Exterior painting. The 65 brick rancher.

My house is so ugly on the outside. I mean it really is.

There is not a whole lot you can do to a 60's brick ranch on a low budget. I mean, let's face it, they offer no architectural elements. They are rectangular and chances are every other house in your neighborhood looks close to the same. :)

I decided (being on a limited budget) I had to atleast make her look some what more appealing. I mean she's had these red shutters and iron railing FOREVER.  Then the siding and trim is all white on white. BLEH. no contrast. :(

Also being on a strict budget means, NO pressure washer. It is a MUST to wash siding before painting. SO, believe it - or not - I got on a ladder and conquered my fear of heights and HAND washed all the siding and shutters with a bucket of dawn dishsoap and a sponge and spray hose.

Sometimes, it's amazing what a little soap and water does to a house haha (it was filthy).
See the before:

This is part of the after:

It's not much, but $40 bucks in paint goes a long way to make it look a lot better. I used some birthday money my sister sent me to do this project. I used Valspar paint. The burgundy color was $16 for a small can (yikes). But I got the $20 gallon can for the siding. I used Cliveden Stone as the siding color and Royal Garnet for the shutters. I promise it looks better in person.

My next task is to sand the old iron railings and spray them oil rubbed bronze. I wish it was in the budget to do wood railing, but it's not. I plan to build a bench seat for the porch to give it more curb appeal, but as money becomes available of course:)