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A Farm of My Own:  What color is your house / outbuildings?  |
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TejasFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
105 Posts
Dawnn
Bartonville
Texas
USA
105 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 19 2006 : 08:43:56 AM
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As we continue to renovate our farm before moving in June, I am starting to think about the exterior of the house and outbuildings. Close to our house is the "guest" house which I am turning into the chicken coop. Then we have a barn that is just faded grey wood which I like. The house and the guest house however are really ugly.
The house has this brown brick (picture 1970's) and wood siding that is painted kind of a mixed playdough color - you now the pinky tan that occurs when you mix all the playdough together? And the trim - the only way I can describe it is baby poop brown. I would love to do something to the brick - paint it white or perhaps stucco over it?
I am thinking of painting the chicken coop a deep barn red with white trim. It has these nasty metal slider windows with glass that the previous owners painted green. We have a great salvage yard in Dallas that sells old windows wihtout the glass which I think I can use and put hardware mesh over to replace the metal sliders and then use old shutters on the outside if I need to close them because of a storm.
Despite the fact that the buildings are ugly the surroundings are beatiful. One side of the chicken coop is a woodland area with lots of trees, with moss and clover on the ground, and irises coming up - the most gorgeous shade of green I have ever seen. The other side is our native grass pasture with plenty of sun. Its amazing that such a small building could have such diverse micro enviormnents surrounding it.
I would love to hear what exterior colors and materials make up your farm houses and outbuildings - looking for inspiration from the farmgirls!
D. |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Mar 19 2006 : 08:51:10 AM
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I love out house and outbuilding colors - the house is a tan color similar to the Martha Stewart "tortilla" color - similar to how it LOOKS, but not the exact formula. The trim is barn red with french blue accents and a slate blue/green asphalt roof. There's a copper feather weathervane on the "garage." Whe I do the rest of the outbuildings, they'll be tin/aluminum siding with red wood - I'm so excited! Currently, out outbuildings are a somewhat less-than-charming weathered grey wood, and most of them are near extinction. I'm in the process of planning new ones. It's pretty fun, isn't it?
I love the red chicken coop with white trim - Aunt Jenny's coop is like that and it's just darling!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Mar 19 2006 : 09:17:14 AM
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log cabin (logs) and barn reds xoxo
True Friends, Frannie |
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MichelleTN
True Blue Farmgirl
118 Posts
Michelle
TN
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - Mar 19 2006 : 09:31:40 AM
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My Country house is a "classic cream" color, a pretty yellowish color with green shutters, previous to our renovations it was white. My barn is Red, not a fire engine red but Barn red! lol
For me the hardest part was all the choices and afraid I wasn't making the right one but 4 years later still love the colors we choose.
Good luck, Michelle
http://tangledthreadsandknottedyarn.blogspot.com/ |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Mar 19 2006 : 10:26:52 PM
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I really hope to paint my little milk barn to match the coop this summer..the red with white trim. Our house is peach with darker peach trim. UGH!! Someday it will be cream color with dark green trim. It needs to be painted badly, but is down the list a ways. But the barn is something the kids and I can do. It is small.
My favorite color is green and I have always wanted green trim.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2006 : 04:37:08 AM
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Our house is an old farm house, built by a Civil War veteran. The land was a grant for his service as a doctor. It's white siding with gray shutters; the roof has tones of gray and blue. I also painted the porch floor and deck floor the same gray. Then I put out wicker furniture with cushions in hunter green, Federal blue, and purpley floral print.
The barn is redredred, with a white metal roof. I picked white to keep things cooler inside. And the crib is red, too. Outbuildings like the milkhouse, toolshed and cobsheds are white. It's very difficult to change from red to white, as in a few years you'll have pink building. Red was the historical choice of farmers because it was cheap; the pigments for red were the easiest to come by, and you could get the most coverage for the least money.
We have a guy who comes out with a cherrypicker and spray paints the outbuildings for us every few years. The first year our barn was really weathered and soaked up a lot of paint. While I liked the look of the weathered wood, it can hasten the demise of the building; and I really needed my barn. The cost of painting even with these common colors causes me to keep it simple. My bill is generally around two thousand dollars. One year he even painted my round pen! He does a very good job, with virtually no overspray.
If you paint your brick, then you're committed to painting forever. One of the reasons people have brick exteriors is for low maintenance; you'd lose that. Could you bring out one of the lighter tan or taupe colors and paint your wood part with that? I know the playdoh tan you're talking about; I've always wondered who would like that, but once someone told me it was a 'warmer' tan. Okay; but I still don't care for it.
"What another would do as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it; written as well, do not write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself, and there, make yourself indispensable." ---Andre Gide |
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sillyfoulks
True Blue Farmgirl
164 Posts
Elizabeth
Illinois
USA
164 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2006 : 09:21:26 AM
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Our place isn't very pretty right now. The house is green, somewhat close to the avocado green of the 60's and 70's. I hope to paint it this summer. I will go white, with possible red and black trim. I have always loved bright red front doors, and hope to get ours painted. The garage is white and the garden shed is yellow, both aluminum siding. I am not really happy with the yellow but it doesn't look that bad. The shop is old corrigated tin currently, but white aluminum is scheduled to go on this summer (hopefully). The crib is a mix of tin and wood painted white. It does need to be repainted (again on the list), but we are undecided if we will try and repaint the buffalo on the front. We have considered replacing it with a huge American Flag. The barn is just dingy gray, not very fun. Eventually we want everything white, with atleast Red accents. I like the way black looks with the white and red, but I am also considering navy blue. However, only time will tell.
Elizabeth
Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.
http://livingcountrystyle.blogspot.com/ |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 09:46:38 AM
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i agree with Mary Ann that you don't want to lose the low maintenance qualities of the brick. i would try painting the siding a color that will make the brick tolerable to you. Something else i've wondered about is, can you stain brick with the stain made for concrete? it might be something to look into if painting doesn't make you love your house. YOu could experiment on bricks before committing.
My house is white aluminum siding with slate blue trim that needs to be repainted and the outbuildings are a small shed made of cinderblock and a run in barn sided with unpainted metal. if money were no object i would stain the cinder block building cobalt blue, paint the barn classic red and the house would be resided with cedar shingles with big overflowing window boxes on every window (after i built my addition on of course).
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain
http://ljrenterprises.blogspot.com/ |
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Julia
True Blue Farmgirl
1949 Posts
Julia
Shelton
WA
USA
1949 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 10:04:14 AM
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We just painted our house this past summer. We bought the house 2 Decembers ago and new that first thing to do come summer was paint. The previous owners were try Oregon Duck fans (University team).That is all well and go, "Go DUCKS", but why in heavens name would you paint a house Kelly green and Canary yellow? It is now a creamy color, with just a hint of yellow with smokey slate trim. Ahhhhh! the house is a tract style 1961 home with no charater, which we hope to do something about as well. OUr only out building, already here, is a shed in the back made with old barn board, so it is nice and weathered. I want to paint the door a barn red color this summer as well as the trim around the windows. My DH want to close in the carport to make it his work shop. So the shed would become the garden shed/guest house. I want to get a little Benjamin Franklin stove to put in there as it has no electicity. I also hope to be able to build a little porch on the front of it, to make it look more cottagy.
"...the setting sun is like going into the very presence of God." Elizabeth Von Arnim |
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TejasFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
105 Posts
Dawnn
Bartonville
Texas
USA
105 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 10:36:05 AM
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| Thanks all! Your places sound great! I know brick is maintenance free and normally I like brick but this stuff is a really ugly color and every brick is the same and laid completely straight - I have been researching and there is a concrete product that looks like stucco and can be applied over bricks with a trowel. You can even score it to make it look like stone! I will see if I can talk DH into this one! Then I could stain/paint the stucco to resemble old stone.. I would like to have a metal roof installed and use hand hewn squared beams for the front porch supports and for the window sills - just like a true Texas farmhouse! Isn't it fun to dream? That's what I like about our place - it has encouraged such creativity in both my DH and me. We are having such fun! |
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akcowgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
296 Posts
Valerie
Homer
Alaska
USA
296 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 12:58:05 PM
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My house is log with dark green trim. I love my house. The out buildings on the otherhand... are a very very ugly khaki color. Dear other half sent me to the store to get paint for the water shed and the out house. I orderd a very nice off white color. They mixed it wrong, but given that we where on a very very tight budget at the time they said i could have the paint at 75% off. i though that was a great deal. Dp still gives me a hard time about it three years later. i will paint them again when we have the money(story of my life) but untill then they will stay that color. I think that the stucco stuff is a great idea if you really hate the color of the house. it does not matter how easy brick is to keep. if you wrinkle your nose at the color every time you look at it then by all means do something with it. valerie
Alaska Girl all the Way |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
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TejasFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
105 Posts
Dawnn
Bartonville
Texas
USA
105 Posts |
Posted - Mar 26 2006 : 01:03:49 AM
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| Thanks for the site Laura-definately might be an option! Valerie-I couldn't agree wiht you more...life is too short to look at something everyday that you don't find pleasing! |
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Paradise Creek Farmgirl
Farmgirl in Training
21 Posts
Shellie
Oregon
USA
21 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2006 : 7:58:11 PM
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| Our house, barn and pump house are all barn red. The barn and house have white trim and the house has white doors. I love it and I think it makes it all the more country. at first I wasn't sure I wanted to go that bold but we have had all of our neighbors stop to say how nice the place looks. I think there is something very inviting about barn red. And I definately agree that whatever you choose you should find it pleasing. By the way, I think red is very cheery. |
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Kay in Kentucky
Farmgirl in Training
35 Posts
Kay
Dunnville
Kentucky
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2006 : 7:55:22 PM
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My house is white with a red porch roof, the barn is mostly white and a lot of bare galvenized metal on one side. the out building; chicken house white, goose hut rusty red, other poultry house grey.
Somehow it all goes together.
Kay
My blog;
http://oakspringfarm.blogspot.com |
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Lovin Life
True Blue Farmgirl
103 Posts
Lisa
New Hampshire
103 Posts |
Posted - Apr 11 2006 : 7:48:15 PM
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Our house at the moment is half desert tan vinyl siding and half slate blue aluminum siding, charming huh?? I'm hoping this summer we can have it finished so we'll be all desert tan! ha ha. I'm sure our neighbors just love it. Oh well. My husband was let go in Feb. and found a new job within a month, but not as well paying, so things are a little frugal around here right now. If I knew how to side, I'd do it myself Anyway, the barn is going to be rough hewn ship lap fir. I don't think I'll put any other color on it as I really like the looks of weathered wood.
It is fun to plan this stuff isn't it? How cool to have a guest house for your chickens!!
I'd rather live my life with a "full plate" than an empty one. Life is not a rehearsal... eat up! |
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hammondfarm
True Blue Farmgirl
77 Posts
Julie
New Caney
Texas
77 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2006 : 9:12:16 PM
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My house is country blue with white trim. We have a small country porch that is white. Our house is a cedar house so we must paint every now and then. It is a split level house which as my older years creep up I hate. Someday we may be able to move, I hope. 3 flights of stairs is getting to me.
Love my color choice though.
Best Regards,
Julie
Hammond Farm
www.hammondfarm.com
People Tested Goat Approved, tm |
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A Farm of My Own: What color is your house / outbuildings? |
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What color is your house / outbuildings?
