Sweet Home Architecture: old house painting

Showing posts with label old house painting. Show all posts

Two Years, and 9,000 Gallons of Paint Later . . . .

10:48 AM | Labels: front porch, old house painting

When we bought That Old House in 2008,
she was yellow, with white trim,
a green front door, and green shutters.

On a snowy afternoon shortly before Christmas 2009, my daughters and I decorated

the front door with white pine roping, little white lights, and yards & yards of wired red ribbon.

Tarting up the front door went a long way in disguising the worn and chipped paint on the house,

the scarred pillars, the scuffed porch deck and steps, the general shabbiness of the house's exterior . . .

but

what did an even better job of disguising all those uglies was the paint job That Old House

got in June 2011, when she was given a whole new wardrobe: all white, with shutters and front door

trim so darkly green that the color looks black, and a brilliant yellow front door.

This year's front door roping went up against the now-dark transom and sidelights,

and even though we forgot the red ribbons this time (I save them from year to year),

it was enough bling against the pristine white and the austere near-black.

Oops. A bit of roping flopping off the porch railing.
What messy people must live here.

December 2009: our front door.

December 2011: our front door.

Now normally, I am not one for change.

I like things to stay as they are.

But I am OK with this metamorphosis.

White and very dark green are the original colors of That Old House,

found beneath many coats of paint during the scraping last June.

So I guess we didn't really change much, after all. -- Cass

At Between Naps On The Porch, it is Metamorphosis Monday! Click here to visit.

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That's A Nice Front Porch You Got There, Honey (wink wink)

7:55 AM | Labels: Fall decor, old house painting

Sun!
Real sunshine today in northern New Jersey.

And the people rejoice.

At least, this people is rejoicing.

I was beginning to grow moss up my north side.

Which is not my best side, you know what I mean?

I have gotten no further in outdoor Fall fluffing than a wreath on the front door, a few pumpkins and mums

scattered hither and yon, and the artfully disheveled sprinkling of fallen leaves, courtesy of my partner

Mother Nature.

Who, by the way, is terribly bossy. Insists on getting her own way, and always does.

I have to admit that decorating That Old House for a holiday is not a chore.

She's pretty cute all on her own, so any fluff we add is just that -- fluff.

The first summer we owned this house, our daughters went Dollar Tree decorating crazy on Memorial Day:

Ah, yes, such dignified patriotic decor for a venerable early American house.

I'm sure they do something similar in Colonial Williamsburg on such days.

When we bought That Old House, she was yellow, with green shutters.

And she had lots of boo-boos needing attention; her complexion was a disaster.

(Translation: don't look too closely at her lattice, shutters, trim and other delicate areas.)

Our second Christmas, in 2009, our daughters and I decorated the front door.

In the snow.

I think we'll do a similar door decoration this year,

but no more yellow house with white trim; That Old House got a paint job back in June.

Crisp white on the old cedar clapboards and woodwork, and all her boo-boos fixed.

Blue porch ceiling, gray porch floor.

Dark, dark, dark green on the shutters and around the front door.

Sadly, most of the old shutters were shot; they will be replaced someday when the Shutter Fairy shows up.

In August, we discovered that the proper state for a front porch anticipating a hurricane is nekkid.

But now it's Fall, and our old farmhouse-in-the-suburbs

is getting its gold on, along with its oranges and russets and

plums and dark greens ... all those autumn colors.

That's a fake Jack O Lantern on that teeny wicker chair.

I love electric Jack O Lanterns; plug 'em in and let 'em shine.

No worries that you'll fry a squirrel or burn the house down.

Our front porch won't get much attention from us this weekend.

We are heading out east to Long Island, to the family beach house. Big plans -- some painting,

some slipcover-wrestling (soon to be an Olympic sport), just enough wallpapering to avoid divorce,

a few meals of local fish and veggies, much staring at the watery views,

and the sit-down-and-take-an-unplanned-naps that salt air force upon you. Have a lovely weekend! -- Cass

Link Parties!

LaurieAnna's Vintage Home is the place for Farmhouse Friday. Click here!

At My Romantic Home, it's Show And Tell Friday. Click here!

Feathered Nest Friday makes its home at French Country Cottage. Click here!

The Charm of Home features Home Sweet Home on Fridays. Click here!

It's Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground. Click here!

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Painting Done and the Fog Rolls In

5:32 AM | Labels: imperial yellow benjamin moore, old house painting, shutters, wedding, yellow front door

Whew! The painters wrapped up on Wednesday,
just in the nick of time before big thunderboomers
rolled through. We think the fresh paint
on the porch deck and steps held.

It's foggy and gloomy this morning, but that's okay; we don't need wonderful weather until Saturday.

What didn't hold was the fresh mulch put down a few days ago along the driveway's retaining wall.

It looked good while it lasted. We're hoping it will dry out so we can sweep/shovel it back into place.

But the house is painted.

Right down to the water meter and the cellar hatch.

The 12 restored and painted shutters are hung.

The rest of the windows will have to wait to get new reproduction shutters.

The house does look a wee bit nekkid.

Porch furniture on the front lawn, waiting also for the paint to dry!

Our little feathered tenants like that we painted the big house to match their tiny one.

Some of their relatives are squatting in our eaves; the painters will be back when the birds

have grown and flown to patch and paint those holes. No one wanted to dislodge the tiny birdies.

And that's it for Thursday.
I have a "to do" list that is still Too Long, but do-able.
And I am getting very excited -- happy excited!
I may not be back to blogging till after daughter Alida's wedding on Saturday,
but I'll get loads of pics. I chose a handbag that is big enough to slip my camera into.
Happy Thursday! -- Cass

Well, the painting of our house over the past two weeks, and its change
from yellow and green to white and dark-green-er is certainly a
transformation!
So I'm jumping on the Transformation Thursday blogwagon at
The Shabby Chic Cottage. Click here to see what else is going on!

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A Father's Day Remembrance, and a Front Door (Partially) Revealed!

2:43 PM | Labels: benjamin moore paint, charleston green, father's day, front door, front porch, old house painting, paint

Sunday was my first Father's Day without my Dad.

Our Pop left us on February 2nd of this year, and none of us is used to that fact yet;

we all just kind of assumed he'd be around, well, forever.

He could do just about anything, so why not that?

I found this picture with some of my Mom's things.

I think it dates post-World War Two, when Dad was out of the Navy,

and busy fixing up the little fixer-upper cottage they bought for their first real home.

Maybe my siblings know better where and when it was taken?

**********************************

He was a great Dad.

Our family turned out just one year ago, in full force, for Pop's 90th birthday celebration.

Here he is, part of 4 generations of Herbs -- him, his son, his grandson, and great-grandson.

His smile never changed.

The last time I saw it was in the hospital emergency room, before he was admitted.

He was having trouble talking, but he gifted me with one of those beautiful smiles.

I will keep it forever, as one of what my Mom called "heart pictures."

************************************************************

Meanwhile, the Dad in That Old House, also known as Howard, spent part of Sunday

catching a quick snooze on the sofa; he thinks I don't know this, but I do.

We had a jillion things to do, but on Father's Day every Daddy deserves a break.

Howard at the beach house, helping with THOSE fix-ups!

Howard, too, is a great Dad.

He has been endlessly patient about the wedding plans,

and all of my crazy house fix-up schemes, and plans for entertaining.

When I told him we were not only going to have an After Party here following the reception

on Saturday, but also a day-long Open House on Sunday so we could see out of town guests one more time,

he just shook his head and said, "You're out of control." But he was smiling. Really, he was.

***********************************************

What makes me smile is the transformation of That Old House from yellow with green shutters to

white with green-so-dark-it-looks-black shutters. The shutters (those that could be salvaged)

are not yet back on the house, but the door surround is painted.

Yes, it IS green; check it in sunlight and you'll see it's not black.

Mmm. . . I do love the look and smell of glossy oil paint.

The front door itself is still in its old clothes.

Cracked icky old green.

By Tuesday, all the painting will be done, and I can show you what color that front door will be.
The porch floor isn't painted yet -- can't be done till the other porch work is finished!