When Nate and I saw the house for the first time, we decided this house needed to be painted before we even got out of the car. Seriously. The house is pink. The trim is maroon. Help me. This is what it looked like when we moved in.

But, before we can paint, we have some work to do. There are sheets of plastic covering the entrance to the house that needed to be taken down. I am not sure if we will need something else to go in its place to protect the entry from rain, but we are going to try and live without it to see how we do. It is laying on top of some exposed beams that I think would look really interesting to the eye uncovered and exposed to the world.

Because these plastic sheets filter the light trying to peek through, I’m hoping that taking these down will let more natural light flow into the front entrance. While Nate was taking them down, he uncovered four wasp nests! I kept reminding him to be careful and he only ended up getting stung once. Which I thought was sort of hilarious…sorry Nate.

So. Much. Better. I will not miss you plastic sheets (I’m sure there is an actual name for these plastic sheets, I just don’t know what it is). Now that they are gone, the entrance reminds me of one of those mid-century modern houses that have an atrium with plants or trees growing out of them.

Now that the plastic is down, the next thing we needed to do to get ready to paint was pressure washing the house. Our neighbor, Chuck (thank you, Chuck!), was nice enough to let us borrow his pressure washer so we didn’t have to rent one. I was very surprised to see the amount of dirt that is just sitting on the surface of the house. I guess it makes sense but still surprising. We also went ahead and took this opportunity to clean up our driveway and sidewalks. What? Sidewalks aren’t supposed to be black? This was news to us because our driveway and sidewalks were all totally scuzzy and black.

My next task was choosing a pallet for the house. I thought this would be easy because I have always loved picking paint colors. There aren’t any colors that scare me and I don’t find myself nervous and agonizing over choosing a paint color because if I don’t love a color, I will just paint over it. We have lived in a lot of rental houses over the years and I have done a lot of painting. Trying to cover dirty walls and trim and trying to add some interest in blah spaces with beige carpet is nothing new to me. But, choosing paint colors for the exterior of your house is serious business. It is loads of work (and loads of prep work, i.e. taping off foundation and windows) and I couldn’t have Nate spraying the house a second time because I wasn’t happy with the colors that I chose. So, for the first time, I found myself stressing over these colors. I read every article online about exterior color choices, scoured pinterest for inspo, and even went to the library to find books on the topic! I couldn’t come up colors. I was driving myself and Nate crazy.

So I decided that I would email a few of my fave bloggers and see if any of them would have the time to get back to me. I sent them pics of our house and told them about my dilemma. Sherry, from Young House Love, was nice enough to email me back her thoughts. I couldn’t believe she emailed me back! She is practically a celebrity to me and I have been a big fan for years! Their newest book, Lovable, Livable, Home, lives on my coffee table this very minute. She suggested a color that I have seen a lot on pinterest, but never considered it as a color for the body of the house. The color is Urbane Bronze, a deep charcoal, with some brown, gray, and metallic undertones. She said she has seen it on some houses in her area and paired with a crisp, white, trim is stunning! So, off to grab a tester pot!

I tested it in a few different spots for light comparisons. After a day of walking outside and staring at it during different times of the day, I was sold! I love its richness and I think it’s going to bring some life back to the house! Here we go! Hope we don’t shock everyone on the street!