Pondering Paint

I feel like I'm always late for everything. This includes preparing for painting the exterior of the house, and boy does it need it. There is chipping and peeling going on everywhere. It cannot wait another summer. Here it is April, and I don't have my act together.

In many respects I'm looking forward to it. I've said it before, but I hate the makeup beige color with a passion. Here's a photo from April 2011, before we took possession:

Also, the shutters are missing from the house. I found them in the garage, which is a very, very good thing.

A shutterless Cape Cod is like a face without eyebrows-- I think it looks naked and weird. I want color and some personality returned to her. (I keep calling the house Ruth in my mind. Is that strange?)

There are several factors involved in my preparations. Being post-divorce and a new homeowner is sort of a double whammy. There is lots of equipment I don't have, and so investing in tools will be part of the cost of this paint job. My sister and brother-in-law loaned me a siding sander power tool gadget that will help immensely. I have scrapers. But I don't have a ladder. I'll need to rent or borrow scaffold at certain points. Small pieces of window trim need to be replaced and I'm pretty sure that means an air pressure nailer, which I would like anyway, but perhaps I should look into renting.

In addition, I'll need masks and disposable drop cloths in case we are dealing with lead paint, and with a house this old we most certainly are. I don't want flakes migrating into the soil.

I've experimented with a few different color schemes for the house, including white with green shutters (classic scheme for a Cape Cod) and even some fairly bright ones (light blue with white trim, apple green shutters, and yellow door). But I keep returning to this detail of the house:

It's hard to accurately photographically reproduce the colors in the brick foundation of the house, but they are lovely. Warm orangey red, olive green, a light taupe-y green, a sort of flat mustard, and a gray-brown. The brick faces have a kind of glaze to them that is really attractive. The current color, the slightly pinkish beige, fights with the brick and makes the whole house ugly. It would be tempting to some people, I think, to paint the brick instead of dealing with the siding color. I'm so glad the brick survived unscathed all these years

With the brick in mind, these are the colors I've chosen:

For the siding:

Color Source: My Perfect Color

Valspar Homestead Resort Pale Olive

For the trim:

Color Source: My Perfect Color

Valspar City Arboretum

For the front door (I love this part!):

Color Source: My Perfect Color

Valspar Cinnamon Cake. I love the name and the color.

I'm still in the air about the shutter color. I'd originally chosen a fairly dark gray-brown:

Color Source: My Perfect Color

Valspar Tree Trunk (another name I love)

Despite the fact the window trim will remain white, it still seemed too dark. So now I'm pondering a biscuity-yellow color for a lighter look:

Color Source: My Perfect Color

Valspar Redstone Dining Room Gold

So, while shutter colors are still up in the air (and I'm open for suggestions), I'll need to get supplies soon. I don't think anybody enjoys scraping siding, but it's 90 percent of a good paint job. I'll have to console myself that every paint flake gets me closer to the blessed end of the pinky beige. The fun will start by May!