A Lick of Paint Makes all the Difference

One of the first things we did when we bought the house was have it painted dark blue (Benjamin Moore's HC-154 (Hale Navy), with Ivory White(CC-130) trim. We hired professionals to do the outside, while we tackled every room in the house with the exception of the bathroom (as we're still trying to decide what to do with it) and the kitchen (which we knew we would be gutting).


I was thrilled to see how painting the area beneath the front bay window dark blue (instead of the white trim colour the previous owners used) significantly improved the look. We also repainted the front door a darker, richer red (it took three attempts to get the right, rich dark red colour, soI can't give you the colour number). We also replaced the bare light bulb with an actual porch light fixture, and installed shutters to visually widen the look of the house.


(Before shot -- prior to re-painting. Note the white space below the bay window).

Next spring we will replace the lattice railing and the wrought-iron hand rails with something more substantial looking. We also need to tackle refinishing/refacing the stairs and foundation in some way. So you'll have to wait for the after shots.