This been a huge change that I have been so excited to share with you! I hinted at it when I showed you my rocking chair front porch and some of you guessed the change.
So let’s go back… Here’s our house when we closed on it back in May. Completely overtaken with bushes and what you may not see is how chippy and badly in need of paint the house was. We knew that when buying we would need to repair and paint the exterior of the home.
Removing the bushes, adding the first stage of landscaping, and finding some secondhand rocking chairs for the front porch definitely helped the exterior of the house but paint was still needed.
This is what the underneath of the front and back porch looked like – moldy, chippy and gross!
And I really wanted some more contrast in between the white trim and the house color too. The house was such a light gray that you honestly just thought the house was white with almost no difference between the house and trim.
You can really see how bad the white trim and paint looked in this picture. We negotiated for some trim repairs at closing but paint was something we knew we would have to do soon after buying.
Let me just stop and say that picking out an exterior color was HARD. I lost count at how many samples I got from Sherwin Williams. We wanted a warm gray or a cool beige/brown. But exterior colors are hard in that the sun really washes the house out so you have to go darker than you think, and then of course colors can change so much in shade/sun. We finally settled on a color – Sherwin Williams Elephant Ear
So once again here’s the before…
And here’s the freshly painted house!
Here’s a better shot of the color – it looks more brown in direct sunlight and gray in the shade so it really is a good taupe or warm gray color.
Here’s a bunch of before and after shots together so you can really see the difference.
After. I had the hardest time taking pictures of the house – tried on several different days at different times. I think I need a cloudy day so that I don’t end up with harsh sun or shadows but we haven’t had rain here in months so not sure when we will have a cloudy day anytime soon.
Here’s the garage side of the house after we pulled a bunch of overgrown bushes and did phase of landscaping.
And here’s the new paint!
Back of the house before – you can see where I was trying out a bunch of paint samples on the back trying to find the right one… 
And the back after. Just so happy with this new color. And ignore all the rest of the yard. We concentrated on front landscaping this past summer and have a TON of work to do back here so that will be next spring/summers project.
Under the porches before and after…
Front of house before
And the front after! We plan to also do something to the brick in the future. Want to avoid just painting it – but the red brick and red mortar is just not our style at all. So it may be something as little as changing the mortar color, to doing a mortar wash (think German Schmear from Fixer Upper!), or doing some kind of wash. And we have still got to get that massive bush turned tree cut down – ugh, I seriously hate that thing with a passion but we don’t have a chainsaw. So another project for another day.
We did hire this job out – the same painter that I hired to do the living room did the exterior and we were very happy with the work. Love the crisp, clean white trim and how it contrasts so beautifully with the new paint color.
I’d love to know what you think of the new house color! The next time you see this porch it will be all decked for Christmas – can’t wait!
Looks Great! Can’t wait to see the Christmas decorations!
OK I feel really silly…..that I didn’t notice the “peek at something new” was the paint color!?!? At any rate, I LOVE the new color and how it turned out – so pretty! Great choice… Looking forward to seeing your porch decorated for Christmas! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Like the change! That new color looks great!
Absolutely beautiful!
Love it. Looks so much better.
It looks amazing!!!!! You have really put your mark on the place and making it home 🙂
It’s perfect and I love how you can see the trim & windows now.
I love the crisp contrast between the white trim and your new paint color. It looks Great! In a short time you have made lots of wonderful improvements to your new Home! Have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Your house looks amazing! I love the new colour you chose!
I think you picked just the right color!!!
I really like that color. Your home looks great! So fresh now. We are getting ready to tackle the exterior painting of our home in January as well.
Happy Thanksgiving…
Sherri
Nice! Need you at my house!
Love the color! We plan on painting our house the same so its nice to see it on a home:)
What color of white trim did you use? We are thinking alabaster, but really want the clean white trim color like you have.
We just used off the shelf white – I think it is called Extra White? I thought about picking an actual color from a card but it was one less decision and Extra White is what our painter said he always uses for trim 🙂
I would love to see pictures of your house when you get it done. Picking exterior paint was an agonizing decision – expensive so not easily redone, and the various light outside throughout day changes the color so much. We are pretty happy with our choice though 🙂
Hi Christina!
I will definitely post a photo once we have the house painted. Our home is not due to be complete until around August, so it may be a while. Thank you for your information!
Painting your home exterior with your own hands sounds great but it is not an easy task at all. You should have ample of experience before thinking to do it. If you notice, your home’s exterior paint has been faded away, you have to engage an expert like: https://www.energygreenbuilders.com/ . He could suggest you how the paints are to be given on your home siding. He can suggest you which colors will fit your home as the design and color are interdependent. The color combination is also vital. Using their experience, they finish the job successfully.
i love the contrast between the white trim and new paint color,your house look amazing 🙂 you did a great job 🙂 appreciate! thanks for sharing !
Now I know elephant’s ear color does not look good only on elephants but it can make our homes look beautiful! Did you do this yourself?
You did a great job, , choosing a color can be overwhelming, but using these tips really help in making the right paint color choice. Thanks for sharing!
Its look amazing 🙂 Did great job! I am planning to redecorate my home exterior,specially the walls because they’ve started looking dull. Thanks for sharing!
I love the light gray color on the lap siding! It looks amazing with the dark navy blue shutters and white trim. My husband and I have been wanting to paint the exterior of our home at some point. I’d love to do something like this. We don’t have the time, tools, or experience to do something like this ourselves. We’ll want to make sure to find a good professional who can do it for us.
Great colors on your home! It is coming along beautifully. Rome wasn’t built in a day and just enjoy every little progress you have on the way. Can’t wait to see all the changes coming up!
Looks great!! Do you see any undertones of purple or pink? Also, what color are your shutters?
Love your post. Am having a DIY quarantine paint party and choosing an exterior color IS hard. I have spend far too much time in the SW app and I know the digital colors aren’t even accurate! But Elephants Ear came up as a coordinating color for my current trim and deck railing which is sealskin – a dark brown-which I don’t want to change bc we have so much deck rail. My husband really likes our current paint color which is like Fireweed (an autumn red) and I like it too but when I re-surfaced my deck the Cabot Dark Slate came out more blue than grey and I don’t love the red/blue/brown combo. Plus we have a large bunkhouse that is done in fireweed and I don’t want to be too matchy matchy but the color cannot clash with the red building either. So I am leaning towards this color bc I want something dark enough to not look white or beige but light enough to contrast with brown trim. It really is lovely on your house and I appreciate all your insight about this particular color. I have an ultra white primer on the house to seal the paneling – we are in a cabin in the woods and get moisture. Do you think the primer would change the look?