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Design Dilemma
miranda_stoneham

Needing exterior colour inspiration

Miranda 99999
10 years ago
I am feeling overwhelmed by magnolia/brown/stone and detest the stones around the windows. I think I could enjoy the tiles on the central portion if we get the colours correct. The added complication will be that in a couple of years the window frames will be switching to white. I do love bright front doors so that is a must. Can any of you inspired people start me on a direction away from bland!
Featured Answer
  • Maureen Hinman
    10 years ago
    I like the funky block style of the outside decor. I'm no expert on exteriors but just saw this fun house with a similar blocking and lots of color.
    [houzz=
    Olsen Residence · More Info
    ]

    Comments (26)

    • Christy Tay
      10 years ago
      I really love the color theme already, I would just add amazing, vibrant plants and flowers to it. Purple should really pop out with the brown and beige you have going on. Maybe pink too?
      Miranda 99999 thanked Christy Tay
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Thank you! That was a surprise to like the colours. I will try and step back and reassess my thoughts as I probably have become over focused on having to change it all

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    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Lovely orange door and I like the crisper walls, not too bright but not a washy cream. Husband said he likes the blue sky most and can we get that! We are in wet Wales.
    • Rina
      10 years ago
      Hi Miranda. Pretty house. If you're thinking along the lines minimal change now, I wouldn't suggest painting the window bricks because they are so irregular; perhaps they could be concealed by being built out, and then painted a couple of shades lighter than the walls. I have no building expertise but I'm sure that's doable. Here's a rough impression on the front two windows of the effect. The second pic shows a repainted front door, popping a bit.
      Miranda 99999 thanked Rina
    • Rina
      10 years ago
      In this case, you would need some kind of tall plant to the right of the front window. I've planted one in a pot for you.
      Miranda 99999 thanked Rina
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Thank you Rinamin, I think the stones are just clad but I suspect you may be right and rendering the damage from taking it off may be bigger than I think. There is a large hedge behind the photographer and a driveway so this is the only angle the front of the house is viewed from. The balancing of a tall shrub/small tree to the right of that window makes a pleasing balance as taking the stones away does leave a blank.
    • PRO
      gingerclaire
      10 years ago
      last modified: 10 years ago
      I think the expense of getting rid of the stone cladding around the windows would be a worthwhile spend. WIthout them, your house would look more modern and less 60s/70s bland.

      I am surprising myself by saying this, but I think your house suits the dark window frames, why do they need to change? If the colour were a dark grey, and you painted the roof eaves to match, I think it could look stunning.

      I might be inclined to replace the tiled siding with some untreated cedar that would go a lovely silvery colour as it aged. This would give it a more contemporary look.

      Could an area of the gravel be laid to lawn? Just a bit in front of the closest elevation would lift the look.
      Miranda 99999 thanked gingerclaire
    • PRO
      gingerclaire
      10 years ago
      Also the UK is a bit different in taste to the US. Over here if you fit shutters that are obviously too small to close over the windows, people just think it looks fake.
      Miranda 99999 thanked gingerclaire
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Thanks Gingerclaire, you have phrased my question better than me, its not so much the beige bland it is that 60s/70s beige/bland look that I would like to shift. Cedar planks(? is that the word) are going on my list of investigations!

      The house is on quite a slope so whilst the front has a good elevation the back is different. If you can imagine the bottom third of the windows opening to the retaining wall, the middle third covered by flowers on top of the wall and only the top third showing sky and a through view ( the garden at the back is large). So the dark frames seem to make the rooms feel darker from the inside. Some major pruning and low level planting will hopefully fix the middle third of the view problem and some paint will fix the dark grey wall which is the view in the bottom third. This coupled with the fact that they are 80s double glazing so pretty useless for retaining heat was leaning me towards replacing with white.
    • Rina
      10 years ago
      Hello again. I'm not in the US, actually. In South Africa where we hardly do shutters at all -- at least up north, where I am. I didn't mean the plastered-in bricks to look like shutters -- do you think they would? Maybe a vague reference to shutters ... :) How nice to be talking in roughly the same time zone. Good morning to you both.
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Morning Rinamin! No offence taken on the shutters... as we have just had our summer for the last 5 years - 3 weeks of sunshine in a row. So the chances of more in the next 10 years are now low *joke*
    • PRO
      gingerclaire
      10 years ago
      @rinamin ah I see what you were showing now. I wish I were clever at Photoshop to show you what I have in mind... I think anything that Miranda can do to simplify the areas around the windows will bring it more up to date.

      How about going for dark colour frames when you come to replace the windows? I really think that your house could carry a look like the image Maureen suggested; and look how good the dark window frames look there! I think the thing that's jarring you when you look at them at the moment is the clash between the white on the roof edging and the dark windows. If both were dark it would be a much subtler look. You could then get creative with the wall colour...

      You have a house with a whole heap of potential, good luck!
      Miranda 99999 thanked gingerclaire
    • Rina
      10 years ago
      I don't have Photoshop, I use an oldish version of basic Paint, which I taught myself to use when I had a passion for drawing made-up rooms a few years ago. I'll give it go to do a version in grey, but it will take a while. Paint is fiddly. I'll be back later, d.v.
      Miranda 99999 thanked Rina
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Thanks! Off to feed the kids will look back when I can unclamp them from my legs!
    • Rina
      10 years ago
      Here we are ... my skills aren't really up to doing the cedar, I'm afraid. At least not in any hurry and without an example to work from. I do think grey suits the house, and I'm not terribly keen on grey in general. I used a greenish grey for the walls and a brownish one for the fascias and gutters -- picking up from the existing tiles. I'm not sure the distinction will show here, though.
      Miranda 99999 thanked Rina
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Thank you so much that was really kind of you! Darker fascias make a surprising amount of difference, which I really like, and I can see how it anchors the roofline back down on the windows.

      I am pleased we decided not to switch the windows immediately as I can get the outside sorted and may be back pedalling and keeping dark ones even if we do replace them.


      The green/grey is lovely, the house is in a small village in rolling fields cow countryside rather than the higher sheep mountain country so as you can see in window there are a lot of trees around. The colour seems to settle the house nicely into that kind of environment.

      My list at the moment is now looking like
      -Remove stone around windows
      -Balance the new plainer wall with something tall
      -Darken the fascia/gutter
      -Fresher base tone paint - nothing creamy - looking to chalky/grey/green
      -Pop the front door :D
      -Poke around at the base of the house to see if the lawn can be pulled back a bit in front of the central wing. (haha - giving a bungalow wings - but you know what I mean!)
    • Rina
      10 years ago
      Lovely. Enjoy! I'd love to see a new picture when you're done -- on this thread, or I might never find it. Please.
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      will do! probably towards the end of the year. Lot on for the next two months then cracking on with the house
    • Rina
      10 years ago
      Yay!
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Part 1 started, planning permission now submitted! the front door is being centralised to give us interior space each side in the hallway. Kitchen extension submitted to infill partially the space between the right hand "wings". This should tidy up the messiness on that side, the new window from the kitchen will now face outwards to the garden rather than at the opposite wall with the bathroom window. So a small window from the bathroom also is going to be on the front of the house. So definitely going to have to paint the outside now...... May have to wait until spring or hope for a dry winter ( not a chance!)
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Before plan
    • Rina
      10 years ago
      Hi Miranda. You may have noticed that my profile name changed from Rinamin to Rina. I didn't really intend that to happen, but it's fine. Have you decided what to do about the stone on the windows? Congratulations on getting started with part 1. Wish you well and wish you fine weather. In spite of its being unlikely, climate change makes all climatic things possible. And confusing. I hear from your island that you are having a fine and beautiful autumn.
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      Hi Rina, Hoping to go along with your picture from the summer :) So the stones are coming off I hope unless the husband gets in the way. The below plans don't have the front door move but have the rest of the building work on there
    • Rina
      10 years ago
      Yay! Tell the husband he needs a holiday, somewhere a long way from home. When the husband's away ...

      Neat plan. I also wish you contractors who are devoted to their work and clients. And highly skilled.
      Miranda 99999 thanked Rina
    • Miranda 99999
      Original Author
      10 years ago
      fingers crossed
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