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Our 1970s House Exterior Makeover

July 20, 2020 by Bre 21 Comments

As desperate as we were for a house back in November, when the one we bought came on the market, my husband didn’t even want to go look at it.  He really disliked the 1970s look and the all-brown exterior.

I promised him the first thing we’d do in the summer is update it, and I kept my promise!  I’m excited to share the completed first part of our 1970s house exterior makeover!

This 1970s home exterior update really brings it out of the dark ages! With moody green paint, limewashed stone, and wood accents, it looks much more updated than it used to. #greenhouseexterior #exteriorpainting #pewtergreen

A lot went into getting the house to look how it does today, and I will give you all the details!

The first part of the exterior makeover was my DIY limewash stone column project that I shared a couple of weeks ago.  That transformed the bright orange rock column to a more neutral beige color that helped remove some of the 1970’s vibe of the house.

BEFORE - this 1970s brown house was really dated. See the AFTER exterior updates. It looks like a new house!

After that, we had to pick our paint colors.  We purchased several samples of paint and I’m so glad we did!

The paint looked much different on the house than it did online.  Always get paint samples!  The colors we thought we might use based on our internet mockups were not good once we put them up.

Sherwin-Williams green paint colors tested on a brown house. The colors include Homburg Gray, Rosemary, Pewter Green, and Escape Gray.

We ended up choosing Sherwin-Williams Pewter Green for the main body of the house, and Sherwin-Williams Escape Gray for the trim.  Of course we were a little nervous about our color selection (because who isn’t?!?), but as soon as the painters started work, we were in love!

This 1970s brown house got a full revamp with an exterior paint job in Sherwin-Williams Pewter Green.

What we especially love about this color scheme of Pewter Green and Escape Gray is that these greens are different than any of the greens in our yard.  There’s always a concern with green exteriors that the house is going to fade away into the landscaping, but these greens do not allow that to happen.

This 1970s house exterior makeover is fantastic! See how the owners updated it with a moody green color, limewashed stone, and wood accents.

This 1970s house exterior makeover is fantastic! See how the owners updated it with a moody green color, limewashed stone, and wood accents.

This post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

As part of our Phase 1 Exterior Updates, we also swapped the light fixtures.  We chose fixtures from the Kichler Barrington lighting collection, because we liked the wood-look accents to mimic our garage door.

New black metal and wood exterior lights complement the wood-look garage door.

There was even a Barrington post lamp light available, so we were able to coordinate our two lamp posts with the fixtures by the garage and front door.

Update a lamp post with new post lights! These Kichler Barrington post lamps brought the dated light fixtures out of the dark ages.

One thing I did after posting this entry is paint the door to look like wood!  It’s a wood door that the previous owners painted orange.  I used a faux finish technique to make it look like wood again, so that it ties in with the garage door.  You can see the wood look technique in the linked blog post!

This green house with an orange front door has new life!

Oh, and to see how I made that DIY Address Number Plaque, find the tutorial on my Instagram!

See how the owners updated this 1970s house exterior with moody green paint, limewashed rock column, and wood accents.

After painting the door, the next part of the makeover MAY be adding some stained cedar wraps to the bottom halves of the porch columns (again, to tie in with the garage door and lighting), and painting a stenciled tile pattern on the front porch concrete.  Will it all happen this summer?  I don’t know.

And then someday we will replace landscaping near the porch and the lily-patterned sidelight next to the door.  (Update: we did this! Come see how we ripped out the bushes and installed a beautiful front yard patio in this area!)

For now, we are so happy that our 1970s home has taken a huge step into the present.

A wood-look garage door pairs perfectly with moody green house paint.

I hope you like the new look as much as we do!

Filed Under: home decor

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Comments

  1. Seana Turner says

    July 21, 2020 at 8:34 am

    Wow – what a transformation. I think it looked nice before, but I have to say that it looks so modern and terrific now! You have a gift for sure. That can be tough, picking a new color. You must smile every time you drive up:)

    Reply
    • Bre says

      July 27, 2020 at 10:10 am

      Thank you so much, Seana!! You’re so right – picking a new color is tough! I’m thankful I didn’t screw it up. Ha! And yes, it still makes us feel happy when we pull up!

  2. Carrie says

    July 23, 2020 at 5:16 am

    GORGEOUS! Amazing what a difference paint makes!

    Reply
    • Bre says

      July 27, 2020 at 10:11 am

      Thank you, Carrie!!! xo

    • Karen says

      January 25, 2021 at 8:15 pm

      House looks awesome. I too have a 70’s home with the same sandstone exterior. I’d like to limewash as well but can’t decide on the color…our roof is new and has a lot of the sandstone coloring. And because it’s so new we can’t afford to replace. Did you replace your roof to a lighter color?

    • Bre says

      February 4, 2021 at 7:20 pm

      Hi, Karen! I did not replace the roof – it’s a brown color that was on here when we moved in! If you buy the smallest size of limewash available, it’s around $32. Maybe you could do a test to see how you like it with the roof and then power wash it off if you don’t like it! Or get one of those faux brick panels at Home Depot and limewash it, and then mount it up on the house to see how it looks with the roof? OR maybe someone could do a photoshop rendering for you?

  3. Rhonda says

    July 23, 2020 at 4:36 pm

    Wow! Love that color!!!

    Reply
    • Bre says

      July 27, 2020 at 10:11 am

      Thanks so much, Rhonda!

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