Outside A Primitive Mobile Home

I think I finally found it; the new color scheme for my house. Of course, being a woman, I reserve the right to change my mind at least once or twice (oh heck! probably more) times than that before I finally pick up my paint brush.

I found this picture online. You can see it decorated in my two favorite seasons and holidays. The first is fall/Thanksgiving, the second is winter/Christmas. I love the cornstalks and the pumpkins on the stairs, and the American Flag. I want a Betsy Ross flag though. I've seen lots of polyester ones for less but they don't have the vintage look this one does.

Christmas is also a time of year that I cherish because it is the time of year where we celebrate the birth of our Lord and we give and receive gifts. I love to give at this time of year. Seeing the look on your loved one's or special friends face when they open their gift is such a joy. Our family has grown over the years so we draw names at Thanksgiving that way you only have to buy one gift. Of course, we always spoil the grandkids with gifts though.

So back to the house -I love the simple decorations. I already have yard decorations that I would use. I like the wreaths and candles in the windows. I would do that with ours. I have prim timer candles already. It's so inviting to come home and see the lights in the windows. I also like what she did with the lamp in the yard. We have one that looks like a Thomas Kinkade lamp that I would hang the greenery on. Of course, I wouldn't use a real one like she has. I'd use a fake one. The red bow is a nice touch.

It took me a little while searching on the internet until I found the paint colors. These are all from my favorite paint selection at Benjamin Moore. While their colors are awesome I have found that Valspar from Home Depot is a better paint so I take my paint chips there and have them mixed. I got this advice from the professional painter who did my little cabin in the woods.

The colors are as follows starting with the tan in the upper left hand corner and going clockwise:

AF-95 Hush (trim and underside of patio and carport), AF-120 Tamarind (body), AF-275 Rustique (shutters, front door & security screen doors), and AF-255 Weimeraner. I also like this green color which is called Weathersfield Moss HC-110

The Rustique color will really make the bricks "pop". The color the house is now really does nothing for it. I'm hoping that I can put siding on this whole side of the house, but if it is too expensive then I will just paint what is there. You will notice that there are boards that go from ceiling to floor around the window at the front of the picture. I am only going to paint the boards around the window frame Hush, the rest of the boards I will paint Tamarind so that they blend in with the body color. Both windows would have shutters painted Rustique. I can't put them on the garden window. The supporting beams and railings would also be painted Hush.

The porch light would be painted Hush. I think it would stand out against the Tamarind background.

This is a great resource for vinyl shutters. You can purchase them already primed for painting or already a color. I would choose the primed ones. I purchased these for our cabin in the mountains and they held up fabulously in the winter cold and summer heat. The ones below are called Williamsburg Raised Panel and they are what I put on the cabin. They look lovely and give your house that Colonial feel, but if you prefer they have the more louvered look too.

Exterior Shutter Source

Once again I would paint only the trim around lower windows Hush. The upper windows I would paint Tamarind so the trim would blend into the main body color. I'd put shutters on the lower windows and paint them Rustique. I was hoping to put brick on the corners, but there isn't enough room. I will need to replace the lower windows with dual pane French panel windows since what is in there now is the one that originally came with the house and they aren't very energy efficient. The screens would go. I have a west facing house so the afternoon sun will come through these windows but with the drapes and dual pane window it shouldn't heat the house up too much.

I am going to replace the current tree with a Smoke Bush (cotinus obvatus). This bush can be trained into a small tree. This is an excellent site that tells you how to train one into a tree. Gardening Know How I found out yesterday that the park only allows trees to get as high as the roof line. I guess the one that's currently there is okay because the owner of the park never said anything. The Smoke Bush won't get that large. In the spring it has these lovely pink flowers that make the tree look like a profusion of pink smoke, hence it's name and in the fall it turns vibrant red and orange. It likes full sun so it will grow excellently in the front yard.