House painting

Last Mon the crew began prepping the exterior of our house to be painted.  We have HardiPlank siding on much of the house so that didn't need much prep, but we also have a lot of wood trim.  Some of the wood trim was peeling and flaking, and there are a few spots where the siding was damaged due to a roof drainage problem that's since been corrected.  So they started scraping, priming and caulking.

We initially got quotes for repainting just the areas that needed it, but both painters said that since our home is 11 years old we would need the rest of it painted within a few years, and doing some now and some later would cost more than doing it all now.  This made a lot of sense, especially considering the height of the home (3 stories) and the time spent setting up ladders, tarps, etc.  

So, since the entire exterior is getting painted, we decided to change the color scheme completely.  This is what our house looked like before they started:

The siding is a sand color, the doors are burgundy, the shudders are dark green, and there's a lot of white trim.  This color scheme was the builder's choice; we bought it after the home was completed.  As a reproduction Victorian farmhouse I'd always thought the color scheme was very 'safe' and didn't reflect the way most Victorians are painted with multiple, stronger colors.

So, this is our new color scheme:

The siding will be sage green, the scallop siding in the gables will be Autumn Orchid, the trim will be Mardi Gras purple, and the doors and shutters will be Cameroon green.  What do you think of my pallet?

We actually selected the painter and the colors back in March, but it was still too cool to begin the work.  It has to be at least 50 degrees, so we waited for warmer weather.

And then it began raining.  We had at least 1 day of rain every week for 8 consecutive weeks, and many of those weeks had more than 1 day of rain.  This, of course, caused the painter to get backed up, which is why they finally got to our house in the heat of July.

So they spent 4 days prepping and then on Fri the 1st color went on:  Mardi Gras purple on the trim.  I loved it immediately.

I'll post more photos when the house is completed, in another week or so.  I'm really excited to see it all come together!!