Exterior

BEFORE

March 18, 2017

 When we removed the ugly tree July 2017

 August 2018

  REVEAL NUMBER 3!!

Randy called our painter a few weeks back to schedule the front room, and asked if they would give us a quote for the exterior of our home.  It was well within our budget, saving us thousands off of others' low quotes, so we decided to go ahead and schedule it along with the front room.

Before they came to paint this back wall, I told Randy I wanted to try out some trim around the door, to see if I would like it above my front door.  I have never liked the wimpy trim around the door.  They placed the door in the space, and left it like that, no trim whatsoever.  It always felt unfinished.  Here is the before and after of that experiment.  I was in heaven.

Because I was worried about the color matching with the singles, I asked them to paint the entire wall.  If we loved the color that we chose, we would invite the HOA to come and see the wall to get approval, if not, we'd try a different color.  As I stood back, admiring the wall in many different lights, I was overjoyed to love the color as much as I did.  It was such a relief!  Now to get it approved by the HOA from Hades.

 Our color options were these: Sherwin Williams Cocoon for the main color, with Sherwin Williams Grecian Ivory for the trim.  The shingles color is Hickory-- a rich, dark red-brown.

HOA Stories:  Because the painters had a few days without much work, they told us that if we were to get approval that night, they could continue the very next day, and have it done in three days.  I immediately sent out an email to our HOA.  I'd let the President know that we had plans to paint the back wall, that it wouldn't be visible from the street, and that we had chosen these colors as a trial to see if we liked them.  I told him I understood that we were not to continue without their approval, and that I'd send in the paperwork for approval if those were, in fact, the colors we liked.  He said that was just fine.

With the news, I asked if there was any way I could ask for a quick decision from the board, and if there was any way I could get it that night.  I will say this: They were so great to come that night.  The President came less than an hour after I'd sent the email, with two more board members coming within just three hours, directly after work.  We'd given them permission to go directly into the backyard to see it, with instructions to look at the paint, the trim work around the door, and the new lights we wanted to put next to the garage doors.  From all that came during the day, we got an email giving us their approval of the color, but that they'd let us know officially if we were approved once all had given their opinion.

As we were cleaning up a few things from the trim around all four exterior doors, a man from the board stopped by to chat.  I was confused as to why he was there, since it was PITCH BLACK outside, but we took him back anyway.  Before he'd even walking inside our garage on his way to the back wall, he said he thought the color would be too dark.  We told him that that was the response from everyone that had come so far, since the only reference they all had had was the digital color online, but that they had all told us they loved it on the wall.  We told him that it looked different online than it does in person, and that we didn't want him to give his opinion of it before seeing it in the day.  "Yeah, well, I still think it will be too dark," as he's looking at the black wall.  With all of the excitement of the day, and all of the hope that others would like it as much as we did, I was losing my patience with this man.  He'd made up his mind before he even came to our home.

When we were telling him that we were also contemplating a blue at one point, he said, "Yeah, well we would have given you some definite kick back on that one-- Blue is not an Earth Tone."  I was confused.  "Um, yes, it is."  "No, it's not.  Earth tones are ones that you associate with Arizona."  I was dumfounded that this man, a man with power over our choice, didn't know that Blue is actually an Earth Tone.  I pulled up a few different images of Earth Tones on Google and set him straight.  "Hm.  Interesting!  I guess I didn't really know what Earth Tones were."  He actually chuckled at his comment.  Patience gone.  I walked away, leaving Randy to deal with him.  I was this close to telling him that if he's going to be on the board he needed to educate himself on all aspects of his position.  Only I wouldn't have told him in a conversational tone.

Another board member told us that she'd just had her house painted that week.  When I was asking her to look at the lights, she actually told me, "Hm.  I didn't think to have my lights approved.  I guess I should have."  Stunned, I said, "Yeah, well, when we got called liars for adding a kick plate and stickers on our front door the week after we moved in, we reread (I had already read them before we moved in!) and highlighted each point of the covenants, education myself on what needs approval for all points outlined, to ensure we never get 'in trouble' again."  Her husband laughed good naturedly, giving me a head nod in solidarity.  He could tell it was a touchy subject by the way I spoke spit out the word "liars."

The next day, after many more board members came, I asked if we could get an approval so they could order the paint and start after lunch.  The President came back quickly with an affirmation, telling me they really appreciated the easy access to the wall, and the fact we'd painted such a large area for approval.  We ordered the paint and finished all the prep work for the big job.  About three hours later, another board member came storming into our backyard, telling our painters that she had the authority to shut them down if she didn't approve of the color herself, and that she was the last member that needed to give her approval to move forward.  He told her that we'd already gotten approval, had already ordered the paint, but encouraged her to come see the color in person anyway.  Begrudgingly she admitted she loved it, and gave her approval.  Good thing she didn't shut us down, this all-powerful, most important board member {insert eye roll here}.

But it doesn't give me confidence, these incidents with the board members.  How can they expect us to follow the rules to the letter of the law, if they themselves aren't held to the same standard?  They watch our houses like a hawk for garbages out past the time slot, weeds overgrowing the sidewalk, fences that are in need of repair, as well as front doors that have decor added without approval, yet they don't need to get their own stuff approved by the entire board.  How can they have power to approve paint colors when they haven't educated themselves on what color actually fall under their own chosen covenants?  How can we trust a board when we actually get approval from the President, yet have members come hours later, threatening to shut us down?  In all honesty, it makes me want to move.  That's saying something, since you know how much I love this home!

Rant Over!

 The night before they were coming to paint the exterior.  Notice the white trim around the black door.  We're all ready to begin!

It should be noted that I was a nervous wreck.  I was so afraid that I was going to hate it on the entire house, although I loved it on that back wall.  I almost had a panic attack walking outside after they'd been painting for two hours.  It was pretty scary.

When you're painting a room, if you hate it, it's only like $25.00-$35.00 for that gallon of paint.  If you hate the color of your home, we're talking thousands of dollars.  It was very scary to be the one to choose the color that would match well with the shingles.

AFTER

 It is hard to get the perfect color of the home.  As you look at the angles below, you'll see as I move from left to right, the color changes slightly.  It's also hard to capture the true color of the shingles.  Not only does the angle of the sun make them look different in these, but there is a layer of dried dust from when they pressure washed the home in preparation of painting.  Mario said the home was probably the dirtiest home he's ever cleaned in all the years he's been painting.  I'm not quite sure why that is, since ours is not the oldest home he's ever painted, but he's certain it is the dirtiest he's ever done.  We're waiting for a good rain to help rinse off the grime from the shingles to bring them back to their rich red-brown color.

 In the picture above, look at the singles above the garage, directly next to that top-story window-- you can see the line of "clean" shingles under the eave from the top story.  That's a good reference for how dirty the rest of the shingles are.

Front Door Transformation:

Before

After

Welcome to our new home!