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 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
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)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!
Vacationbarbie says
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!!
John says
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
midmodms says
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.
James says
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.
sablemable says
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!
Elizabeth Mary says
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.
sumac sue says
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.)