house progress exterior color exterior paint palettes // smitten studioI can finally check the exterior painting off our to-do list! I mentioned I was trying to decide between a charcoal palette and a white based palette, so I thought I would show you both! Color palettes and patio talk after the jump…

house progress exterior colorIn the end we went with the charcoal (and yea, it isn’t that different from the cabin but what can I say, I love that color). I actually wanted to go white but our neighbor on one side has a large white house (and it isn’t a great white. It is a dirty, rough stucco kind of white) and I didn’t want our place to visually blend right into theirs, being so close. So, that was the final tipping point we needed to go with the charcoal (both an improvement on the yellow).

house progress exterior colorWe also broke ground on the patio. I had no idea it was such a huge undertaking. We are working with sub-contractors for this, who poured the cement foundation and built the frame that you see. We are going to stain and treat the top boards ourselves to save a few pennies, and then the guys will come back and finish it off.

To see all of the home renovation progress check here
To see the exterior before, check here

p.s. for the stain color on the doors, I mixed half Light Walnut & half Provincal by Varathane.

  • That stained trim contrasts gorgeously with the paint color- love it!

  • EEEEE!! The colour looks AWESOME!! I love that you chose the dark (I looooove the cabin!) and it looks sooo great. Such a great call considering the neighbours have a not-so-nice white too, great thinking.

    Can’t wait to see more more more! LOVE these updates, S!

  • It looks amazing! Definitely a good call on the darker color! Can’t wait to see the finished house. I’m sure it’ll be amazing!
    xo Andrea
    Wonderful and Marvelous

  • it looks so chic and modern! Love the dark colour, too, the match with the stained wood it’s perfect! Can’t wait to see more.
    G.

  • Kristin

    Very cute! Trying to tell if the windows are white?

  • that looks so good. we are in the middle of a similar color on our house.
    can i ask what your source is for those doors? i don’t know if i’ll have the same access to doors as you, since i’m in canada, but paying more for shipping and having more options might be worth it!

    love holly

  • I’m in love with every single thing you’re doing to your house. Could you please give some insight on how you found your sub-contractors? I’ve had a few contractor nightmares and would love your recommendations!

  • Amanda

    I love it!! I love your choice of trim color, it’s perfect. How much lighter did you tint the trim color? I am working on a similar paint project. Thanks!

  • Amanda

    Also we are buying a wood door and I was wondering if you stained the doors yourself? Do you think it is an easy project to take on?

  • Jennifer Naraki

    Seriously, I need to do a drive by! We are choosing our stucco colors in the next week or so! 😉 I’m loving that! We are the same, either charcoal or white. I can’t wait to see how you landscape and furnish the outside living space. I’m going to start driving the streets… I know your nearby! 😉 (kidding.) xox

  • Hey Amanda,
    It is hard to say on the trim color. I just mixed the paint with white until I liked the color and then took that in for a color match. Tinting it down didn’t give me enough of a color difference so just adding white was the best option.

    Also, yes! we stained the doors ourselves and it’s easy enough to do. My dad put me and my two sisters to work staining all the doors for one of our houses growing up and I was only 9! ha The key is to prep it right and just follow the instructions on the can. I like to use a clean rag to apply the stain and then also to rub it off. Good luck with your projects!

  • Hi Jenny,
    I wish I could say I had the magic answer but it really is a crap shoot. We were lucky enough to have a friend of a friend that is a general contractor, so he was able to hook us up with a lot of the sub-contractors but we still had a few nightmares too! I haven’t posted about our bathroom tile debacle but basically the tile guy did the WORST grout job and then never came back. We had to find someone else to scrape it all out and re-do it! One resource that can be really good is if you bought your house recently to ask your realtor if they know of anyone. We found a few people that way too. I hope that helps a little!

  • Hi Holly,
    Yes! We ordered ours from Stock Building Supply, (http://www.stocksupply.com/) they have locations around the states but not sure if they ship to Canada.

  • Hi Kristin,
    Yes, The window trim is the light grey but the windows themselves are white. We might still spray those to match the same color as the trim.

  • Julia

    It looks awesome! Great colour choice!

  • I love that you took a risk with the color, it looks really great with the wood stain on the doors!

    xo Mary Jo

  • Amanda Williams

    What kind of wood were your doors?

  • I loooove your house color so much. Its so rich and beautiful and the wood tones absolutely shine against it. Great choice.

  • emma

    It’s looking a-mazing!
    Where did you get your french doors from? We need to replace a slider and I’m hoping that I might be able to find an affordable (i.e.. cheap!) french instead 🙂

  • Anna

    Hey, Sarah!

    Did you trim your windows with the same stain as your french doors?

    LOVING THE PROGRESS! I’m inspired!

  • Jodie

    Those colors! Swoon!
    May I ask what color you finished the deck in?

  • I absolutely love the color! Question: I’ve heard black absorbs heat and can cause cooling bills to rise since the house is apparently absorbing all that heat (I’m in Florida which gets scorching just like Southern California). Have you noticed a change since painting your home?!

    • Hi Kimberly, It is hard to say if I noticed a difference because we painted the house at the beginning of the summer and we just bought the house last year so we hadn’t live through a summer before! We don’t have air conditioning so it can get pretty hot but it hasn’t been unbearable. One thing to keep in mind is the color of your roof, which may be more important than the walls themselves. We have a very light grey roof which is why we figured we could get away with the dark walls. x

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