READER JSNUGBEAR adds his paint colors for a ranch house to our growing list of real-life reader stories. In addition, he has been a great reporter and taken lots of before, during, and after photos that show the transformation. Jsnugbear aka John also gets to show off his vintage cloth awnings, I am jealous. Above: A shot of the house, completed. And, do I spy with my little eye: Don Featherstone flamingoes to celebrate a major major item crossed off the “to do” list? 
John writes:
I recently had 2 sides of my home painted. Here are a few pics to share with your readers per your request for renovation pics and stories. I included a before pic so you can see what it looked like when I bought it in Oct 2007.
Above and left: Original look when I bought home in Oct 2007. Not bad but I personally don’t like shutters especially on either side of the front door!! Neighbors couldn’t remember last time it had been painted. Needless to say they LOVE me!!!! I love the original door. Hope to paint that as well.The inside of door is natural wood but the exterior has already been painted.
Above: West side primed and ready for paint.
Above: South side needed lots of primer!!!
Above and left: Front before trim painted and awnings put back up. Looks much cleaner and MCM without the shutters!! I … removed one of the exterior lights by the door as it originally only had one.
Above and left: South side. The awnings make SUCH a difference in the summer. I rarely use air conditioning and only in my bedroom at night. I love the natural breezes that flow thru the house.
Above: Front(west side)
Pam, I used Behr paint. Body is called Spiceberry and trim is Mojave Sunset. I tried to play the trim off the brick fireplace under carport. Its a terra cotta color rather than red brick. I tried looking into Eichler colors since I love the Eichler homes but I didn’t find one I liked. I have a Benjamin Moore store where I live so they had all the color cards for Eichler.
John
John, thank you so much for recording all this and for sharing. Have I ever mentioned that I love shingled ranches? The house looks great!
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
The color changes give the house a slightly Adirondack flavor when combined with all of the trees and shrubs. Then the tropical flamingoes add whimsy. Good job! Shutters AND awnings did seem a bit much, so keeping only the awnings was a good idea. (I’m going to go outside and try to envision my house without shutters.)
What a difference and a good one. I agree with Suman Sue that shutters and awnings were a bit too much, and I think the shutters being white was really not right.
This gives me a dilema of my own as I am thinking of adding awnings over my two bedroom windows on the front of the house which now have shutters. Yikes, I guess I have to do another drive around the area to see if houses have both awnings and shutters and if so, what I think of them. I don’t want to remove the shutters, so if it is going to be too much to have both, I will give up the awnings, I guess. Shoote, but thanks for the post that put the question in my head.
Nice job, John! I didn’t envy your hard work at scraping/priming the siding!
There are some homes that do not look better with shutters added and yours is one of them. Looks much cleaner w/o them!
Yes, love, love, love your entry door!
Much better without the shutters. Also, the brown color on the cedar shake siding is very appropriate. I do think an important design tip for a certain type of mid-century ranch is: keep it plain and simple. And, I believe you have done that to great effect.
This is exactly the color of my small 1955 mid century modern house. I believe they’ve been painting it the same color since it was built. It got a fresh coat just before I bought it two years ago. Love it.
Thank you all for your nice comments. The carport is being painted this week. I have to admit that I have a friend who’s a handyman by trade painting the house. I have so many projects on my list that I had to have help. He is doing a great job and repairing things along the way I wouldn’t have had a clue about. Cauking windows and removing rotten wood and the like.
John
Oh wow…what a difference. Isn’t it amazing how just a little TLC can get the landscaping back to looking great?
My house is beige (along with 3/4’s of the block) but at one time it was a dark forest green. I think the darker color on mine would look great, but I’m leaning more towards a Tiffany blue color the next time it get’s painted. (Mine is California bungalow meets MCM)
Your house just looks so inviting now! Nice job!!