Last Monday, for the annual Blogger Tour of Homes, I shared my Christmas front porch and a couple shots from my exterior remodel project that is FINALLY finished. I promised in that post that I would share all of our exterior remodel details, take you through my design process and why I made the decisions I made. If you’ve ever thought about giving your own home exterior a facelift (or even painting the brick), I hope my post today will help you through your decision making.
Since there is SO much I want to share today, I’m going to organize today’s post by showing you the before and after of our six-month remodel project first. Then, I will break down the design issues/process, share progress shots taken during the remodel and end by sharing details about painting our brick and stucco.
So below are pictures taken before we began our remodel:
And here’s the after shots when we completed the remodel:
I still can’t get over the transformation! I just sit in my car when I pull up to our driveway and stare at it! LOL! We are beyond thrilled with the results and feel like we have a new home!
Below is a before and after comparison image.
Also, below is my Christmas front porch just to show you what I did on the front for Christmas. 🙂
Before I share much more, I want to mention that my contractor is Josh Dixon, who is amazing and works with me on most of my client projects.
The Exterior Design Issues
Ever since we purchased our home 20 years ago, it was my plan from the beginning to paint the brick on our home white and completely redesign the windows to scale with the height of the porch to be more complimentary to our rooflines. What I LOVED about our home back when we bought the house was our awesome floor plan and back yard but I’ll be very honest, I really disliked our exterior because all I would see when I looked at our exterior were the technical things that were off from a design/scale standpoint. I also loathed our busy brick color, which in person was a yellow and peach brick wash.
I have designed several exterior remodels for my clients and I always look to the rooflines, overall “bones” and scale of the home to serve as our guide with each decision. In the case of the architectural “bones” of our home, with our hip and valley roofline, tall and long covered Southern porch, tall columns and overall style, was a home begging to be more of a Carolina low Country or Louisiana Acadian design style.
Our poorly scaled arched and narrow windows were all wrong for this home and never made any sense. The windows actually made our tall 12 foot covered porch look small and short. The busy brick finish “kind of” camouflaged the scale issues with the windows but my eye went right to these issues the first time we drove into the driveway. The builder didn’t use wide enough windows for the scale and then on top of it, he used ARCHED windows, which will make a window appear shorter and narrower. I knew the potential of dramatically improving our exterior would require fixing the scale issues by going a lot wider on the windows and squaring them up.
The Exterior Design Process
When I began the designing our remodel, I knew I would not only fix the window scale issues with double French doors across the front but I also knew that I would paint the brick white. However, I wanted to break up the painted brick with stucco just on the porch. It’s not always possible but if you’re going to paint your exterior brick, look for an opportunity to break up the painted brick somewhere with stucco, Hardie board siding or even stone. It has to make sense symmetrically, which is not always possible to do this but I was very lucky that it worked symmetrically to do this on our porch.
Breaking up painted brick gives the exterior a texture change and contrast, which is so important when painting brick one color. On a side note, I could have done Hardie board siding on my porch or stone but I wanted a modern look and painted stucco the exact same color as my brick would give me that look.
Progress Shots from the Remodel
The overall remodel project from start to finish took about six months. There was a lot of waiting for things to come in like doors and waiting for subcontractors to become available. Plus, everyone in town is remodeling right now because of the quarantine, so getting subs and product was a lot slower than usual. In a normal world, this project should have only taken about 2-3 months.
Because I was not only transitioning from arched windows across the front porch to centered French double doors AND stuccoing my porch, my contractor and I decided it made more sense to just remove all of the brick from the porch completely to reframe and begin the stucco layers. My contractor started the project by basically ripping everything off of the front of my home. I was a very happy girl to see this on Day 1! 🙂
Next, they removed all of the arch windows and the main arched front door! If you look at the below image, you can see that they started framing and squaring up the front door.
Seeing the squared up main door frame next to the arch window frame really shows how an arched window can make a ceiling appear a lot shorter. If you look closely below, you’ll notice the the top of the arch window actually stops at the exact same place as thee squared up door frame. But the door frame appears so much taller and wider.
Fast forward about 4-5 weeks of the front of my home being boarded up, my double French doors came in and were finally installed! Halleluja!!
Next, the stucco process began on the front of my porch and columns, which took about 10-14 days because there are several layers to the stucco process with breaks for drying time.
FINALLY! The top layer of stucco is my new house color! It was like Christmas morning to finally see my new color, which is Sherwin Williams Eider White. At this point, I was ready to kiss my stucco guy! I waited 20+ years to see my house white!
Once the stucco was finished, the square French doors popped and I could finally see how beautiful our facelift was going to bee. The below image was a very happy day to finally after months start seeing our new look coming together. You’ll also notice below that we tore out all of the thick landscaping that was in front of the house. Our plan was to start over when the house was done.
Painting the Exterior Brick
After the stucco was finished and our new black roof was installed, the painters came to paint all of the brick and trim. Normally, it’s better to wait to do the roof until after painting a home but we had a scheduling issue with the roofers and painters.
Right before the brick was painted, my contractor power washed all of the brick first. This gets all of the dirt, mildew and other grime and residue off of the brick so the primer adheres better to a smoother surface.Next, the brick was thoroughly primed (this was sprayed on) and then the first layer of masonry paint was sprayed on and then rolled immediately after spraying. It’s very expensive but in my opinion, the best exterior brick paint on the market is Loxon Concrete and Masonry Primer/Sealer, which is what I used in the color Eider White.
The reason the painters went behind with a roller immediately after the paint was sprayed on was to get the paint in between the bricks better. I had my home painted with TWO COATS of top color, which is worth every extra penny to get a more unified finish.
I’m going to do a separate post in a couple weeks with all of my tips for painting brick and talking more about SW Loxon because I have four other completed exterior remodel projects I’m so excited to share with you guys that we recently completed painting the whole home exterior brick with the SW Loxon. In the mean time, if you have any questions, you can leave them in the comment section below and I will answer and include in the painting exterior brick post coming up shortly.
Below is what the house looked like after all of the brick was painted.
Finishing Touches
Once they were done painting the brick, it was FINALLY time to paint the doors, add lighting, add GORGEOUS door hardware and re-landscape. For the door, I did a mix of 50% SW Tricorn Black with 50% SW Peppercorn. I wanted to diffuse the intensity of the black and by mixing in Peppercorn (dark gray), it would complement the black/gray in our roof.
The lighting was very important for our remodel because it would tie everything together. I purchased all my lighting from Layered Home in Lufkin, Texas and was thrilled with the wall lanterns and hanging lanterns.
The door hardware was also very important and I decided to splurge and go with Emtek aged brass door hardware for ALL of the doors! I wanted that aged brass to really pop from the curb.
I think I covered almost everything. We’re still working on the final details on the back of the home, which I will also share with you guys just as soon as we’re done.
I still cannot get over the before and after transformation. I just pinch myself every time I turn the corner and see our pretty home. It’s been a dream for us after 20+ years to finally get to do this. 🙂
I know I skimmed through a few things, so if you guys have any detail questions below that I didn’t go into, please leave them in the comment section below.
Thanks for stopping by today friends!
Cheers!
Cyndy
Nancy says
Cyndy- wow I’m in awe of your house !
What a amazing transformation!!
I’m sure it makes you happy it’s like a brand new house !!!
I get excited just looking at it .
The doors the lights wow !!!
Between that and your outdoor living space which is still my favorite outside space.
Your house is amazing !!!!
Cyndy says
Thank you so much Nancy for such kind words! The back of the house is coming along but I’m not sharing it until we get the pool redesigned and resurfaced. We’re also waiting on all the new windows and doors across the back. It’s not very pretty right now but the white did really help! Thanks for your note!
Deb says
Your home looks beautiful and very classic now!
Please share the manufacturer of the blocks used around the front porch planting beds. Your new planting area (rectangular and squared corners) showed me that the curving beds we have would look better if replaced. Our small bungalow with large, square porch columns will definitely benefit from this change. Thanks!
Cyndy says
Thank you so much Deb! I will text my landscape contractor and ask him who made the limestone blocks and caps. Absolutely, squaring up curved beds is a game changer, especially when everything else like porch and columns are squared as well. I don’t know if you noticed but we added gray rock inside the blocks as well, which is such a pretty contrast with limestone.
Ruth McRobbie says
So beautiful and so rich looking.
Cyndy says
Thank you so much Ruth!
Joanna says
I love it! The doors must let in so much light. The arches were very dated but now it looks current and classic. The lanterns are the perfect touch. I would not have thought to put the lights on the pillars but those are perfect too. Love the black doors against the white. So much curb appeal now! You must feel so happy every time you come up your driveway.
Cyndy says
Thank you Joanna! Yes!! When all the doors and transom windows above doors went in, it was a major change inside of our home with all of the awesome natural lighting flooding in. This was actually a big part of my decision making process to go as wide and tall as possible (scale-wise) with glass. Our home before was pretty dark. For most of my exterior remodels, I like to have the electrical added to exterior columns if at all possible. It just looks so beautiful and a great opportunity for adding that design element for curb appeal. When you do that, you do have to make sure you also have plenty of light under the porch as well, which we do. Thanks for your note and such kind words!
B says
Wow! That is amazing. Must feel like a new home after 20 years. Enjoy!
B
Cyndy says
Thank you!! Yes! It really does feel like we just built a new home without having to move everything! We really LOVE our lot and our floor plan, so this was the perfect solution for us.
Barb says
I love you transformed it into a timeless,
Classic house! Would you share details on the shingles please?
sarah says
hi, please details on the roof please 🙂
Krista Messenkopf says
Wow…a beautiful transformation! We actually have a stucco house (in NJ) and it’s my least favorite material. I have been contemplating painting it similar colors so this was timely. Our only issue is we have a brown roof. Do you think the color scheme would be ok with light brown roof. We have siding in side of house which is white. Also, is there a special paint for stucco? I know you commented on paint for brick. Would love to know your thoughts. Thanks!
Sam says
I am looking for a white/black exterior as well. Yours looks amazing. I read up on the SW eider white and they indicate that there is a purple undertone. I don’t see that in your exterior. Am I missing something? Our curb facing front is south / west facing – lots of light – when it is not raining….
Kim says
Congratulations, absolutely gorgeous!! What a difference! Love every bit of it!! Good things come to those who wait! 😉
Linda says
What a gorgeous remodel!!!!
Laura M says
Wow, Cyndy — really looks great!
Question — when you say you mixed your door color 50% this and 50% that, do you mix 2 cans of paint together? Or do you have the paint store mix the 2 formulas in 1 can?
Duh -question, but when I go into the store, I don’t want them to think I’m an idiot!
Thx,
Mary Smart says
Wow, what a transformation! We painted our brick about 10 years ago and everybody thought we were crazy until the finished product and then they loved it! If you don’t mind me asking, “Where did you get the large jingle bells on your Christmas porch?” Everything turned out so beautifully and I know your are so proud of the final look you created.
Jaren says
I love the transformation! Great job!
We are planning to build a stucco finished granny flat and I wondered what type of stucco finish (coarse, medium, fine, Santa Barbara etc) and the type of stucco paint (not color) you used.
Thank you!!!
Cyndy says
Thanks for your kind words! I’m not sure of the brand name of stucco that the stucco guy used but I requested as fine as he could get in the texture. I wanted minimal texture that would give a more sleek modern finish. I hope that helps.
Karen says
Thank you!
Jen says
What an incredible transformation Cyndy! You’ve given your home a classic, timeless look. I can imagine this will look just a beautiful another twenty years from now. How wonderful to have it all done for the holidays too. Congratulations!
Heather says
Hi I love your remodel on your house. We are getting ready to build our home in Prescott Valley Arizona. I am wanting a farmhouse look and i love the white and black/gray contrast. Just curious do you have garage doors if so what color are they? Also is the white bright or more of a creamy white? We also have alligator juniper posts going in on our porches and i want to stain them a light stain any recommendations?
Thank you I look forward to hearing back from you!
Michelle Gorra says
Hi, I love the remodel! You did such a beautiful job on the exterior, I was wondering if you could share what color shingles you used?
Thank you so much!
Tracy Green says
What color is your front door?
Sarah says
Hi! Just curious what color shingle you went with? Your home is lovely! The transformation is outstanding!
Colleen Smith says
Wow! Looks beautiful. Loved that you squared the windows.
Could you share some tips on painting brick white? I want to paint our fireplace to save $$ on the project. Thank you
Best,
Colleen/ John Smith
Jocelyn says
Your home is such a beautiful transformation. It is very classic look that makes it look even more lovely with a modern flair. The doors and the brass hardware are a real stand out. It’s all pulled together very well. I have recently been looking at gray roofs but I love your color selection. You mentioned it was a gray-black color. Would you mind sharing the manufacturer and color name of the roof? Thank you!
Cyndy says
Thank you so much Jocelyn! It was such a dream to finally get to do the project! My new roofing is from Tamko and it’s “Rustic Black”. It’s not a jarring/harsh black. It’s just right. Thank you again!
Emily says
Stunning transformation Cindy. Can you talk about your porch color transformation? Did you paint the cement and brick a color or did you use a stain? We have a very cement porch with lots of water staining and we are exploring best options to achieve a look like yours! Thanks in advance for process, product and color info for the cement porch!
Kate says
Where are your doors from? Sorry if I missed it.
Beverly Hayes says
I echo everything that has been said! Just found your blog and I will be visiting you more often. 🙂
Quick question. We are switching windows on our home and we are debating between the modern black frames (interior/exterior) or black exterior and white interior. We have white shutters on ALL our windows and I wonder if the white shutters will look funny looking out from inside if the windows are black. What has been your experience using modern black windows? I would love to put the black windows and chuck the shutters, but our house would be a fish bowl if we did that. Too much sun coming in on the back and neighbors everywhere! I have been looking for pics on the internet but I have not been very successful in finding any. Any insight would be much appreciated!
Monica says
Very pretty. I love the French doors. Can I ask you where do you get them? Are they fiberglass or wood?
Lauren says
I love the reno so much I would love to replicate on my very similar home. I plan to leave my windows as is and not convert to doors. What type of shutters would you recommend?
Linda Cunningham says
Your house is amazing, just love it… what color is your white. I am looking for a soft white, but there are so many to choose from and love the white you used.
Ashley says
Hi! We love the transformation! Would you mind sharing where you found your fabulous doors?
Jill M. Bakeman says
You renovation is spectacular! May I ask where you purchased your gold jingle bells for your door decorations?