The Color Struggle

Well there is not much new to report. I mean, there is a TON going on...much nothing that has evolved enough to really confirm in this "super-official" blog. But, I guess I will fill you in on some things that we're working on....even though they are all subject to change!

COLORS---you might think that this is the part that would excite me the most...or even the part that I might be good at. It's true, I LOVE colors. I have always lived for the brighter side of life--which, in my little world, involves colors. It would seem to be the softer, friendlier side of a construction project. Well, this all SOUNDS great but the truth of the matter is...colors and I, well we have a love/hate relationship. I think it's my problem though, you see, I have trouble committing. Yep, me, the one who knows what I want and almost always finds a way to get it. Some might call this Bratty. Me, I prefer to call it Driven. :) Regardless of what you call it...the problem is that this little character trait of mine is flawed when it comes to COLORS. We're talking mostly exterior now. (Interior, also a difficult decision but much easier to change so I am not worrying about it yet.) But exterior colors are sooo permanent. Especially because now we are back to thinking that we might have to put siding up over the old wood. I know, I know I bragged all the way up and down this blog about us saving the original wood. But...I guess I bragged too soon because now there is about a 75% chance that it's not going to be possible. So, we're looking at cement board siding--thus, the color we choose is even that much more important because it has like a 25 year warranty on it. Which means that we'd be crazy to paint for 25 years! So as you can imagine I am freaking out thinking "holy cow I have to live in the same color house until I am 56 and a half??" Ok, ok, so we could paint over the siding if we wanted to and just forfeit the warranty. That's always an option...and the warranty might actually be more like 15 years instead of 25. Those are little details that I don't pay much attention to at this time because to me, even 15 years sounds like an eternity.

Ok, you must be thinking--"Abby, get to the point already!" So here it goes. Currently (when I say currently I mean THIS WEEK) we are leaning towards siding the house in a color called Iron Gray. (it actually looks like a very dark navy/slate color.) The trim would then be a khaki color, black shutters, and a mustard (or what I like to call "curry") colored front door---just to give it a little PUNCH!

You see, I am not telling you the whole truth here. It's not that I didn't have any clue as to what colors I wanted. I knew exactly what I didn't want. (which was also a problem for a while because the only thing I didn't want was White.....which of course was Taylor's first choice.) But now we have come to agree that a dark color will look best on the house--especially if we have to put siding on. We feel that the siding looks most like authentic wood if it is in a dark color. So there, that narrowed it down quite a bit. And, then, if you look around our new neighborhood you would see that some beautiful dark colors have already been used. So...by process of elimination--a dark navy or slate color is probably our best option. Also....I am quite easily influenced and respect the opinions of experienced individuals and both my mother-in-law and her friend Judy think dark gray with black shutters would look good (and it was them who gave me the idea of the mustard door--which I have now stolen and call "curry" just to put my own spin on it!) But Taylor and I think that maybe the khaki trim would be a nice compliment, just to freshen up the look a little bit. But you see, we've never painted a house before so we don't really know what is going to look good. And it's not like we can test drive a color (especially a siding color.) So...we might just close our eyes and J.U.M.P.!! and hope that the color turns out!!

So I don't really have pictures of the complete vision, but I am showing you a couple pictures of our current inspiration. The town house picture is new construction in downtown G.R. and it is sided with James Hardie fiber cement board (which is the product we would use.) The color is Iron Gray so it gives you a good idea of the base color we are leaning towards. However, the picture doesn't represent it perfectly. In real life the trim is olive and the windows are a dark red vinyl window. Again, we would do khaki trim, black shutters and a curry colored door.

The other picture is a little shop in Saugatuck. It is a wood structure and it painted a similar color but has a little more navy in it. The trim is a light khaki and the shutters and door are like a faded olive.

So...any thoughts? I would love some feedback. Don't be offended if I don't take your suggestions. I like to gather up all of my options before making a decision...but just know ideas ARE appreciated! This is the current question. Will the curry door and the khaki trim look ok together? I think the Iron Gray house with Black shutters and a Curry door would look great. And I also think that a Iron Gray house with Black shutters and Khaki trim would look great. But will they all look great together? And then the next question is what color should the garage door be??? Black or Khaki?? Oh brother!

One more quick thing---the James Hardie siding would be a 5" reveal which is exactly what the wood siding on the house is now...so it really would still keep the character of the original 1865 home. Hmmm...I wonder if I just wrote that to reassure you---or myself?? (I am not sold on the idea of siding. But I am told it is probably our best and most practical and energy efficient option.) I think this whole discussion deserves another "OH BROTHER!"