When we first pulled up to look at what would be our house back in 2017 the exterior of the house was a bit lackluster compared to others in the area. Where were the giant windows??? We had found the house for sale on Facebook before it went on the market and had no idea what it looked like before going to see it. Little did I know, the giant windows were on the back of the house and are perfect! The front was all a boring orange beige, but that orange rock front was definitely a stand out feature. The only redeeming part of the exterior was that rock entry. We fell in love with the house, but always knew we wanted to update the exterior somehow.
I have a thing for 1970’s split levels. I love that the basements aren’t fully underground and that they usually are more spacious on upper floors and have unique floor plans. The exteriors can be tricky though. The hardest part for me with the update was making the house modern, but keeping the integrity of the 1970’s with that rock front.
I know I keep talking about the rock front, but that was the one element of the exterior I wanted to keep. It didn’t feel right changing it! So, how does one pick modern colors of paints while still keep an orange rock exterior? Great question! You just agonize over it for years. Ha ha ha.. Just kidding! That’s what I did though. The thought of picking colors for the brick, wood, and trim and having that all go together along with the rock was so daunting I kept putting it off. Finally, being stuck at home for 6 months made me so sick of the orange that I pulled the trigger. Well, I actually hired professional painters that scheduled me in so I had to choose fast!
Originally, we weren’t going to paint the brick. I did lots of mock ups with friends that had photoshop and could help. The orange brick looked bad in every option. It was still too orange and taking over the whole house. So we decided to bite the bullet and paint it all. Below are some of the mock ups we created in photoshop.
We had planned to paint our house ourselves with some help from family that paints. First, we replaced any rotten wood that was on the exterior and replaced the garage door trim. Then, we noticed how many spots needed to be cleaned up on the outside. There was no way we would be able to get it all done before the weather got too cold. It was near the end of September already. Once we talked to the painters, got a quote, and saw how much more they would do than us, well, it just made sense to hire them and get it done in a week instead of dragging it out. Plus, with how tall our house is I didn’t think we would be able to paint our gutters and soffits ourselves. With their help, I was able to have everything customized exactly how I wanted it.
The garage door trim that was rotting 
Here it is removed
The painters pressure washed the exterior first and then left it for a few days to be sure it would dry completely before painting. They scraped off any peeling paint. They caulked all seams and holes as well. They even caulked along the trim around the windows to make sure that paint won’t peel.
Now, let’s talk about paint colors. This was by far, the hardest design decision I have ever had to make. Painting a room is one thing, but painting an entire exterior is such a HUGE commitment. Would it look good? Would all the paint colors go together? This was not a cheap project and would totally change our house. I didn’t sleep for a week trying to decide. I know that is not encouraging, but I just want everyone to know that even people that decorate and paint for a living can get overwhelmed and stressed about picking paint too. Its hard! Also, why are there a million shades of white?? I looked at so many paint swatches that I was going crazy. Then, I went to Pinterest. Pinterest was very helpful in seeing exact colors on exteriors. I kept seeing Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore over and over when looking at exteriors and had lots of recommendations for it. I had tried 5 white sample paints and went with the Swiss Coffee. It’s a very clean and versatile off-white. It has a creaminess to it and that was perfect to go with the rock! The pure white colors were way too stark.
Next, to pick some grays. I chose gray because I knew it would match the gray cement that was surrounding the rock wall and our roof was a mix of gray and tan. I know brown and tan tones are more of an obvious color choice to go with orange, but those are just not my colors. And as much as I love the black and white exterior combo I knew it wouldn’t work for our house with the orange rock. Using a light gray with a complimenting dark, bold gray would be the perfect contrast with the white.
When choosing exterior colors you want to see them at all different times of the day. Having it in direct sunlight looks so different than when it’s overcast or in the evening. I looked at the samples for a few days before choosing. Mined Coal was a nice true gray with a slight brown undertone, but only slight. The color above it on the garage had very purple undertones and those were very obvious when the sun was out.
The dark gray around the windows, garage doors, and gutters is Mined Coal by Behr. The light gray, Gossamer Veil by Sherwin Williams, looked white until we had it next to white. I chose that color to give dimension to the house, but keeping the colors subtle as not to distract. You can tell in the photo below.
We originally weren’t planning on painting the decks. These decks were freshly painted just 3 years ago and they looked horrible already. We didn’t want to waste money on painting them, but once everything else was painted we realized just how bad they stood out. Leaving them peeling and red/brown really took away from how great the rest looked. You can see how it looked before we splurged again and painted the decks.
Ideally, we want to get Trex decking for our decks, but until then, the dark gray paint is a huge upgrade. The painters pressure washed and sanded the decks before painting them with a paint that is meant for decks and we used the same dark gray, Mined Coal. This is another thing we could’ve done ourselves, but the painters did it way quicker than we could’ve. They even painted under the decks. It all looks so much cleaner now!
After the paint was done, I liked it, but I wasn’t sure I looooved it with the old door. I ordered a modern door from Prices Guaranteed Doors here locally in Salt Lake City. The door was on a 5 week back order. I really didn’t love how it looked and wasn’t sure if I would without that door on there! I stressed the whole time I was waiting for it.
This modern front door really made all the difference in the finished exterior! It brought all the elements together and helped tie in the gray too.
We also got new exterior lights from Home Depot, new house numbers from Modern House Numbers, smart-lock door hardware from Emtek, and I painted these pots that I scored at an estate sale to match!
I am in love with how it turned out! The paint made our home look so much cleaner and modern. Plus, I think we pulled off a look that we wanted while keeping that original rock element. I get the best of both worlds. Now, the landscaping is a whole other beast to tackle. The plan is to get that going this spring/summer. For now, I am definitely going to enjoy this fresh new exterior look.
I hope you all love it as much as I do and feel brave enough to update your older home too!
Cheers,
Jenasie
Is that incredible or what? Seriously awesome makeover! Your home literally POPS now! Love it! Well done! ❤️