house paint tips from a pro

my genius cousin Janet Sanders of Sanders & Sanders Associates in Houston hit the nail on the head when i posted a call for help on Facebook. from the before photo, here are a few small changes she suggested that made a huge impact.

[before]

Main thoughts:

1. Columns & house trim should be the same color to keep it from being so top heavy.

2. The corner boards should not be accented with trim color.

3. It looks like there is a tall trim board over windows on the porch. This board should be the same color as the body of the house to give height.

4. If the dormer is only on one side of house, consider painting entire dormer a darker value so that it blends into the roof.

cricket had really been pushing for the dormers a darker color. i was afraid it would give the house wings. i'd never thought about them blending into the roofline. she gave the example of if the main body of the house is SW7024, the dormers should be SW7025. we thought her color was just for an example, but i picked up a sample on a whim. and, it was the lead contender for a while. we opted to a shade just to the left of it on the brochure (to pick up more gray vs. taupe), but i was nonetheless impressed.

[the dormers are one value darker, though it appears much darker due to the shadow. it's hardly noticeable from the ground]

the other big "AHA" was that extra trim board on the house that's currently dark brown. it runs along the entire house, but it definitely makes it heavier. the trim is actual stacked double-high and all was brown, but painting the lower board the color of the house really helped! the porch ceiling seems so much higher now and it's really helped the scale appear more proportionate.

[note the dual trim boards above the door & window. once they were both brown.]

her other suggestions of which trim pieces to paint which color really helped shift the scale of the house. it's like the house had a dislocated shoulder and Janet was able to pop it back inline.

[the columns, corbels, + trim match. the corner boards match the house, not the trim. it's less choppy]

and, if you don't already agree that she's pretty good. here are some ideas she sketched on the fly to give us ideas of ways we could better balance the facade in the future. doh! maybe we'll venture to tackle option B in the future.

thanks again, cousin Janet!