Our New Home: Exterior Inspo & Progress
The exterior of our new home is starting to come together. I tried to choose finishes that I have felt drawn to for many years. I read books by architects that I love, like Gil Schaefer. I read blogs, I drove neighborhoods, I scored Pinterest, I looked on Instagram. I’ve been slowly gathering inspiration and trying to make the best decisions within our budget. Exterior finishes are tricky because the prices vary so much. So many things are also needing the factor of time- landscaping, lushness, or the ability to continue to tweak and love on what’s already there.
The Inspiration
I started to pin everything that really made my heart sing. What felt like “home” immediately when I saw it. After, I started to go through and “read” my Pinterest Board. What patterns did I see? What stood out? No surprise, old historic homes with white windows and white siding. Something that had that classic feel with a sense of time. I am deeply drawn to New England and all the colonial homes that have been built there. I love anything with a shingle shake siding that feels just a little bit cozier.
My husband and I grew up in Metro Detroit and after a few jaunts in different states, we are back in Michigan and getting settled. Since we are laying roots in the western side of the state, not too far from Lake Michigan, I feel the presence of the lake. Every time I’m by the lake or in one of the lake towns, I just feel at home. I am inspired and so in tune with the surroundings. I love that the old homes along the lakeshore have that New England coastal feel.
And so that’s where I leapt to our vibe, our Michigan collected cottage. A dab of farmhouse, a dab of cottage, collected and a bit of whimsy. As I stated in my previous post about laying the groundwork for the house, I used an existing house plan and made tweaks to change it to our needs. I relied heavily on a friend who has had a lot of experience with building homes and also made tweaks and changes on the exterior as well. We simplified exterior lines and went with one large peak with three windows and two dormers to the left. Each dormer will create window seats within the interior and it feels so special.
Photo & Design Credit: Little White House Co Instagram
I really played around with the three windows within one peak, and when I found Little White House Co. on Instagram, I knew it really solidified everything for me. Being very truthful here— I felt super validated. We had gotten to this point in our sketch (see left photo) and when my BFF sent me the Little White House Co. house on Instagram, it felt like all the stars aligned. While this gorgeous home is veryyy out of our price range, it hit on all the appeals of a classic older home. Also, making exterior choices are scary- it’s VERY expensive, it’s all happening on a VERY large scale, there is a lot of it, and it much trickier to change later.
Can we take a little moment for the cutie circle window we added? I wanted just a little bit of fun, just because. This cutie little circle window does just that. Also, its funny how shingles can look so busy in the front elevation plans, but in real life (like the photo above) it’s soft and texturall. Can you tell I’m excited about the shingles?
The Materials
I have always loved old historical homes and truthfully, I felt really nervous about building a new home. I knew I wanted something that would feel a bit interesting, while still feeling super classic. The entire house will have a shingle-style siding that will be white. White siding with white windows for a very clean and breezy feeling (like Little White House Co’s home in the photo above!).
If you followed our Arkansas journey, you will know that our last home was bright teal and I mean Teal with a capital T. It was very bright and vibrant (think Crayola Crayon teal) and while it’s a perfect color for someone, it never felt like me. A bonus with our Arkansas house is that it was made of Hardie Plank siding, which meant it could be painted. We ended up moving before we could take the leap for that investment, but a bonus nonetheless.
Our exterior siding will be Vinyl Shingle Shake in white. We chose Vinyl for a multitude of reasons, but the main one being affordability while still getting us the “look” we like. I was really nervous about Vinyl because it could take us away from that “older home charm”, but Kelly’s house from the Lilypad Cottage also used Vinyl (blue home pictured above)and it convinced me it could all be okay. Another reason we chose Vinyl is that Hardie Plank was out of budget, like way out of budget (Think mid 5 figures). So we jazzed it up with a shingle style and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.
I went a little different and chose a light gray roof to have a softer more cottage feel instead of the black and white contrast we are seeing a lot with the Modern Farmhouse movement. The light gray will mirror and mimic the more natural materials that can be used for a roof like weathered cedar shingle or metal, as pictured in the example home from Max Fulbright Designs. You can see it in the progress photo I posted below.
Details
A front door with six-lite windows in a welcoming sage green color excites me so much, but this blue accented house is giving me some real good feels. A polished nickel door handle elevates the look to something a little extra special. I’m still searching for a lantern-style exterior light that will give a little extra touch. I would love to do some sort of fun handrail in the future in the front and back, but that will come with time.
Progress
Drywall is getting done as we speak and I absolutely can’t wait to see more! The rooms feel like… rooms! I’ll be sure to update all the happenings on Instagram. Stay tuned!
Hugs,
Meredith
