We are so close to being ready to move back into the house – only one week left. It doesn’t seem real. At all. Ah! Of course after waiting and waiting for so long (patiently?) I feel like there a million things that I need to get done between now and then! Not today. Today, I’m taking the morning “off.” I’m drinking my coffee in my PJs and writing blog posts and enjoying these photos. We’ve been working so hard on the yard (and new DIY patio, details coming soon!) that I’ve earned a break in front of the computer today – away from the mud. The interior and exterior painting were finished last week. I haven’t been able to share many details of the paint because the house was really off limits while the painters were working. Then the day they finished the electricians swooped in a started hanging light fixtures. So, you get to see a lot today! I started with putting interior and exterior photos on this one post as well, but it was getting very lengthy, so I’ll post those tomorrow. Promise – writing it today. Here we go! As you know, so much of the design inspiration from our house came from our time in New England. I love the early american, farm and coastal architecture there. In fact, it was what I loved most about living there – but I didn’t like being away from our family. So, we thought, we’ll just build a New England-esque house at home and have the best of both worlds. Okay, so I don’t have the beach, mountains and all of the colonial history minutes from our house… but, I can pretend : ) Below I talk a little bit about our various travels and where the inspiration for the paint scheme came from. We knew we wanted a white-ish house, but with a little more warmth. So, creamy. But not too yellow, not too warm. My favorite off-white is Benjamin Moore’s Navajo White, which we used all over interior for walls and trim in main areas of the house. I thought it would be a perfect match outside, too, but we needed to match our clad Andersen Windows. Note : we are still waiting for the shutters, which will be painted to match the front door, SW Iron Ore. 
As you may recall, I chose the Canvas color for the exterior clad of the Windows (Andersen 400s) because I knew I didn’t want the house to be white-white. So, we upgraded the windows from the 200s to the 400s to get the Canvas color option. Andersen provided the exact match for the window color in Sherwin Williams Muslin, which is just a shade more saturated than Navajo White. I tested the colors next to the windows and it worked perfectly. *I mentioned before (this is non-sponsored, by the way) that we ordered our Andersen Windows from Home Depot. We saved almost $4K compared to a local Andersen dealer. Crazy. Highly recommend! I was a little nervous that the house would seem light beige instead of off-white, but I really think it turned out perfect. I love classic white houses, but all of my favorite houses of all time were a little more creamy, so we took the risk.
Another risk was leaving the dormers and garage front in natural cedar shake instead of painting them like the rest of the house. I’m so glad we did. I feel like it really transformed the house from a standard looking cape to a charming cottage. We wanted to do a cedar roof, but the cost was a little crazy, so adding the cedar element to the dormers and garage added that cedar element. To make the final decision, we went back and looked at some inspiration photos :
This is was a house that we both loved that we found on our trip to Nantucket (more photos of our trip to here) last fall. Note the very creamy trim, black shutters and natural cedar. During the building process we kept coming back to this photo for inspiration. It helped to have something to show subs and the builder, too, to help them realize you aren’t crazy : )
Another house we’ve always loved was the Bedford Post Inn in Bedford, Ny. We visited there a couple of years ago when I went to the Martha Stewart Show and toured her offices.
They have a lighter trim, but still same creamy siding. You can see other photos from our Trip to Bedford Post Inn here.
Martha Stewart’s Turkey Hill Home, old (when Martha owned it, above) and renovated (by new owners, below). I really wanted to do the trim and the siding the same color – there is something about that tone-on-tone look that I love. I love how subtle it is. I love how it makes the millwork around the windows and door look. For me, it lets the millwork stand out on its own, without relying on an “accent” color. Her color is more grey/beige than ours, but I like the way it looks.
This is the renovated color. It looks very much like our muslin, but not sure what the actual color is.
Side view of the new Turkey Hill.
Another point of inspiration (especially for tone-on-tone paint) was our trip to Deerfield, Mass. In coincidences of all coincidences, as I was explaining my inspiration to our painter he told me he went to boarding school in Deerfield. Yes, our painter in Kansas went to boarding school in Deerfield, Mass. Such a small world. More photos from our trip to Deerfield Mass.
Ok, back to our house. Here is a glimpse of the landscaping I’ve been working on.
We ordered another Concord Lantern in Antique Brass (this one a wall mount) from Cape Cod Lighting Co., another nod to our time in Concord and on the Cape. We had a lantern from the same collection over our dining room (that will now be in our bedroom) and I had two smaller ones made for over the island. Also, I forgot to take a photo of the Barn Lights above the garage – also from Cape Code Lighting Co.
I really like this perspective of the house – see that big window? Above the tub! I really think the exterior grills on the windows make a big architectural impact on the house. You can see how the house looks the same as it did from the front, but grows subtly out the back – just what we wanted to do.
Then, when you get in the back yard…
An entirely new look – but still colonial inspired.
I forgot to take a full photo of the back after plastic had been removed, so this is one from my phone.
Here are the copper lanterns on the porch! There are 3, with 2 fans in between. These are from Sandwich Lantern Co., also handmade on Cape Cod. The owner is so awesome (and funny!) to work with. Just talking to him on the phone takes me back to the salty air.
You can see another glimpse of the garden coming along. This photo is a little outdated as we finished the new patio yesterday! Mike and I (with Emma’s help) built it ourselves in two days – I’ll share the details later this week… after sod is in! Interior photos coming tomorrow. Thanks for sharing in my excitement – it has made it such a fun journey! I can say that now that it is almost over : )