Your colors did not sound exciting when I was reading, but when I saw your pictures...WOW...they look great. The colors truly accent the bricks and wake the house up. The porches are fabulous! I agree, think it will be a lot of work, but totally worth it. The architecture will really pop with your new paint. I like how you have painted out the spindles and the other wooden details. I think you are heading in the right direction. Keep up the great work!!!

I love the 3 colors and think it will be fabulous when done. Your house needs that kind of detail to fully shine.
I'd go easy on the rust for larger surfaces, but use it for pop like you seem to have planned. If you do any less, I think you will regret it.
My theory of painting is every job takes X amount of time regardless, it is the extra time beyond the X that determines how great it turns out and is the most valuable.
You are 100% on the right track!

Forgot to mention...the green on the main porch is the original color. If we go with what we are thinking then there will be almost no green on that porch. Most all "background" color will be the yellow with the applied detail being in rust. Too much? DH is thinking perhaps leaving the cross pieces at the top (above and below the rectangular pieces) green and maybe some minor trim that wraps the posts would be green. Thoughts?

I think this is what is bothering me. On the bay window there are areas where the 3rd layer deep is green. That doesn't/won't happen on the porch if we continue with this color placement.

I should add that once I bother to put X amount of time into it with prep and cleanup, I'll be damned if it does not come out looking great. If I was willing for it to look bad or even average, I would not bother to paint in the first place.

Looks fabulous Mary Lu. I saw you post on another thread that you would be painting and I confess I couldnt wait to see pictures.

I agree with you that the bay window looks lovely and I would want to see more green on the porch. I dont think the x's would be enough for me.

The bedroom porch has the siding for the green color, but the front porch doesnt.

I am not good at visualizing, but I am thinking maybe the brackets, the circles on the long posts, and the two diamonds green.

Or - if you want the green to stand out against the brick, which the rust color might not as much, then paint the middle of the spindles green, and leave the top and bottom of the spindles yellow, and the brackets green, and the circle in the middle of the X green.

Does that make sense?

I think, I would paint one of the layers of the molding on the top of the front porch green too, to break up the rust along the roof line. Probably the second one down.

I wish I could do that photoshop stuff!

It is looking fabulous, and I am sure whatever you do will look amazing.

This looks FANTASTIC! Regarding the green question, you could paint the door of the front porch green if you want a flat-ish plane of green to coordinate with the panels on the bay window treatment. But bottom line, I think that with so much detail all around the house, the eye will find all 3 colors and dart from detail to detail--I don't think it's terribly important that every section have a balance of all 3 colors, because the whole house will deliver that balance.

Your home looks a lot like my very favorite house in Northampton, Mass. Also brick, with intricate painted moldings. It is beyond charming, and it's a gift to everyone who drives by. Really, I feel thankful to the owners for contributing that vision of loveliness to the landscape. Paint on!

WOW! I also read your description and thought "ew" (I may have also made a tacky face-sorry) but scrolled down to the pics...that looks really, really amazing. Perfect color choices for that house, and I think you're totally on the right track by painting out the details. It's going to be stunning when it's done.

The house itself looks great, and it looks like you've got some wonderful landscaping, as well. Congrats on a treasure of a house!

vampiressrn and franksmom 2010, Sorry guess I should have put the pictures first! I guess green, rust and yellow do sound boring! Never thought of that. Thanks for the vote of confidence that the colors work with the house.

dianalo, my feelings exactly. I spent all of one winter finding just the colors I wanted. The green was a given, as it was the trim color previously. But oh, to find the right rust and right yellow. All the research into vintage colors and placement. The guy at SW got to know me well but was a gem about "tweaking" the colors to arrive at what I wanted.

boopadaboo, good to see you! I know just what you mean about visualizing colors. You should see the back of the house! I can't/won't tell you how many splotches of color are back there! Also the bottom of one of the front porch posts has multiple colors on it trying for the right rust and yellow (on the backside where you can't see it!)

still lynnski, Never really thought about it that way. That the overall look will balance out the house. In other areas there is a larger amount of green, especially on the garage. Also the garage is visible from most areas as well. In time we want to duplicate the front porch on the garage. As there is a walkout on the second floor. So you think as long as some green is incorporated, it will fill the need?

Fransmom 2010, you are forgiven for making a face! :-)

Anyone else want to comment or make suggestions as to how to incorporate the green without looking odd? Or think it is unnecessary to do so? Or is it too busy and should scale back on painting out all the detail? All thoughts appreciated.

Love what you are doing! The bay window is amazing.

I think houses like yours look great with all the details painted out. I was thinking you could add green to the middle of the brackets on both porches, instead of them being completely rust. And some of the details on the spindles overhead could be different colors, to incorporate some green.

you'd probably have to test paint a couple to see what you like.

Definitely not too busy. The brick work acts as a big neutral, in my opinion. The balance with the intricately turned and painted trim is PERFECT. Regarding the green, I do think that especially as you have large amounts of green elsewhere, there is no need to balance all 3 colors in each section of the house.

Think of it like a dress or blouse with intricate embroidered or beaded trim. You might see the greatest intricacy at the neckline, and the sleeves might incorporate a simpler version of the same theme with some, but not all, of the same colors.

How adorable!! Love the color combo.

Well, it sounds like we are on track? Headed in the right direction?

Hope to get a little more paint on tonight and see how it looks.

Did get a little more paint on, but not a lot. Trying to see yet what works. Here the results from tonight.

I painted the trim on the wrap at the bottom and middle with green, but not liking it. Now thinking that maybe that should be rust as well? Will keep trying this weekend. Am coming to the conclusion that it will take forever to get this painted. Especially as I am only working on one post first testing the colors.

Sure wish whoever painted it sometime in the past had been more careful about not getting the white on the brick! Wasn't me! :-(

I think I like a little more of the green showing. You are doing a great job...keep it up!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: pictures

Just now I looking at the last picture I posted...and I had a thought.

What if I painted the spindles green like they are originally and painted the X in the center the yellow. The spindles would then be "framed" with the yellow. Too much? Was thinking that would be a way to bring in the green with out messing with the other trim that is duplicated on the bay window.

Need to stay consistent with trim colors as both can be viewed at the same time from some locations (see picture below) Or would that look too busy/fussy? Really stumped...

Sorry to keep chiming in, but I think your idea of keeping the spindles green and accenting like you describe would be great. I'll bet your neighbors are loving the new look!!!

Love what you are doing. If it all needs to be painted, once you figure out the scheme, how much more work is it, really, and how great is that impact for the time spent? I think it is wonderful!

I agree that it would be great to leave the spindles green, paint the large ÂXÂ yellow, and then I would add a rust circle in the center of the yellow ÂXÂ.

I like the porch base and steps in the green. I would do the window and door frames yellow, and the screens and screen door green everywhere. The brick gives you enough rust on the body of the house.

On the sided part of the house that you showed, I would make that door yellow, with the panels on the bottom done to match the panels above the bay - green center area, with rust around the edge. Rust around the top window area of that side door, too, rather than the green that appears there now.

Keep in mind if your thought is that the rust is an accent , it should be no more than about 10% of the total painted area. With the body of the house in the brick part essentially rust in color, you have to be judicious in how much rust appears elsewhere. In fact, your main color is really rust, with green being your second color, and yellow as your accent.

I agree the more green the better. Seeing that it's the complimentary color to red it would look better in front of the brick with the yellow the next most prominent and then rust in small doses. You've done a fantastic job in finding the right values for all the colors. I can see your own good eye is heading you in the right direction. Your husband is right. More green lol.

vampiressrn, no not tired at all! Thank you for chiming in! I am really struggling with this and appreciate that you are hanging in there with me!

yayagal, you wouldn't believe how much time I spent finding the colors! Spent most of one winter researching vintage colors. Our home was built in 1868 and we are trying to stay true to that era. Then to find colors that could be customized/tweaked as I couldn't quite find what I could see in my mind!

Les, you have hit the nail on the head. I felt the green needed to be more prominent on the house. Your explanation of % of colors really helped, but how to get there? You said "do the window and door frames yellow, and the screens and screen door green everywhere"...but that leads to another problem. Grrr...

I am posting some more pictures to better explain why I don't think we can do yellow/green on windows. We built a garage last summer and that is all sided. We started our painting sabbatical there last summer.

Garage

From a distance showing the garage in relationship to the back addition on house and the main part of the house which is brick. There are 2 additions on the house. The bedroom addition in the front in previous pictures and then the back addition shown in this picture. (To throw another wrench into the mix for the future...we will be building a 2 level porch on the side of the garage where the dormer/walkout door is located. What we plan to do is replicate the troublesome front porch using the spindled area as the second level....but that's a whole 'nother story!)

This is a different angle showing the back of the house and the addition in relation to the bay window. A 3rd porch is located there also that needs to be painted as well after we finish repairing some rot issues. You can also see that we have LOTS of painting started, but not completed. DH is taking a week of vacation the week after next to work on painting. That is why I really need to get this nailed down soon! :-( The rust in this picture looks red, but it is not.

We have painted one window on the brick part of the house the yellow/rust and I used a picture of that to do a mock up using your suggestion. I think it really would look nice. But if we did that, then what would we do with the garage and addition windows??

Window now...yellow/rust (We do plan to leave the actual paned windows green. We will just paint the storms/screens)

mock up yellow/green

To sum it up in a few words, we basically have 2 houses rolled into one! Now....if anyone stayed with me through all that, HELP!!!

Wonderful job! Enchanting house -- kind of a brick version of a painted lady. You are doing exactly the right thing. It's to drool over!

I like the yellow and red on the windows better than the yellow and green. Was that the question? I know it's a lot of work but it's sheer eye candy and it's SO nice to see people restore these beauties as they were meant to be. Good on ya!

oceanna..."I like the yellow and red on the windows better than the yellow and green. Was that the question?" One of them, yes. Also color placement on the porches and doors.

Yes, she is turning into somewhat of a painted lady. It's funny but originally it was built as a 1 room school house. However, the first individual who purchased it and turned it into a residence in the 1880's is thought to have added the bay window, porches and possibly the additions. All the trim work is original to that time.

So I think she could be classified as a "wanna be"?

Another follower here. Your house is charming and will be wonderful when finished. I just love your color choices and agree with Oceanna with the yellow and rust on the windows. Keep us posted on your progress.

Wow...your place looks so fun...all the buildings connected. I also like the yellow/red on the windows. Your landscaping is gorgeous too!!! You're doing a great job. Once your done you should submit your pictures to a magazine, it is spread worthy. :-)

What a delightful place. I love your painting and can't wait to see it when you finish!

Just had another thought (oh boy!) Can the porch ceiling be green? For some reason the green spindles just see to fade away. Now am thinking maybe stay with the yellow spindles and with the porch ceiling green they would pop more and also allow me some green in the porch? Can you tell I am all over the place here?

ctlane, thank you. Working on it now, just taking a break. So tedious...

vampiressrn, the little shed you see to the side of the garage is my garden shed, or will be. We used it to store stuff before the garage was built.

cyn427, thanks. Me too! :-)

Oh yes, the porch ceiling can be green. Or yellow. Or rust. Whatever makes the trim show up the best.

How neat that you know the history of your home! That is super cool. I wonder if the descendants of the original owner would love to see it when you're done.

I would definitely slam on the brakes and do a double-take at your home. It is on the way to fabulous! I love your color choices. Those colors just make the brick sing.

Now I want to see the interior! Will you give us a guided tour whenever you're ready, please? More, more, more!!

I love your home! I don't think you can really go wrong with the colors you are using. It looks great. The additions and garage are great! What a beautiful place.

I like rust and yellow on the brick part of the house, but not on the siding part. I think it makes the windows feel smaller than they are, when the darker color is on the inside trim/screen. But, it seems that the Âvoting likes the look, so you certainly have support for you color choices!

I keep looking at the one pix, just a few up from here, where we can see the porch and bay on the brick, and the sided addition. I keep trying to figure out what is bothering me. I think I have it (not that it should bother you, of course). I think the disconnect between the brick house and the addition is that the house has some gingerbread, appliques,and some curves in the trim details. The addition has none of that, but feels very boxy, and the windows in particular show that difference,

I wonder if you could add red painted rosettes or small squares to the upper corners of the windows there, against the yellow trim. I think that would pick up the trim details on the bay, and help the connection. Down the road, if you could do it, it would be nice to add a larger header to the windows and paint it out to match the painted boxes on the top of the bow, or instead to add a small arched header, to bring in some of the curves.

Les, thank you for your thoughtful input. It's really not about voting, at least I don't think so. I just really want to make it all look the best I can given the colors I have chosen. And given the fact that our house has gone through multiple changes through the years. We are trying to take it back, as much as we can, to what it would have been in the late 1880's.

Yes there is a disconnect between the back addition and the rest of the house. Just was not sure how to "fix" it. At one time that addition also had a porch where the window is. When the previous owner renovated he removed that porch as it was not original.
This picture was taken in the late 1950's

He actually removed another porch on the garden side of the house as well. In total (counting the screened porch on the garden side)there were a total of 6 porches on our house!

The windows in the addition are actually much smaller by comparison to the windows in the rest of the house. The windows in the brick part of the house are 84" and that's the inside measurement. All ceilings are 12' in the house.

Sorry if I get a little carried away. But making our home the best it can be is a passion with me, can you tell? :-)

oceanna, that is the same way I felt the first time I walked into our home, and still feel that way today! But it seems to be a never ending process. So much to do, so little time it seems. Actually people do slam on their brakes or drive very slowly past. One lady even ran the stop sign out front because she was looking at the house. (She stopped and told me about it the next week - got a ticket too!)

jlc712, thank you. We love it and hope that when we are gone the next caretakers of our home will treat it with love as well.

Forgot to update on today's progress...

Got 1 post totally painted, all colors. But not the greatest of days otherwise. Being that my eyes aren't as young as they used to be, :-) I have trifocals. Well they are on and off when I do close work. I took them off and put them down on the porch floor. About 5 minutes later I proceeded to sit down on them! Yup, you guessed it. Flat as a pancake. When I tried to bend them back the bow snapped off at the hinge. Not sure how I will drive to work, or even work for that matter tomorrow! Might have to take the morning off, tape the glasses up the best I can for driving and see about getting some new ones!

If it ain't one thing, it's another...

Oh no...sorry to hear that. Glasses are so darned expensive, hope you can get them repaired or new ones asap.

Mary, I loved the color selection last year when you started painting the garage. It's perfect for the house ... really gives it personality.

Marlene, Mary's landscaping is gorgeous! You should see the rose garden room she created.

vampiressrn, well it could have been worse. I checked out locally in our small town and the cost was approximately $450 for 1 pair of glasses! Also would take 7-10 days to get them. So decided to drive 60 miles to a larger town/city and went to an Eyemart Express. Got 2 pair, a regular pair and a pair of prescription sunglasses for $250. And...got them in about 2 hourss! So in that respect I am a happy camper! Not happy to spend the money, but happy to have glasses again and sunglasses too!

natal, thanks for the vote of confidence! Landscaping is not so gorgeous right now though. With all the heat and humidity this year lots of roses that had never been bothered with black spot sure got it this year and dropped most of their leaves. So first the heavy rains in June that knocked down the spring flush, now the fall flush is blooming on almost leafless bushes!

But back to painting....did stop at Sherwin Williams while I was in the big city :-) and picked up some paint to try on the floor of the porches. I'm thinking a blackish green. The color I picked up was SW 6174 Andiron. Just put a splotch of it on the front porch floor, so will see how it looks when it dries!

When I mentioned to DH about a dark green for the floor colors, he wasn't too keen. But there will be nothing chocolate brown when we are done painting, so I just can't see keeping the floors brown!

I sure do start lots of projects all at once, don't I? But hey, they all tie in together!

link to SW Andiron color
On this site is says it is "Fundamentally Neutral"

Here is a link that might be useful: SW 6174 Andiron

Here's what it looks like. A way to introduce green into the porch? Thoughts?
{{!gwi}}

Just seeing this now...I LOVE the colors and the house! It's fabulous!!!!

Here's my two cents; keep the window, sash, and trim colors consistent throughout (gold trim with red). For the front porch, I'd paint the ceiling green; the spindles and majority of trim & structural columns gold; rust in the accent areas where you have it now (applied moldings and cornices); and use green only as the minor accent color (connecting moldings, the "X" in the center of the spindles, etc).

I think the green looks fab on the siding areas, but on the brick portions of the house, the green tends to fade. The gold trim really pops off the brick. By keeping the green accents minor on the brick portion of the house, it really allows both styles to blend, but also allows them to feel a little separate too, which I think adds to the character and charm. Great job! What a labor of love...and will be so worth the headache in the end! ;)

Trisha

Really great colors.I did my house in a soft gray green because it stuck out like a sore thumb and I wanted the attention on Nature.You did great.
tanya

That is a good price for the glasses. I didn't start wearing glasses till I turned 40...I'm 57 now and have only had minimal changes in my eyes due to aging. I just spent $700 for a regular frameless pair and some Coach sunglasses...that seems crazy to me. At least I got a pair of free computer glasses (a one time deal from my employer). I shouldn't complain though, this is only the second time I have purchased glasses in my life. :-)

I too would love to see the inside of your home, I'll bet it is awesome. Can you connect the separate building by way of a sunroom (tee hee hee...just another project). I like that dark green for the floors. Thanks for taking the time to post pictures, it is so fun to see the passion you put into your work.