SE Portland | "the blue house" part I

 Our kids have called this "The Blue House" since day one of this project, which was in October 2017.  As in, "Is Dad working over at The Blue House today?"  Above are some before pictures of the house, so you can see what we started with.  One unique feature of the exterior was the triangle architectural detail on the front of the house. 

​The large tree in the front yard was beautiful, but a potential hazard that we had to address right away by hiring a professional arborist who knew way more than we did about taking the tree down to a more safe and aesthetically pleasing size and shape.

Here are some photos of the initial exterior work, which included digging out window wells to make legal bedrooms in the basement, and some sewer/water line repairs/upgrades.  We wanted to get a jump on this type of work before winter came around.  I'm sure the neighbors just loved the dirt piles we created!

The back of the house included a wood deck/porch that was built right over the existing concrete stairs, and was not in good shape at all.  There were also some large laurel bushes on the side of the house that we ended up taking out completely because they were encroaching into the driveway (and blocking the natural light coming through the windows).

Here are a few before pictures of the back yard/driveway so you see what we started with.

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After a trial and error session that included more than a few color samples... This is the color scheme we chose for the exterior.  The house body is now Behr Atlantic Shoreline, trim is Behr Bakery Box, accent (front door) is Behr Broadway.  We like to use Behr Ultra or Behr Marquis for a long-lasting, quality product.  These paint products can be found at your local Home Depot.

Without making you wait longer, here are the photos of the finished exterior!  We did replace some of the patio, sidewalk, and driveway concrete, and extended the patio itself a bit.  We took down the old basketball hoop, re-seeded the backyard, pulled weeds, cleared the flower beds, and added a ton of new barkdust and mulch.  On the exterior of the front, the porch was painted a light gray (it was red and chipped before!), the porch ceilings and columns were painted, all the wood windows were repainted, and we had the chimney and face of the porch fixed by a chimney/brick expert, and we transplanted ferns and other plants.  The finishing touches were the patio furniture, planters (wayfair.com), and the window box (wayfair.com). 

Let us know what you think in the comments!  This house is for sale in Portland, Oregon.  We will happily put you in touch with our realtor if you are interested in a viewing.  You can also find us on Facebook or Contact Us here through our website!

Thanks for visiting!  ​