Exterior Colours

I get asked almost on a daily basis what colour we have used for our render exterior so I thought I quick blog post would be helpful to everyone

We used the services of Angie from Stylish Livable Places to help us decide on our exterior colour scheme. Angie was fabulous to work with and I can honestly say was one of the best things we did over the process of building

Keep in mind that our house is very long and we have used quite a few different elements such as render, weatherboards, thick posts etc with lots of white to break it up so these colours used may not look as fabulous if you have a more modern home or fully rendered etc  Also keep in mind of the way the light flows over your house as this render can look alot darker at different times of the day. Its always best to have a few samples first or better yet hire a colour consultant as they will suggest colours that will suit best for your particular home.

Exterior Colours


RENDER - Dulux Mangaweka - appears quite dark but once painted and with different light this choice was perfect

Roof    - Colourbond Shale Grey
Facia    - Colourbond Surfmist
Veranda posts, garage and weatherboards - Colourbond Surfmist
Windows - Dulux Vivid White
Eves - Mount Aspiring

Entrance and studio door - Black Cavier

Build Update - Modern Farmhouse style garage

Its been all systems go on building our Modern Farmhouse style shed lately.  First we had the slab poured and then around 3 weeks later the shed build started.   

Slab ready to be poured

Concrete slab all ready

Frame starting to go up - looks huge and I was devastated that I lost some of my view!

Colourbond sheeting starts to go on

Weatherboard colourbond profile on front

Shed build Completed!

We are now just waiting on the garage doors to be installed and our gorgeous black barn lights that will hang above each door.  We are really happy with how the build and design turned out - I think it really complements the main house as we used the same colour scheme. At the side of the garage where the window and door is we are also planning on having an area paved with custom built seating/veggie planters and a fire pit

Colours used -

Colourbond roof - Shale Grey
Colourbond sheeting  - Dune
Garage doors - will be Surfmist
Barn Lights - gloss Black

Next up will be the driveway, painting of the fences, landscaping and more landscaping but finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel but hubby is now is man cave heaven!

Modern Farmhouse Garage - we have approval!

After around 7 months we finally had approval for our shed yesterday that will be built in our backyard.  Hopefully work should commence in the next 3-4 weeks and I will document our progress on how I turn a 12 x 8 metre colourbond shed into something a little more 'Modern Farmhouse style'

As this sheds faces towards the back of the house and will be seen from all the back windows  -  it was important to design this space in a way that complements the house. What hubby chooses to do inside it is completely up to him - as long as the outside looks pretty then I'm happy  :)

We have chosen colours similar to the main house and it will feature panelled garage doors with highlight windows and gorgeous barn style lights. The second driveway will then finally be levelled and a soft beige gravel will be used. Ladscaping can then be finally finished on this bottom section

Its been difficult to find inspiration on modern farmhouse style garages - the Americans do them so well but here in Australia its much harder to find suppliers to get this style while staying within budget.

Wish us luck - I think I have missed this design/build stage so looking forward to this project!

Below is just a rough example of our shed plan - doors will be a panelled door and the front of the shed will be clad with a product that is a steel but has a weatherboard look to it.

Down the track I am hoping to extend paving to the side ( near the side door) and have a fire pit, raised garden beds etc

Garage doors will be similar to these 

Black barn lights similar to these will be used

Our house featured

Our house featured over on the Stylish Livable Spaces blog recently which you can view and read the article HERE   All images supplied by Louise Treacy Photography

Angie from Stylish Livable Spaces is responsible for our gorgeous exterior and interior colour scheme. I worked with her on getting the exterior colours just right and she was wonderful to work with - I can honestly say it was one of the best things we spent during the build!

As we had alot of exterior elements such as the roof, render, weatherboard, posts etc it was great to get an experienced colour consultant on board. The render colour she chose works beautifully and tends to be lighter or darker depending on the weather and the sun's position. The images below were taken on a very rare sunny winters day so render appears quite light.

To view our colour choices please see this post HERE

Front of house - the garden looking very dormant over winter!.

One Year On

Ive been meaning to write this post for a few months now but life just seems to get in the way!  On October 17th, 2015 we celebrated one year in our new home. I can't believe its been 12 months since we moved into this beautiful home - time has just flown. We are loving living here and its been really lovely to see how far we have come in 12 months time  - its now starting to really look like a home.

We still have alot of landscaping out the back to complete and our deck area and lounge room still needs redecorating which we are currently working on now ( hope to share our plans with you soon!) but its nice to still have some projects on the go - life would be rather boring if you moved in and everything was perfect.

You always feel like you are never getting to where you want to go but sometimes you just need to take a little look back to see how far you have really gone

Lets have a little look back on our building journey in images

Our block just before building started in 2013

The house in planning stage

I remember we were so excited when work started!

Concrete footings taking shape

Sub floor

Starting to take shape during frame stage

Roof went on

Back of house

Bricked up and weatherboard details in

First coat of render and front verandah going in

Inside boards are laid and our gorgeous kitchen goes in

Fire place goes in ( note hubbys fire already testing it out!)

Front door gets installed

All rendered, painted, garage installed, driveway in

Entrance almost finished

The day we moved in!

And now as she stands today - what a difference! We still have alot of landscaping in the back but do have plans for a large barn type shed and maybe a pool and weatherboard pool house. Its a 5 year plan in the backyard as 1/2 an acre is a huge and expensive job!

My photography studio which is located on the left hand side of the house is a dream to work in - my business has been so busy since opening last year!  Its such a beautiful space to work in everyday

Garden taking shape in its second Spring

Back top level finally has lawn! Just one more garden bed under windows to complete

Outdoor deck area now needs a good clean, restain and some decorating and should be beautiful this summer!

We also just recently added to our family with Miss Millie - a little playmate to our other King Charles Cavalier, Charlie- isn't she just the sweetest!  And I am so happy to have another girl in this house as we are rather outnumbered  :)