Hello, Blackberry Cottage

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As some of you may have seen on my Instagram stories, we actually did it! We painted our yellow house black… or what I thought was black. Benjamin Moore’s Black Ink color actually has a blue tone to it. While we toyed with the idea of painting the house ourselves (some friends even loaned us their commercial sprayer), some blessings came our way in the form of a great deal to hire it out, and we just couldn’t pass it up. Plus, reality set in as to what a huge project doing it ourselves would have been, which was asking a lot of my hubby, who’s already slammed as it is.

I literally felt sick with both nerves and excitement as we watched the painters go at the south side of our house first. My initial thought was, it’s JET black! I began to panic and wondered if our choice was too bold. But as more and more of the house was covered, and especially as they worked on the front of the house, it began to look exactly as I’d hoped, a soft, classy black (or navy–I can’t believe how navy the house is looking in these photos!). Either way, it’s a rich neutral color that will look stunning year-round, and I’m especially looking forward to seeing it snow-capped this winter!

I’ve wanted to paint our home since the moment we purchased it three years ago, and I’ve actively stressed and stewed over swatches for all those years, too. As hard as it was for me to be patient, I’m now grateful I had the luxury to research and fret over it. It bought me time to discover the online tools you can use to try out different colors based on a digital photo of your house, which was beyond helpful, and I didn’t have a clue anything like that existed three years ago.

I’ve learned it’s not as simple as picking your favorite color or admiring someone else’s house in a particular color; it’s also about choosing a color that will bring out the best in your house. It’s kind of like how people have colors that bring out their beautiful skin tone and eyes; I’m convinced houses have colors that compliment them, too. For example, I always thought we’d eventually paint our house a grey-blue or white, but when I played around with those colors online, it just didn’t look right. When I tried “black,” our home came to life and looked significantly upgraded. I’m both thrilled and relieved we love it so much. Whew.

That said, the hue changes throughout the day depending on the lighting. Sometimes it looks like it’s a deep and dark navy, but on a clear day it looks like a true soft black (my favorite). Either way, I’m still pinching myself. Our 20-year-old house looks pretty much new! We just need to finish the demolition we started on our columns and replace them with something different, as well as fix up our porch. And then it’ll be off to landscaping. We’re so much closer!

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We’re still not quite sure what we’ll do with the base of the columns, maybe some woodwork that matches the trim on our front door? I’m also considering spray painting our light fixtures a brass color so that they stand out more? Thoughts?

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Oh, and I have to share some of the feedback I’ve gotten, which has mostly been positive, but I got a real kick out of a text my neighbor sent me:

“I love the new house color! It looks striking and very polished. Jane is crushed. Her favorite color is yellow.”

Jane is my neighbor’s 5-year-old daughter, and it made me laugh that she was so upset that we painted over her favorite color. It also reminded me that we’re all so different in our tastes. Blank Ink isn’t for everyone, but at some point we have to set aside the opinions of others and just go for it!

Speaking of going for it, now that we have an official house color, I can finally name this baby! I LOVE naming things. For now, I’d like to welcome you to Blackberry Cottage! I know our house probably doesn’t fit the technical definition of a cottage, but like I said–going for it, anyway!