My Ugly House

Painting Our House Exterior!

2019-10-25T14:47:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted here in over six years. I found so many helpful blog posts when I was trying to choose a color for our brick though, that I thought I would post mine for anyone else searching through the 5,000 grays out there. If anyone wants a light, neutral gray, this is Sherwin Williams Functional Gray with Pure White trim and a Naval front door. I love it!

Before and after!

Painting the Front Porch Floor!

2013-05-19T14:31:00.002-07:00

After we had foundation work done, the concrete patches on our front porch looked awful. I finally painted the porch using Behr Porch & Floor paint in Winter Oak. I started with a lighter color (Mocha Accent) but it looked way too light. Thankfully Home Depot added more pigment to darken it for free! I could have gone darker and browner if I had to do it again.

What do you think?

Before

After

And now the real question... do I paint part of our sidewalk too? It has an ugly concrete patch too, but if I paint part of the sidewalk do I have to paint it all the way to the street, or can I stop where there's a break in the concrete?

Nursery Pictures!

2013-02-15T17:06:00.001-08:00

Our baby girl's nursery is starting to take shape!!! I am absolutely in love with this rocking chair, which was only $30 on Craigslist. Mimi (my grandmother) gave my mom one that looks just like it. I got the hot pink cushion from Carousel Designs. Can't wait to rock my baby girl to sleep!

New Master Shower!

2012-10-06T10:51:00.003-07:00

Before. Yellowing acrylic shower pan (impossible to clean) and white tile.
The tile wasn't in bad shape, but I wanted something with some more style!

After. Added two recessed shelves (you can only see one of them).

Tile: Leonia silver porcelain tiles from Lowes, Casa Antica Gubbio marble floor mosaic from Floor and Decor, and glass mosaic strips from Lowes.

Brushed nickel showerhead coming on Tuesday!

Frameless glass doors coming next week!

Painting Our Kitchen Cabinets!

2012-08-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

We are having our kitchen cabinets painted white! The color is White on White by Glidden, and the finish is semi-gloss. "After" pictures to come later!!!

Before:

During:

After:

Workout Room

2012-06-01T11:55:00.004-07:00

Painting the playroom/workout room!

Before (blue, tan, and green):

After (Behr Atmospheric, eggshell latex paint)... and with a doggie door for the litter box (not the same angle):

Fence Painting

2012-06-01T10:32:00.001-07:00

I painted my fence this morning!!! This is a little homemade fence that the previous owners built to cover the pool equipment and air conditioning unit. What do you think... natural wood or painted?

Before:

After (same color as the house):

Not so ugly now, is it???

2012-05-22T17:32:00.001-07:00

Here are the final pictures of our previously ugly house. These were taken by Shoot2Sell Photography and are the official pictures on our real estate listing. I love how bright and big the house looks! I'd buy it!!!

Painting the Master Bedroom

2012-05-17T12:00:00.002-07:00

Just painted the first wall of the master bedroom! I know it's not the same angle but here's the before and after. I think the gray and white is so much more relaxing and clean looking than the tan! The color is Glidden's Pebble Grey, in case anyone is interested! I think it is a gorgeous color especially with the white trim. Thinking about painting the ceiling white, too... right now it's kind of a greenish gray.

Before:

After:

Our Tiny Master Bathroom

2012-05-15T19:22:00.004-07:00

We moved into a new house about 10 days ago, and my first official project was to paint the tiny master bathroom! I used the same color from the old house's powder bathroom, Behr's Pewter Tray. It is a very spa-like color and I think it looks much brighter and fresher than the yellowish tan from before. It also goes well with the pretty grayish marble tile and my white waffle shower curtain!

Eventually I'd love to remodel our bedroom which is almost TOO big, and re-allocate some of the space for the bathroom. But it has been working out just fine so far!

Before:

After:

Staining the Fence!

2012-02-25T19:51:00.002-08:00

My wonderful brother came up from Austin and stained my entire fence for me!

Before:
Very weathered, gray old looking wood. I have always hated the fence but I didn't know how easy it would be to fix!

After:
The grass doesn't look as good right now, but the fence looks fabulous! We pressure washed the fence then used semi-transparent deck stain from Sherwin Williams and sprayed it on with a paint sprayer (also from Sherwin Williams). The total cost was only about $250 ($90 to have it pressure washed by a guy from Craigslist and $160 for 5 gallons of stain) plus the cost of the sprayer, but hopefully we can use that again ($40). The color is called Riverwood, and it's a little more orange than I was hoping for. I think stains are supposed to start fading after a few years... if we still live here I'm going to go for a darker chocolate brown next time.

Tubular Skylights

2012-02-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

My wonderful husband installed two 10-inch tubular skylights in our previously dark master closet. I am absolutely in love with the results. We were planning on only installing one, but it seemed almost like a spotlight in the back of our closet. After adding a second one to the front of the closet, the room looks just as it would with the light on. In fact when I walk by it, I keep thinking I need to turn off the light! The first one took almost 6 hours to install, but the second one (a week later) took about 3.

They were $153 each at Home Depot and I think the results are worth WAY more than that. Hopefully it adds some value to our house!!! The brand we went with is ODL but I know there are a couple of other main brands out there - Velux and Solatube I think.

Yay for free natural light!!!

Guest Bath Cabinets

2012-01-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

Before:

After removing cabinet door and painting white semi-gloss:

While I guess we're technically getting rid of storage space, which sounds like a downgrade... I think there's enough storage in the drawers and cabinets under the sink that these weren't really necessary for storage anyway. Plus, with the ugly mesh cabinet doors it wouldn't have been practical to use these for storing toiletries anyway. So now they are for decoration only, but I think it's an overall improvement!

How would my house look in gray?

2011-09-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

I do love my house, but it probably has the ugliest exterior in the neighborhood! Would it look nicer with a charcoal roof and gray paint? Maybe with a red front door and red lawn chairs to give it some color? The house across the street has a gray roof, light gray paint, and navy accents, and it looks fabulous!

It's the little things...

2011-09-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the smallest changes are the best! When we moved in, although the air conditioner worked just fine, it was a pain having to adjust it several times a day. Dan and I both like it to be really cold at night, but it is just not worth it keeping it that cool all day when we are at work... and I am way too forgetful to remember to reset it when I leave the house. So, Dan upgraded me to a Filtrete 7-day programmable touchscreen thermostat a couple of weeks ago and I am LOVING it so far!

More importantly, when we moved in, ALL of our outlets only had 2 prongs! We had to have an electrician go under the house and run a ground wire to every single outlet. You'd be surprised at how many of your own gadgets wouldn't work with a 2-prong outlet. Didn't they stop using that kind of plug in like the 70s? Well, it's definitely something most people take for granted, but I am very thankful for my white (not ivory) 3-prong outlets now!

Storm Door or Naked Door?

2011-09-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

Is there really a point to having a storm door? Let's vote... yay or nay???

Ugly Built-in Desk!

2011-08-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

Not sure what this was originally supposed to be, but it's right outside the master closet. Maybe a sewing area? I was scared to remove the desk before because I didn't realize the wood floors extended under it. The floor isn't finished though, so I am going to have to figure out how to do that. Any tips? Wood stain and polyurethane?

Before:

During:

After: Pictures to come later... I hope! We are hoping to add a nice modern looking dresser in there!

New Paint Colors!

2011-08-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

We just had our bedrooms painted a gorgeous shade of gray with white trim! And more importantly, we finally got rid of our YELLOW ceilings!!! We need to put the white blinds back on and pick out some nice looking curtains but you get the idea.

Master Bedroom Before:

Master Bedroom After:

Jacque's Room Before:

Jacque's Room After:

Alice's Room Before:

Alice's Room After:

Entry Hall

2011-08-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

Laundry Room

2011-08-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I lived with a nasty yellowish off-white laundry room for TWO YEARS before painting it! I need to paint the trim tomorrow and maybe put something on the walls!

Before:

After:

Guest Room Closet Doors

2011-01-23T22:19:00.000-08:00

Before. I guess I didn't ever take a great picture with the doors closed but you get the idea. Ugly wooden doors with flowery brass knobs.

After priming and one coat of satin white paint. Also added satin nickel knobs. Probably needs at LEAST one more coat.

Master Bathroom

2011-01-16T11:19:00.000-08:00

Still very much a work in progress. I need to finish painting, and I really need a new bath rug!

Before:

After:

Guest Bathroom

2011-01-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

I painted over my 1960's wallpaper today!

Before:

During. The paint was $1.00 at Home Depot! It was an "oops" can but I love the color!

After:
Coming Soon! I just need to paint the trim and cabinets white, and hopefully find some sort of tile paint that I can cover those awful gold fleur de lis designs with!

Do you like how I'm decorating with anything red that I can find around the house, including a red bottle of lotion? I obviously need to get some real red accessories!

Formal Living Room

2011-01-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

Before:

After. All decorated for Christmas!

Powder Bathroom

2011-01-04T21:46:00.000-08:00

Also still a work in progress.

Before:

After. I would love to have a pedestal sink someday!