BEFORE
Landscaping and curb appeal were never our first priority. Our attention was at the bar we built/owned/operated blocks away, and for many years we had little love left to give our red + black Old Portland bungalow. And while we are super stoked to have a small forest of mature trees, some of them were planted too close to the house, thus our roof is a critter highway. Birds, animals and weather have had their way. Chunks of siding and porch rotted. We added new cladding, a paint job, and roof patches to the list.
EXTERIOR RENDERINGS
unhidden updates: new metal chunks clamped on old wooden structure
Let’s back it up. [Dear readers, the timeline for this blog is a bit funky in order to show compelling transformation, but all of this is happening simultaneously, with long stretches where Todd was on vacation or we had to re-budget.]
FIRST THERE WERE FENCES:
The city of Portland requires protective fences around potentially impacted trees in any project of this magnitude. Next came the honey bucket, followed by boarded up/papered windows, creeper construction vans, dump trailers, general sketchy mess. Oh, and a giant hole in the backyard for THE NEW ADDITION!
METAL. IT’S REALLY NOT FOR EVERYONE:
I’m crushed out on our light aluminum siding with standing seams, but nearly gave up on it many many times. We went through 3 different companies who variously ghosted, lied, delayed, didn’t finish, put on the wrong color, didn’t re-tarp the gaping holes, all of it. In this expansion-crazy town, nobody was interested in doing our rinky-dink job. But we don’t think about all that now, we FREAKING LOVE IT!
PAINT:
Once the holes, windows, roof, metal cladding, and composite siding were all buttoned up, I called our friend John Cox. We’ve known John for 30 years from the music scene. You might know him from Satan’s Pilgrims, Suicide Notes or dozens of other bands. (If you want him to paint your anything, here are his deets.)
I had picked out my ideal house color from a Dwell magazine photo of the Milford Residence, a Portland Midcentury Reno. Interior designer Jessica Helgerson had used Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron here, and so would we! John + crew had the first coat up in no time…and I was not feeling that sizzle you get when you know it’s right. Pictures do lie; I was expecting a blue/green grey. John graciously drove me to Dick’s Color Center where they custom mixed several versions of Miramichi for me to test. I chose one with most of the white removed, a deep murky ocean blue/green. The 2nd coat was right. We used the rest of the Wrought Iron as the foundation color, it blends well with the porch tread and metal cladding. House trim is in Full Black; front porch is Oasis Blue.
AFTER
Dive in. A complete sense of relief washed over me when I saw the finish. Thanks John and crew! My neighbor Butch immediately said he wanted to copy it (he did not, his house is navy blue with white trim).
Landscaping? Maybe next year. Our ivy-covered front fence collapsed. We need an arborist. I have extensive ideas involving fire pits and geodesic domes for the backyard. We’ll make it happen one day.
Next post: those plywood room divider screen slat thingys, what is up with those? I’ll show you…