Green with Envy

Here is our submission to the Before and After, two-month-later-Palooza that Boo Mama is hosting today. I hope you enjoy your stay at the former Pink Victorian which is now the Green Gables. (and no, I'm not changing my blog name!)

Before:

Pretty in Pink

Painted Lady

Painting this house was a huge project. The paint was peeling and there was bare wood exposed, so we knew that it needed to be painted. The question was, should we keep it the color it was, or change it? And if so, to what? The process started in early spring as we began collecting bids from a number of painting contractors. We quickly found that having a 'unique' house had its downfalls. The first being that all the bids were astronomically high. Most said we needed scaffolding 3/4 of the way around (all except the front side).

We finally found a reputable contractor who had experience painting historical buildings and was willing to paint it without scaffolding, and his bid was the lowest of all the others. We were sold! Then it was on to choosing paint colors, which was another story in itself.

We knew we wanted a monochromatic theme, as it was already in a monochromatic pink palette. As we soon realized, we were going to need some help. We called on a color specialist who guided us through the process of selecting the color we like and one that complements the house.

The following pictures served as inspiration as we explored what green can look like on a Victorian style house:

This one is beautiful with the pretty white trim against the green. We liked it, but we did want a little more colors than just two. It was a start.

I love this one, it has some browns in it and looks great for a city setting, but we weren't sure if it would be right for our neighborhood. Still, it was another idea.

Wow! Now I want a horse and carriage too!

After a lot of hemming and hawing and hand wringing and playing on the Sherwin-Williams try-a-color web feature, and with lots of help and encouragement from our color lady, we finally decided on these Sherwin-Williams colors: Connected Gray for the eaves and door trim; Svelte Sage for the body; Ancient Marble for the second floor body color; and Panda White for the window trim.

I have to say, that even though we had spent hours and days and weeks and months thinking about color and looking at colors, when the day finally arrived it was slightly scary. When they were taping off all the windows I felt more than a little anxious. I couldn't believe it was happening so fast. Then the painters started spraying on the main color and when I could finally come outside to take a peek it looked amazing! Each day it looked better and better.

After about a month, it was all finished.

We are so happy with the result, and get lots of compliments on the new color.

So without further adieu, (drum roll please)

After:

Prettier in Green

(This is a shot before the porch was painted)


click for larger view

Ta Da! I hope you liked our Makeover! Thanks for stopping by! Thanks Boo Mama for hosting this, it is so much fun visiting everyone's projects. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think there's a closet that needs some work......