Karina - interior colors

This picture captures our main interior color scheme. All of the interior wall color is Benjamin Moore HC-172 revere pewter. The white trim color was the best match to the vinyl window color. The floors are Tigerwood. The cabinets are maple. And the accent door color is Benjamin Moore 1309 moroccan red. You can find the exterior colors listed here.

port townsend homes

We finally went away for a weekend last Friday. Our friends Nancy and Scott have recently moved to Port Townsend and they invited us out. What wonderful hosts they are! We ate delicious home-cooked meals with fixings from their garden and freshly caught King salmon that melted in our mouths. They live close to town, so we were able to walk most places. Port Townsend has some lovely old Victorians and many small houses to draw inspiration from.

the karina

mt. baker neighborhood - cottage

Here is another home I drive by every day that i just love. It's on a corner site facing East and because of how the road is at this location, it has a long view looking Northeast.

The house just nestles in the surrounding garden and the paint colors are just perfect. Neil and I both love grey houses...even in "grey" Seattle. It needs to be a warm grey, though, like this one.




One of the reasons I may be drawn to this so much, is that it reminds me of our Betty series of house plans that we sell at my office. This is one that was built at Wyers End in White Salmon, WA.

mt. baker neighborhood - flower boxes

I went for a walk in my neighborhood the other evening. Only 3 blocks north of us, the house prices quickly triple and quadruple. Everything was just popping with fall colors. When I returned home and was reviewing my photos, it was interesting to see some patterns. Many of the houses I photographed had flower boxes on the houses below the windows. Not all of them were filled, but they all gave some depth to the elevation with their shadows.





At Ross Chapin Architects, our standard front porch rail incorporates flower boxes. They add a nice accent to the house and tend to be easier to maintain. We will be using this detail on the Karina as well and I can't wait to fill it with bright red flowers.

mt. baker house

I purposely take a side street home sometimes, just to pass this house. The landscaping is amazing, but I also like how the house colors all work together.

The Karina - exterior color

To be finished painting before the rains began this week, I was out there with the guys on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the final push. It's so nice to see it without the scaffolding up. I must say, I am very happy with the way the colors turned out. When we first started, Neil and I went through the color wheel choosing about a dozen that we liked. We then went to Seattle Paint, which is a Benjamin Moore dealer, and picked up 8x10 sheets of those colors. Holding them up next to the building in the shadows as well as the bright light, helped narrow it down and we chose one. But, when they started to paint, it was just a bit too army green (BenMoore HC-106 crownsville gray) and I wanted something more bark like.

We were so close...because we ended up with

body = Ben Moore HC-103 cromwell gray.
trim color = Ben Moore 1528 early morning mist
under the gable = Ben Moore HC-102 clarksville gray
red stripe = Ben Moore 1309 moroccan red

The red was also inspired by nature. Driving home from the site, I spotted a bright red bush, pulled over and picked a leaf and started from there. Choosing colors can be overwhelming, but there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. Before choosing, Neil and I had been spotting and pointing out house colors we liked for weeks. Also just looking at how nature brings colors together is a great guide. Especially now as we are into fall.