When I first drove up to this house I knew it had the potential to be one of the most stunning victorian homes in the area, the kind you see and just dream of living in. Large porch, large windows, a balcony, hooks to hang planter baskets, original posts and original solid wood doors. What the house needed was a fresh coat of paint. The sun and rain had left it feeling a little tired looking.
It all began with me removing the balcony door to give it a new high gloss Hunter Green coat of paint. Once the door was rehung I knew it was time to get the rest of the exterior work done. And so I moved right downstairs and completed the front side door in the same colour.
I painted the balcony with white Sico Exterior Woodwork paint in a semi-gloss. After two coats it was complete. However, with all the rain that week it took about 5 days to actually complete the work. To the right of the balcony is an original wood window that also needed a good two coats of paint. It takes 4 hours between coats to ensure the paint lasts the 5 years it claims before it starts to chip off.
Moving down to the porch I started filling the holes in the posts back in April. As the weather improved. In May I began the painting which took about two weeks (again because of the rain and dry times) to complete. It also took a bit more time because I was painting them two colours. I had to tape off the areas I did not want green. I did a coat of the white paint first and used the Hunter Green Rust-oleum waterproof spray paint for the accents in a high gloss.
The next task was to paint out all the trim and sills of the 3 bay and dining room windows. These windows will need to be replaced in the coming years but for now a fresh coat of paint will have to do. The white paint will help them feel more cohesive with the white windows that have already been replaced.
The original front door had a hole at the bottom right corner. Since I do not have the tools to fix it myself I asked Chase a local handyman who actually builds custom wood doors and who did a couple small wood cuts in the past for me if he could take it and fix it. And he agreed to it. He cut 6 inches off the bottom to remove the damaged area of the door, drilled out 5 holes to insert dowels, cut a piece of pine to the size removed, drilled holes in the new piece of wood, added glue to the holes and attached the new piece to the door. Once the glue was set he plained the door to make it look as though there were no changes made. And it looks perfect!
While the door was away being repaired I worked on repairing the glass insert that I kept in the house for safety. I used some wood filler and did two coats of white paint to keep the original look. And when the door was retuned I did a nice coat of Hunter green paint.
This afternoon I finished the final 3 coats of white paint on the side front door. Having painted it solid green originally, looking from the road to that side of the house was too dark. I decided to paint the interior of the frame around the glass white to mimic the front door and to help the door stand out – and it worked.
And finally the moment we’ve all been waiting for – The before and after of the exterior of the house. Full disclosure: at some point the porch will also be transformed. But for this year I am super happy with the outcome. The total cost to liven the exterior of the house was $196. A somewhat inexpensive cost for a high impact look.
Before
After
I hope you like the outcome as much as I do.
🙂
My Country Farmhouse 