When we were looking at houses to buy up here in Lake Arrowhead, the house we actually bought was very low on my list of homes to see due to the exterior photos in the real estate listing. I didn’t like it at all, and in fact, almost skipped it entirely. But as soon as we walked in, we knew this was our home. And then I immediately began thinking about how to change the exterior into something that was not only more pleasing to MY eye, but also into one that suited the home’s design, which is a very traditional, classic American style house.
When we had our exterior doors redone, I mentioned to our painter, Mike {of Mike Z Painting whose team refinished our doors as well as the the exterior paint job} that we’d like to paint our house when the weather would permit it {aka: was warm enough}… then immediately asked WHEN DO YOU THINK THE WEATHER WILL BE WARM ENOUGH because I want this house painted as soon as possible! I was expecting Summer, but he came back with a quote and his team of two very diligent painters spent a week prepping and painting our house by hand, finishing last week… And we’re so in love.
When I decorate my houses, I let them speak to me… I don’t want to force a room to be a certain theme without it making sense, just as I don’t want to paint the exterior of a house a color or style that doesn’t suit it. The brown/green color the house had been freshly painted before we moved in, wasn’t horrendous, but it was almost camouflage nestled within the tall woodsy pines that surround it. And it was just drab. So drab. We chose the wood-stained doors {see our before/after doors here} to reflect the inside of the house but also since our house has a relatively new brown roof and accents, we thought the brown was the perfect third color accent to complement the black and white exterior. Just like I style an outfit and pull classic timeless colors together, I thought about the house in a similar way. Classic. Timeless. And the reddish tones that stand out in the brown now complement the brick chimney.
While the paint is done, the entire exterior of the house is nowhere near complete. We’re planning for a major amount of brickwork to not only tie in the chimney but to complement the very classic look of the house… AND OF COURSE I CAN’T WAIT TO GET STARTED. But who knows when we’ll commit to that project, as it will be quite large, and quite expensive as well. But I’m just itching to complete the exterior look {and that includes removing the ginormous 1950’s playground in our backyard and swapping it for a basketball court for the husband as well as a brick and wrought iron wall/fence enclosing the property, landscaping, and of course, a hot tub and so much more ;} But that could take a while. For now, we are so happy with our newly painted classic white house with black trim.
So here are a few before and afters…
 
Our back patio/deck and sadly our umbrella just broke in a wind storm a few night ago. I still plan on either swapping out the light fixtures or simply painting them black, not sure yet.
You can see the patio/backyard in our old house using the same furniture here. The colors happen to match the new deck splendidly 😉
**Painter info: Mike Zweber at Z Painting (909) 273-0466 {who comes highly recommended!}
