There’s been so much accomplished at the lake house this week that it’s almost hard to believe.
Inside, we have plumbing, electrical, heat and air, central vac, sound and security roughed in!!
Outside, we have soffit and siding going up like crazy.
Steve and I have had many discussions about this white siding. We both really love it.
It’s a timeless classic house color.
I didn’t love the stock white that’s available with Hardie so we ordered it primed and then painted it on sight.
We went with Benjamin Moore’s white dove.
It’s cottage-esque and traditional and farmhouse like all at the same time.
We’ve debated back and forth about adding any color (in the form of shutters) to the house.
The front door will be a double wood door—no glass— with vertical ridges and stained a beautiful honey color and the foundation will be dry stacked stone.
I dream of hydrangeas and peonies and dogwoods and boxwoods and roses gracing the front—–maybe even a window box or two.
I’m pretty sure this house doesn’t need any other color. I think there’s plenty of interesting textures going on to make up for the lack of color.
And the inside will have color enough to spare.
I kinda like the contrast of simple white cottage on the outside——eclectic Texas glam on the inside.
Do you have strong opinions either way?
Also, while you’re sharing, what should I use for flooring for my workroom and screen porch?
Do you have any experience with faux slate?
And what’s your favorite hardwood type, size, stain?
Okay, back to lazy recuperating from late nights and early mornings with company!
p.s. Here’s my favorite picture from Dollywood…….
After getting drenched on the river rampage, Mark fashioned his shirt into a halter top for us. I think it’s a lost art. It’s pretty priceless, no?
LOVE the white siding!! So cottage-y and 1950’s and farmhouse and everything I love! Can’t wait to see what you do with the inside.
Classic and beautiful! I love it!!!!
It looks great, all of it. Re flooring have you seen all the gorgeous cement flooring they do now? That would be wonderful for your work room, but if the porch is on the second floor, maybe not so great. It is beautiful stuff though and so carefree. It can be dressed up or down. I know you are having fun with all of this.
Gorgeous!!! I love the white. I don’t think you need color on the exterior when you plan to surround it with roses, boxwoods, etc. They will have enough color to balance out the white of the house.
This must be so exciting for you!!! It’s so great to see it all coming together for you!! I am thrilled with each new post. Slate floors are gorgeous. I would definitely choose them if I had the option. Our friends have them in there mudroom and entrance and love them.
Hugs,
Ruth
I love that the siding looks like shingles. That look & the beautiful color reminds me of Cape Cod, especially when adding hydrangeas, roses, peonies, dogwoods & boxwood. Some lacecap hydrangeas would look gorgeous!
For screened in porches i’ve always loved the looks of rustic hardwoods or painted hardwoods.
So glad your home is coming along – thanks for sharing the experience with us!
It’s looking great, Edie. Love the white dove and love seeing your updates. Can’t wait to see your “Texas glam!”
I love the hardy siding! It’s what I dream of one day for the house we build! I love seeing how far your house has come. It makes me excited of what I have to look forward to one day! Gorgeous!!!
Oh, I like it a lot! I haven’t seen that type before. The kind around here is mostly just plank. The white is beautiful, clean and fresh looking. With all the flowers and flower boxes I agree you’re set with color.
Your picture reminds me why I love Dollywood. It’s been too long since I’ve been there.
I’d go with stained concrete flooring…love it.
Love the way your siding looks! We’re building a farmhouse too and looking at faux slate. One of the salespeople told us it’s much easier to keep clean than genuine slate. I’m not sure about how stained concrete would look in a farmhouse. Also looking at wood-look tile like the farmchicks.com used on her farmhouse floor. Excited to see your home coming along! It’s inspiring me with our home design/decor!
the house is going to be my all time favorite of favorites, I just know it. i am hoping that you’ll show us every little detail…like that front door that you talked about in this post. my favorite hardwoods are the wide, farmhouse type…dark is beautiful but they sure do show dust!!
love it so much, edie.
you’re just gonna have to come visit my friend!!!
xo
That is BEAUTIFUL! Floors? Dark wood is gorgeous and shows every.little.thing. My parents have then and they are a nightmare to keep clean. They are really frustrated with them. They show water spots and kitchen spills like mad.
I love wide plank floors that look a little weathered!
Happy to have found your blog, Edie! We just purchased a farm and are planning to build. I love your ideas and am excited to read more about your progress!
Oh Edie it’s stunning, you are so right the outside of your house doenst need color with all the texture, nature you gave surrounding you. Really it’s just gorgeous!!!! I’m soooooo happy for you!!!
xo,
LuLu
This is amazing progress and I couldn’t be happier for you! It’s so exciting I’m on pins and needles waiting for it to be done…I think that’s the expression, right??
About hardwoods….I like the recovered from an old place kind wide width with lots of texture and personality.
Love/hugs/blessings,
Lana
The house looks sooo amazing! Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to see it all as it becomes a home!
Hydrangeas…and lots of ’em!! *swoon*
It’s looking good–REALLY good! 🙂
We have 4 1/2 inch wide red oak floors throughout our two story house, and we stained it a dark color called “Teak”. Fifteen years later, and we haven’t had to refinish & we have lots of family & friends over to hang out (our Thanksgiving dinners start at 35 people). We had 3 coats of Pacific Strong water-based poly on the floor & it wipes up like a dream. I don’t think the dark shows dirt at all. As far as slate goes, I have a friend who did faux slate in her laundry room, and she loves it. Evidently real slate is very slippery when wet as well as being hard to lay down.
When you are adding shrubs to your garden, think of viburnum. It smells wonderful when it’s in flower! We put one by the edge of our porch so that you can smell it when you are sitting on the porch swing.
Lovin’ the pictures!
Shar
I love Hardie board – we would have used it on our addition but we weren’t allowed (so annoying).
Your house looks GORGEOUS!
Love the white cottage look of the siding. It’s like a sorbet- a palette cleanser- before you head inside to the spicy color. And you can add all the color you like with beautiful landscaping. For floors, we are looking into bamboo for our upstairs. Downstairs is mostly tile which I love. I would also add to your list for consideration stained concrete and cork. Stained concrete is all the rage in TX where my folks live and you can get some amazing finishes. And you can literally hose it down if you also install a drain. I also love the look and feel of cork flooring which could be great for your workroom. Those are my hippie, eco friendly recommendations.
I think that the exterior of your new home is going to be loverly!!
Your house is looking gorgeous!! As for flooring, we just built and, with our builder, we had to use the pre-stained wood. It was a huge mistake. It’s real wood but it shows every little mark, every ding. It won’t EVER look distressed … which is the look I love … it just looks messed up. Even vacuuming scratches the surfaces if there is even the tiniest little rock or food particle stuck in the bristles. I wanted to go with a 4″ oak plank … have it installed and distressed and THEN stained a deep, rich color. Oh well. After we tackle a deck, built-ins, new lighting, etc. we can rip up the $28K of hardwoods and put in what we wanted!! ACKKK …
As for slate, the house we were renting while we were building had slate in the kitchen. I LOVED IT … until I tried to live with it. It chipped easily, which wasn’t really a problem b/c it still looked great BUT it was surprisingly hard to clean!! Food and grime were really tough to scrub off … sometimes impossible! I will always love slate outside (I have a love affair with all things grey) but I’ll never use it inside!
Oh Edie!!!! It looks wonderful. I have been showing the pics to my boys and they are loving every single update! They see the powers of their prayers come to life.
LOVE the classic white. Hydrangeas will seal the deal, baby!!!!!!!!!!
Got some design happiness coming for you soon………………. :))
– {darlene}
fieldstonehilldesign.com
and I forgot to say: about the halter top photo. You are not right, girl.
Lovely, lovely, lovely! Let the plantings provide the color! Real wood floors are my favorite, love it when they start showing the wear of everyday living. So Happy for you! 🙂 AmeliA
I would say tile in the work room. MUCH easier to clean!!!!!! BELIEVE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
floors wide plank reclaimed wood awesome!
Floors, wide plank, reclaimed wood!
It is looking SO good!!! I can’t wait to see everything when it’s done. We just bought our hardwood flooring for the first floor redo and we went with a distressed (old plank looking) hickory in a medium wood stain from Floormall.com. We also got varying widths to get an old look. I’m so excited to get it DOWN on the floor and out of our solarium. 😉 Much love! xo
Help! It looks like we need a new roof, soon. We have a white cape cod with green shutters and roof. I’m thinking about changing the shutters to black and painting the front door red. Any specific product/color recommendations for the roof and specific paint product/color for the shutters and door?
Traditional white cottage landscaped with lots of hydrangea, peonies and roses? Yes please! I’ll take one for myself while you’re at it 🙂
The siding looks gorgeous! I love, love, love hydrangeas. What about crepe myrtles? Do they do well in your area? The magenta color is so gorgeous against white.
For floors, my favorite is wide plank or random width reclaimed.
oh please please please use bunches and bunches of hydrangeas…I once saw a magazine photo of a cottage with rows upon rows of lush hydrangeas…SO GORGEOUS…it still it stuck in my memory years and years later…
Looks awesome!
Cork flooring!
Favorite hardwood: natural stained hickory.
That’s all!
Hi dear!! you actually don’t know me but I have been reading you for about a year. Praying for you over the last few months and wishing I really KNEW you in real life 🙂 I live in the Chattanooga area and feel as if you are a stones through away. I asked you to be friends with me on FB and you accepted…I was delighted. I love how your home is coming along. Your style is so cool. I am so traditional and you are really inspiring me to step it up a notch and kick tradition to the side every now and them. We built 20 months ago (all of my inspiration came from Blackberry Farms in Walland, TN ) we love that place and I have always wanted to live there so we decided to make it home in Chattanooga. So, I love what you have going on on the outside I have a few thoughts for you in flooring. We used a company out of Greenville, TN called Historic Lumber. The guys name is David Howard. He finds the most amazing reclaimed floors, roofs and doors. I ended up using wide plank pine that was from an old barn in PA. ITS TURNED OUT STUNNING!! It actually made the house. Like its the first thing people are amazed by when they are in my home. Also, the price was only a bit higher than something new. It gave the house a very lived in, timeless heirloom feeling. I could send you pictures if you would like and put you in touch with David. I also used real barn slate that David found on the roof. AMAZING. I was also stunned by the prices. He is a jewel and a find and I think he could help you find something really amazing. Bless you sweet sister. One day we will me…I just know it 🙂 Sarah MaGee Cantrell
Sarah,
Thank you so much for introducing yourself. It’s so nice to meet you and to know you are so close! Thank you for your sweet words of encouragement—they mean to much. I LOVE the idea of reclaimed floors but figured it was out of my price range. I’d love to see yours and to talk to him. It’ll have to be soon b/c I have to make that decision in the next week or two. Just email the pics or upload them to facebook and tag me. And I LOVE Blackberry Farms. I bet your home is gorgeous. I’d love to meet you so maybe you’ll have to drive up for an open house when we’re finished!
xo,
edie
I am just happy reading this…and is Mark married? dang…
The house is looking glorious 🙂 I love your comment… “kinda like the contrast of simple white cottage on the outside——eclectic Texas glam on the inside.” Blessings to you and your family xx
Beautiful, classic, so YOU. Glad to see such progress…and success in your corner. God is blessing your faithfulness.
Nice, you have beautiful planning, images are also good but dont forget to keep things which are useful for healthy living. Keep any equipment to cardio or some space for meditation.
Oh please please please use the bunches and bunches of hydrangeas … I
once saw a magazine photo of a house with rows and rows of lush
hydrangeas … so beautiful … still stuck in my memory years and years
later .. .
Great!
Congratulations! The house is almost done with the restoration. The roofing and the siding look good together, and that’s because of the chosen color.
Beautiful! My sweet and cute hubby has been employed w/ Hardie for 10 years now…we LOVE it and you cannot go wrong w/ their products, so happy thats what you chose to re-buid with. I am enjoying catching-up on your progress.
Blessings.
Amanda
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Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
Many thanks
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Hi there -Your house is so charming and beautiful.
Wondering if your roof is asphalt and if so, what color?
Also, I know you mention that you painted over pre stained shingles, but I’m wondering if that’s all you did as I love how there is delineation amongst the shingles… it looks like grout in between subway tiles, and I’m so curious how you achieved that look. Thank you so much
Do you mind me asking the shingle color? We are doing White Dove, as well. I love this look!
With good maintenance it really is really good.According to my point of view, adding some protection and security would make it look cool and even better. Great list of roofing blogs to follow! Thanks for sharing. For more go now