Black Cape Cods

One of my favorite go-to pursuits

is perusing house listings on realtor.com.

It’s been a while since I blogged about my “finds”,

but then yesterday I spied this cape cod in my hometown*

FOR A MERE $25 GRAND!!!

If you can’t see the enormous potential

of this charmer-in-waiting,

then I’m sorry —

but we can’t be friends any more!

*It’s in Greenville, Illinois, which is 50 miles east of St. Louis

+ has 1207 sq. ft. + 3 bedrooms + 1.5 baths (listing here.)

I did share this house on my RedBird Facebook page,

as is my way (follow me!),

at which time I mused about possibly

painting it all black to make a modern statement.

I’m pretty sure I was influenced by this do-over,

featured in the current issue of Country Home magazine —

as I thought it was really striking + so well-done.

The original section remains quite traditional + untouched,

but the flat roofs on the wings

+ their horizontal siding add the modern.

Metal roofs can go either modern or traditional,

+ I think this raw, unpainted metal looks industial + modern.

Country Home

This next all-black houses’s over-sized windows

add to its modern look,

yet I think it remains quite traditional.

Here, the dark metal roof accents skew traditional.

origin unknown

This stately Victorian house

is nearly all black,

with pops of white in the window surrounds.

Notice how the black window sashes “pop”

against the white trim.

Would you have painted the door trim white?

I would have.

yentua.com

This sunning home looks fantastic in black,

+ notice how pretty  all the mostly-white flowers

contrast with the dark facade:

xtoxictears.tumbler.com

This house reminds me of the Country Home do-over,

with its traditional bones

+ some modern details added,

such as the horizontal boards on the porch + foundation:

House and Home magazine

However, most of the black houses online

do include white trim,

+ let’s face it, that’s a really good look.

When a house has a multitude of beautiful details,

the white gives them the attention they deserve,

like this home’s arch top window + door

+ swoon-worthy front pergola:

aviondale.com

This house is very traditional + colonial,

but the pale blue door brings it into the 21st Century

in a very pretty way:

inspiredhue.wordpress.com

I think this is a newly-built farmhouse-style house,

+ those stand-out twin columns

might be lost if they weren’t painted white.

I love the window box with its brackets,

which echo those along the roof gable!

decor.net

Here’s another beautiful new-build

with pairs of porch columns.

Its metal roof reminds me of the all-black magazine house

that sparked my all-black inspiration.

The simple, pale front door says “today”:

charlottedack.com

.This next beautiful house’s charcoal siding

is more interesting when paired with black shutters

+ white paint on its colonial details,

like that front door surround + picket fence.

(P.S. Nothing says New England architecture

like a whale weathervane!)

unknown origin

And speaking of pretty white details + picket fences,

this house couldn’t be more charming.

I’m smitten with the rows of rose bush topiaries

+ box woods marching along side the brick front sidewalk!

This Old House magazine

In conclusion,

here’s a look-see at a pale before + black after:

They kept enough white trim

to accent the pretty details

(notice my “faves” – the black window sashes),

+ amped up the modern very nicely

with the natural wood door

+ horizontal natural boards on the foundation

+ on that nicely beefed-up front porch.

M e a n w h i l e —

after all this online researching of black cape cods,

I’m on the fence about my hometown house’s exterior color.

Instead of going with a monochromatic all-black exterior,

I now think there are just enough pretty details

to highlight in white.

I think I’d paint those interesting window sashes black,

so that they stand out,

+ some sort of pale front door

would be nice + on-trend, don’t you think?

Too bad I don’t think I could persuade G.O. to move

to my southern Illinois homeland with me!

Plain Jane House Gets Its Makeover

We spent the weekend in my hometown in southern Illinois,

+ while there — as is my way — I perused the listings on realtor.com.

Do you do that, too?

Anyway, I was surprised that there were so many houses under $100 grand!

For example, this plain Jane (with lots of potential!) is only $49,900!

You can see more in the Realtor.com listing, here.

Just yesterday on Facebook,

my cousin from my hometown posted the photo of a house

she was interested in buying, + guess which one it was!

Hard to believe, but yes — the plain Jane house!

Say no more!

I was soon dashing over to Pinterest for some design inspiration to share,

+ here’s what I found, from the blog, Nesting With Grace.

Nesting With Grace

It’s another plain Jane house, this one with a small porch.

(Some of my cousin’s Facebook friends suggested that ‘her house’ needed one!)

Nesting With Grace

But something’s not quite right.

The wrought iron porch column + the stair railings

were all the rage, back in the 50’s + 60’s — but today, it looks dated + too thin.

It needs to be replaced with something more substantial,

  + on that note, here’s the stunning AFTER:

Nesting With Grace

I know!  It’s like night + day, isn’t it?

It looks like they’ve replaced the wrought iron with white vinyl,

which is probably in stock at your local build-o-rama.

Nesting With Grace

The light fixture’s been updated to something larger,

+ there’s a new mailbox + new house numbers.

Nesting With Grace

Even though the porch is quite small,

there’s room for a sweet + welcoming French cafe chair.

The new front door has been painted a pretty shade of blue:

Nesting  With Grace

Now, pay close attention to this:

all the accessories — the chair + the flower pots —

echo the blue of the door + the white of the posts + railings.

Nesting With Grace

For yet more color coordination, the shutters are painted the door blue,

+ the pair of white Adirondack chairs even have blue pillows.

There’s a lot going on,

but keeping everything in just one color family

makes the design cohesive + not too crazy or too busy.

 

Nesting With Grace

The landscaping’s been updated with some classic boxwood shrubs

+ some pretty pink + red Knock-Out Roses, which bloom all season.

(Notice how the red is repeated in the red stripes of the U.S. flag.)

The new white window boxes add architectural detail,

+ their small evergreens (dwarf Alberta spruces?)

will provide winter interest when the roses go dormant.

Nesting With Grace

Let’s have one more look at the $49 grand house in my home town:

It’s easy to envision some of the blog house’s AFTER features here, isn’t it?

Nesting With Grace

Remember — it, too, was once a plain Jane!

Nesting With Grace

Now it’s time to share on Facebook!

Stay tuned for my cousin’s + friends’ reactions!