in my book. I have talked about them before on here. Every once in a while I run up on a good bargain but most times NOT. But because you suggested it there will be a bargain in there today so I will swing by there before I hit Lowes.
I never thought about the small gate! That is a cute idea. Its on my list.
As for the boarded up window. I had to move my stove in the kitchen so I could vent it to the outside. On the other side of the wall. The vent in the photo is where the window was. I had someone come in and make a fake stone wall. I LOVE IT. I am amending my post so you can see the other side of the wall. The hole is insulated! I was a fanatic about insulation.
As for the window. I am going to repair it. I didn’t want to say it straight out but the purpose of me putting the storm window up is not only for weather protection but also theft prevention. It makes it that much harder for anyone to get in the window if they tried. I have a good idea how much the storm windows cost so I will check the Restore out on them. That will probably be the one thing I can get out of there dirt cheap and I might find some to match what I already have so thanks for reminding me about them. LOL I know, I know, I just flipped sides on that…I just can’t forget when I was going to buy ONE cabinet for my kitchen and they only come in sets or the sink I fell in love with for the bathroom was $400…granted it wasssss marble or the chandelier they wanted $50 bucks for…the same one I got out of Goodwill for $15. I am CHEAP when it comes to resale stuff. I want to pay pennies or I am pissed. LOL…saying it out loud lets me hear myself…good day…I am done. LOL
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