Make Mine a Spritzer

Snowberry’s Exterior Design & Paint Colors

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The question I’m most frequently asked about Snowberry is … ‘what color is the front door?’

Not surprisingly, last year I found myself asking the same question on the Instagrams and blogs that I follow.

Before we talk about the paint colors, a word about Snowberry’s exterior. When we bought the house its original chunky, heavily textured shingles were still intact. Over time – nearly 70 years – the shingles had darkened and appeared almost black. You can take a tour of Snowberry before the renovation here and here.

In the spirit of maintaining the house’s original character, we decided early on to replace shingles with shingles. But the new shingles would be lighter in both style and color.

Searching for shingled home inspiration turns up a lot of Hampton style houses … cedar shingles faded to gray by salt air, white trim and Robin’s egg blue shutters and front doors. A beautiful color combination, but very coastal. Snowberry is a good 20 minutes from the ocean and a full-on coastal look isn’t quite right. Country cottage is more the goal.

I love the look of cedar shake. Natural cedar is light in color, if it were a hair color, I’d call it strawberry blonde. To avoid the inevitable fade to gray we decided to apply a clear stain. Sadly, even a clear coat deepens the color slightly, but the cedar must be protected, and this is unavoidable.

Natural Cedar Shakes Before Stain

We used Cabot’s Clear Wood Protector.

You can see how the color deepened once the stain was applied.

 

PAINT COLORS

With the exterior siding selected, we can move on to paint colors. White trim and a blue-green or blue-grey front door.

First the blue … three colors caught my eye over and over again.

  1. Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue
  2. Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue
  3. Benjamin Moore Philipsburg Blue

I guess I’m partial to Benjamin Moore. So, I ordered up pints of each color to try out on the front door.

And, the winner is … none of the above.

I chose Farrow & Ball Oval Room Blue.

Oval Room Blue No. 85

Do you still read magazines? I do. Old habits die hard and while flipping through the pages of Traditional Home, Veranda, Architectural Digest and House Beautiful – wish I could remember which one – I came across Oval Room Blue. Not on a front door, but in an interior room. A very formal room. Hmmm … could it work for my informal country cottage front door? Yes, the answer is yes. I’ll tell you how I came to that conclusion when we discuss the interior color scheme. Coming soon.

In a nod to Southern tradition, I decided to paint the front porch ceiling with Oval Room Blue as well. I first did this – painted a porch ceiling blue – at our Fidalgo Island home  and it changed my life. That’s an over dramatization. Suffice to say I love it.

Next up, a white paint for the exterior trim and vertical siding. I’d like to say I did a lot of research and narrowed it down to three choices. The truth is our painting contractor recommended three colors. At the time I was so busy with a gazillion other decisions, it was a relief to have these options laid out for me.

  1. BW Chantilly lace
  2. BW Simply White
  3. BM White Dove

White Dove is the winner. Once again, I wish I could say I went through a thorough, detailed decision making process. But I eye-balled it. Armed with a piece of cedar shake and a large swatch of Oval Room Blue, I placed a small swatch of each white option on top and White Dove looked right. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and guess what, it worked.

With the siding and paint colors decided, I turned my attention to other exterior details.

First up, we decided to purchase Bevolo exterior lighting. Bevolo, a New Orleans company known for their copper, gas lanterns now make an electric version of their beautiful, hand-made, lighting. I contacted Bevolo, sent them our architectural drawings and they recommended their Williamsburg fixture for the house and their traditional French Quarter lantern for our lamp post. After placing an order, manufacturing takes a good 4 weeks and another 7-10 days for shipping. Bevelo is a splurge for sure, but their pricing is not out of line given the quality and beauty of their product.

I’d been mulling the idea of copper gutters and downspouts, but after the Bevolo splurge I hesitated. We got quotes for traditional and copper. Traditional are about one quarter the cost. Nevertheless, we decided copper was the way to go and budget concessions would have to be made elsewhere. (Picture my husband rolling his eyes.)

Since we were all in on copper, we took it a step further and added copper chimney caps. And, the piece de resistance … a copper weathervane in the form of a squirrel.  Our dogs’ nemesis.

Additional exterior ‘jewelry’ included window boxes and shutters on the side of the house visible from the street. Oops, I don’t have a photo.

And there you have it, six months of hand wringing reduced to a few paragraphs. Let’s review:

SNOWBERRY’S EXTERIOR DESIGN

Cedar Siding: Shakertown Western Red Cedar

Cedar Stain: Cabot Clear Wood Protector

Siding: Vertical V-Rustic Siding

Porch Ceiling: Bead Board

Lighting: Bevolo Williamsburg in 14” and 16” and French Quarter Lantern 21″

Cupola Topper: Squirrel Weathervane in natural copper

Shutters: Custom made by our builder

Window Boxes: Mayne Fairfield 3’ Window Box w/Decorative Brackets

Front Door: T.M. Cobb 9-Lite Dutch Door

Siding & Trim Paint – BM White Dove OC-17

Front Door & Porch Ceiling Paint – Farrow & Ball Oval Room Blue No. 85

With the exterior design complete we can turn our attention to the interior color scheme. Where to begin. I’m kind of exhausted from reliving the exterior design process, so we’ll pick up where we left off next week.

A Snowberry home tour was featured on the Shabbyfufu blog last week. I’ve followed Janet’s lifestyle and home decor blog forever, so it’s a serious thrill.

Take the tour here!

And, you can see Snowberry’s newly planted front garden here.

As always, I appreciate your visit and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Cheers!

 



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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kirsten Bell says

    Such a wealth of information! Paint colors are so tricky! Also I just love your writing style and voice, so entertaining and relatable!

    Reply

  2. Kim Wheeler says

    Juliet love this post. You did a fantastic job picking out the colors and I love your special details in copper. I also used white dove and chantilly lace on some parts of my interior. I agree I think Benjamin Moore is the best paint for quality and wearability.
    I have to laugh at your comment about months of hand wringing it’s so true isn’t it? I thought I’d enjoy the picking out the things for the house, but literally it was mentally exhausting and I was glad to be done with it! I only now just ordered the towel bars and rings.. I kind of hit a wall and now a year later they are in! Looking forward to your next post! xx

    Reply

    • Juliet says

      Laughing, Kim! I know just what you mean. Isn’t it funny how we obsesses over tiniest details and then at the end we’re like … towel bars, who needs towel bars?! Sometimes an extended breather is just what we need to regain enthusiasm for the finishing touches. That said, your house is amazing and no one else notices anything amiss. Thank you so much for being here. xo

      Reply

  3. LA CONTESSA says

    I want to know WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO when YOU RUN OUT of PHOTOS from YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER?!!!
    BEAUTIFUL photos and interesting DETAIL………..
    MY next question to YOU is do you think you DRESS like YOUR HOUSE?
    XX

    Reply

    • Juliet says

      Good question, Contessa … the answer … I will never run out!!! Hmmm …. two good questions … yes, I think I do. Ha! Happy Monday … let’s get through this week unscathed. xo

      Reply

  5. Heidi says

    Hi Juliet,
    Beautiful decisions, all of them! I especially like the copper details. Sadly, my vote for copper gutters was vetoed. I also wanted a standing seam metal roof, but it was 3x the cost. So obviously that was nixed, too! Glad you are happy with your choices and are now enjoying your beautiful home!
    Xo Heidi

    Reply

    • Juliet says

      Hi Heidi – funny you should mention a metal roof. I have a lot of people ask me why I didn’t go that route. Quite honestly, I didn’t think of it given the style of our house, but I’m sounds like it would have been cost prohibitive! Thank goodness our house is so small … these little splurges were costly, but manageable given the size. Thanks for visiting. xo

      Reply

    • Juliet says

      Thanks, Susan! It’s been a process getting here, but I’m enjoying it. I admire you all the more now … working full-time, blogging & Instagramming like a boss. Don’t know how you do it! xo

      Reply

  7. Tamera Beardsley says

    How absolutely wonderful darling!! And huge kudos on your gorgeous blog!! I have visited several times, but must not have scrolled down enough to comment!! You know I am a huge fan of all of your designs!! xox

    Reply

  8. this dear casa says

    So much curb appeal. The color palette is so pretty and I love that you replaced the shingles instead of using something different like stucco etc. I still read magazines too ha ha.

    Reply

  10. Faith and Farmhouse says

    You did such an impeccable job on the renovation! I love how you painted the porch ceiling as well!

    Reply

    • Juliet says

      Thank you so much! I was late to the porch ceiling party … and I absolutely love the look. Thanks for stopping by. xo

      Reply

  11. Carol Karl says

    Oh wow! I love it all. I have been considering painting my front door a similar colour but I really loved that you mirrored it on the ceiling of the porch. It looks so amazing.

    Reply

    • Juliet says

      Thanks, Carol! I have a thing for blues and I can’t recommend Oval Room Blue highly enough. Hope you find a fun color for your door. xo

      Reply

  14. Misty says

    Juliet, What a lovely home! I think we may have similar taste– I have cedar shakes, a bird egg blue door and a cupola. Separated at birth?! 🙂 What a beautiful exploration of color, thank you for sharing!

    Reply

    • Juliet says

      Thank you … it’s funny how the interior renovation crept into the exterior too. It was a huge job but I’m glad we tackled it. Thanks for stopping by the blog. xo

      Reply

  22. Jennifer Williams says

    Your exterior selections are impeccable! So much curb appeal. I love how you take us through the process of making your decisions. Really fun post.

    Reply

  23. Ali O'Dell says

    Ah Juliet, we have SUCH similar taste! I made a lot of the same choices. Unfortunately, copper gutters were not in the budget (I even begged) but they are the perfect accent on your exterior choices. Can’t wait to see more of your posts! LOVE!!! xoxo, Ali.

    Reply

    • Juliet says

      Hi Ali … a girl after my own heart! Yes, that copper is expensive … yikes. We made cut backs elsewhere. It was hard. Thank you for much for visiting the blog. I’ll over to yours shortly! xo

      Reply

    • Juliet says

      Jennifer – thank you! Sometimes you wonder if you’re on the right track and getting positive responses from others is so gratifying! xo

      Reply

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