White on White on White

I lOVE the color white in decorating. It often gets ignored but can be a great accessory color against a bold colored wall. And it looks very dramatic when you can use all white to draw attention to the textures in a room.

However, I was not feeling it in its purest form on the exterior of our house!! The front is as flat as a pancake and there is not a vast array of textures going on. When we moved in to our neighborhood, an eclectic mix of various time period houses, we asked if the Greek Revival house we were about to purchase was only in the primed stage of painting! I had never seen a white on white house with absolutely NO tone difference between the trim and siding....boring!!!

Typically the trim is a tone lighter than the house color. But in this case there was not an option to go lighter than white:) We needed some dimension, somehow!! I decided to paint the trim, only around the windows, a dark charcoal (almost black, but just a little softer). Since we weren't changing all the trim to black (that would be bad), the rule was to only do it surrounding windows and doors which helps it to look uniform and not like you painted your trim and forgot some of it in the process.

Better but still needed more color... I am not a green thumb or the obvious choice would be to add some color in the landscaping as well (standby, that may come in a photo later next spring). Soooo, where to get a pop of color in the meantime on this improved, but still pretty plain house?? The door... I love a real red door. Not a maroon door, you see those everywhere.... a true red!

The bright color of green on the planters and wreath are an awesome accent to red. It also happens to add yet some more color. The trick to these planters...old pots laying around in any color, spray painted green-any ding dong can spray paint! The pot upside down on the bottom adds some height to your potted plant so it stands out from street view. If you only have a couple like size ceramic planters sitting around to spray paint then go and get the cheapest plastic ones to go on top. As long as the bottom ones are sturdy, that is all that matters!

Next plan is to add some more dimension to this Greek Revival...decorative fabric awnings perhaps? But you will have to stand by for that update too! Maybe something like this or a smaller pinstripe will do?? Love how these can look when they are done in a tastful pattern.  

Enjoy & Cheers!  {Laura}