When Krystol sent over her unbelievable before & after exterior photos we just had to share the gorgeousness. Here’s her letter:
I love your blog and I thought you might like our recent porch renovation. We’re trying to take our rancher to a french country cottage. First we the removed the porch railings and moved the posts a bit further apart. One of the posts was right in front of the door (not too welcoming!). Then we sheathed the existing posts in rough cut oak and added a second set of posts for a little extra oomph at the front door. We also added arches (carved from a single curved tree trunk section- go hubby!) and painted the house. Well, actually we limed it. This is an ancient process where agricultural lime is mixed with water, then applied to the brick. Instead of sealing in moisture like paint can, the lime allows the brick to breathe. Eventually it does wear away, but I like that “old” look. It is also totally eco friendly and cheap! A bag of lime is around $10 and it took about 8 to do our house. I think paint would have cost around $400 or more. The house trim is Farrow and Ball’s French Grey and the “new” front door is from the Habitat ReStore and we just added new hardware from Emtek. Oh and the seagrass rugs are from World Market. Anyway, like I said I love your blog. It’s an inspiration to all of us DIYers out here! I hope you enjoy the front photos. – Krystol
Here’s what Krystol started with:
Here’s the house in progress after getting limed:
And this is finished product with new posts and arches along with a new door and furnishings:
Isn’t that amazing? It doesn’t even look like the same house! And the fact that they limed the entire exterior themselves (for around $80!) and carved those arches from a single block of wood is incredibly envy inducing. Thanks so much for sending the gorgeous before and after photos our way Krystol! What do you guys think? What’s your favorite part? We can’t decide between those arches and that pretty limed brick…
In addition to being beautiful, I’m pretty sure that limewash is an historical treatment as well — at least, Laura Ingalls Wilder describes the process a little bit in the book Farmer Boy when Almanzo and Royal whitewash the henhouse.
Or am I the only nerd who remembers that? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Wow, what a transformation!!
Does Krystal have a blog? I love French Country style and would love to see the interior of her house!
Hey Hope,
Anytime someone sends us a Reader Redesign and they have a blog we’re always sure to link to it. So if you don’t see a link over to someone’s blog in the post, they sadly don’t have one…. yet!
xo,
s
WOW. It IS gorgeous! I love the change. Great job Krystol!
This is so beautiful! I love the whole package, but the full-glass front door really seals the deal, and I love that they got it at the ReStore!
One quick unrelated question, how does one go about sending you before and after pics/letters? I sometimes have the urge to do so but can never quite figure out how. Do you have an e-mail or something? Thanks for putting up with my computer illiteracy!
Hey Anna-Katrin,
Right on our sidebar you’ll see a button that says “Click here to contact the youngsters”- hope it helps!
xo,
s
wowza! i am all.a.bout. that full-light front door. that’s it. i need one. i’ve been TRYING to pursuade the hubs. now i know i want that light coming in the house!!!!
I LOVE the trim color and the front door (though it is less secure than a solid core…but that is just the cop in me talking). Looks great!
On a security side note, there are some great companies out there that manufacture laminates for glass (makes it shatter proof, all the way up to bomb proof depending on how thick you get it). Check out 3M and ACE Security Laminates for that front door.
Just falling out of my chair with love for the rough-cut oak beams.
so pretty…I love it! speaking of front facade/porch redos, we are thinking of changing/adding pretty columns to the front. We have 2 small cylindrical metal columns and I would love to make them a little more stately. I haven’t decided yet on round or square, and our house is also a 1950s ranch/bungalow, so I don’t want it to not fit in with the rest of the house. Any ideas/suggestions?
Our initial reaction is to embrace the look of nice chunky square columns with your 50’s ranch. That was the look back then and it still has a fresh and current effect (craftsman details like chunky pillars are all the rage right now, but they fit right in with 50’s homes as well). They’re sort of timeless and classic without being too fussy. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Curb. Uh-peal. I didn’t even know anything about ‘liming’??? Thanks for sharing! This is incredible, delicious and I want to sit on your porch (or just stand in your front yard and stare).
I love love love the arches. I also love the way taking down the railing really opened the whole porch area up. Way to go Krystal and hubby!
I would love a few more details on the liming of the brick. I have two 50’s brick fireplaces that I would love to do that to rather than painting. Thanks.
WOW! What a transformation. I love it ~ love the paint color too…..and the dogs hanging out=)
It looks amazing! Great job Krystal!
Wow! That looks amazing. I would never expect that is the same house. What a terrific change.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen house numbers on a front door but I love it, it’s very visible (practical) and unexpected (fun!)….I’m picturing my address on my front door right now!
Oh my… love it! Personally, I love the red brick/white trim look better, but I do love the way this all came together and their ingenuity with the liming! The porch is gorgeous from the curved beams (go hubby is right!) to the lattice at the end, to the removal of the front “fences”, to the door. All of it… amazing! Great job.
I really do love this, sadly if I ever did something like it my mother would murder me. I love the arches, they’re extremely beautiful. :)
Alright I couldn’t help but follow up, I showed my mom and she loves it. “I don’t mind changing exterior brick.” That’s so funny! Haha.
If you can make her love something it means it must be good. :)
I just LOVE that they colored the brick that way and how interesting to read about liming! I’ve seen brick that has been painted or limed and love the “distressed” look that it gets when the color starts to fade. It’s my favorite finish for a brick house.
This was an amazing transformation! Thank you so much for sharing!
I think the original brick and white trim looked better, but they certainly did a wonderful job for the style they were going for. Impressive! I also like that they didn’t paint the brick and used the lime.
Love it!!! We’ve owned our raised ranch for four years and have been debating over whether to paint or not to paint the brick since we’ve moved in. This may have clinched it for us! While we have learned that every home has it’s own personality and sometimes you can’t fight it, you certainly can enhance every home’s hidden charm.
Wow – that’s an amazing transformation. It’s beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Also, I love your blog and stop by multiple times per day to check out your posts. I’m sure you’ve been passed this award many times over, but I thought I would tag you anyhow. I want to send you the Happy 101 Award!
They did a wonderful job with that house. I’ve discovered that I really love whitewashed or painted brick when it comes to small houses and small rooms.
On another note, I saw the Do It Yourself magazine in the checkout at the grocery store the other day. As soon as I grabbed it I told my husband, “I know some people who have a column in here,” and then immediately realized that I don’t actually know you! But still, it’s cool that I actually know of you in a capacity beyond (interesting) magazine articles.
Wow — transforming a brick rancher into a french country cottage is no small feat, but this is incredible! Very nicely done, Krystol! And thanks for highlighting this one, youngsters!
darn. i really liked the original red brick. However, it does really fit the style they were going after! French country it is for sure.
Wow guys, you’re making me blush. Thank you so much for all of the compliments.
I agree that changing the door was one of our best decisions. It really opened up the house inside and out. The best part was that it was reused and only cost about $30.
As for safety, it does have the safety glass, which is nearly impossible to smash. In addition, seeing 2 big dogs greeting you at the front door is somewhat of a deterrant. We are on a non busy street, and have a deep lot so having the windows and doors open is not a big deal.
We thought about putting up a shade, but decided th dogs would probably just destroy it.
The lime was super easy. We bought 50 lb bags from an agricultural store, mix with water to the consistancy of thick cream and slather onto the brick, working it in with the brush. Some recipes suggested adding various bonding agents to make it last longer, but I wanted it to wear off, so didn’t add anything.
I have found that horizontal surfaces wear pretty fast. If there is a worn spot, or dirts splashes up it is super easy to just touch up. Our house hase been painted for about 1 yr and nothing has really worn off except a little on the chimney. I’m actually sort of bummed about this because I wanted it to wear through and look “old”.
As far as mold, I haven’t seen anything so far and it has been done for over a year. I think because the lime allows the brick to breathe, it is less likely than with paint. I suppose you could just scrub it off and re lime if needed. I live in NC, so we’re pretty hot and humid too. It has been used extensively in the UK which is pretty wet.
We did quite of bit of work on the inside too. Of course the whole process is continuous when you have an obsession such as mine. I’ve been thinking about starting a blog, but haven’t yet…
thanks again for all of the kudos!
Hey Krystol,
Thanks so much for stopping by with all that info! And thanks again for sending such an inspirational makeover our way!
xo,
s
Color correction–
The French Grey by Farrow and Ball is actually double pigment. The first batch was too light, so I had them double the formula.
Thanks for stopping in with that extra info Krystol!
xo,
s
Absolutely charming! I’d want to sit there all day!
I would love to change the curb apeal of the front of my house. Now it has the classic 70’s look. I want to creat a very Rustic, almost Lodge like look to the front entrance of my house. Kinda like making a pergola build into my front entrance. Is it possible to redesign the roof line to include the large rustic beams without completely rebuilding the entire roof?
Hmm, you’d probably need to get some free estimates from roof guys (or contractors) just to see how your particular house can be altered. Perhaps they can just redo the roof in certain areas to keep costs down. Good luck!
xo,
s
Love it!!! Just bought a Ranch Style -have been researching Liming, whitewashing, painting and mortar washing. This seems to be the simplest and most cost effective. Thank you. Would love to see an update.
Hope she drops in with more info for you sometime!
xo
s