We moved from Tyler, TX to Atlanta, GA in June 2020. Which, of course, means we had to purchase our home in the middle of a pandemic. Side note- I do not recommend moving during a pandemic if you can avoid it đ When we started looking for a home in April of 2020 my hope was to find a house that had good bones, classic appeal and square footage that would work well for my family. There wasn't a lot on the market while we were looking, but we weâre super fortunate to find a home that checked almost all of our boxes. We took a leap of faith, made an offer, and became the proud owners of a home we had never been in or seen in real life. It all seems SO crazy when I look back on it! We didnât get to see our home for the first time until move-in day đł Luckily, we loved it!
I knew from looking at photos that I wanted to get a few basic things done before we moved in. My list included painting the interior, switching out light fixtures and replacing some of the hardware. (If youâre interested, I can do a post on that process next week). The paint and lights made a HUGE difference, but I knew that before the year was over I was going to tackle the exterior!
I'm not someone who believes that every brick house needs to be painted. I love a traditional brick house. However, our home was built in 1986 and the brick/trim had seen some stuff đ Neither were in great shape, so I knew some repairs and paint were in order. I waited until our budget opened up a bit and then went for it!
I started with picking the brick color. To keep the home looking traditional, I decided I needed a creamy/warm white instead of a bright white. A true white felt too modern for what I was trying to achieve. Ultimately I landed on Gray Mist by Benjamin Moore for the brick and trim. It is EXACTLY what I was going for. đđ»
Shutters were an easy pick for me because I knew I wanted them to be fairly neutral, but not so neutral that you couldnât see them. I selected Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter. Itâs a classic for good reason.
Iâve always wanted a blue door! Blues can be tricky though. I wanted something a little smokyâŠif that makes sense. I didnât want anything too bright or costal. When you want a subtle color, it can be helpful to look through grays and whites with the undertones youâre going for (I do this a lot for pink!)- and thatâs exactly what I did! I chose Boothbay Gray for the door. Iâm so into it đ€©
A few other noteworthy choices I made were 1) leaving the brick pathway paint-free. It adds so much warmth and character 2) switching out the lanterns 3) adding tall boxwoods in my planters. I still have a few things to do (like switch out the door hardware), but Iâm BEYOND thrilled with how it all turned out. Itâs always scary to spend that kind of money, but I believe it has changed our home for the better!!!
For more information on painted brick, here is an article from Southern Living:
https://www.southernliving.com/home/remodel/painted-brick-house
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