Remember when we first debated painting the front porch siding back in fall 2011? (That’s why there’s a creepy Halloween wreath on the door in the photo.)
We even picked a color—Flagstone by Martha Stewart—but by the time we were ready to paint the weather had turned too cold. The test swatches lived on the porch for months (sorry, neighbors) and were eventually painted over for book photos. The project quietly slipped off our radar for a while.
After we redid the columns, readers reminded us we never finished the siding. Then we added a pergola and some window boxes, and the urge to paint came back. At first we worried painting only the porch siding would look odd without doing the rest of the house, but since the cream siding color is already echoed in the porch trim, everything ties together nicely.
Even though this plan had been on the fence since 2011, we decided to go for it. We thought painting the porch siding would make the trim, columns, and cheerful yellow door stand out more from the street. And honestly, we’ll probably be driving by a few times to admire it once the house is sold.
We already owned the paint from when we chose the color, so no extra cost this time. Note: this is hardboard siding (a wood-composite), so the approach we used may not be suitable for aluminum or vinyl siding.
Surprisingly, we completed the whole job—two coats—during one of Clara’s naps on the same day we hung the window boxes. We were like a couple of front-yard tornadoes getting everything finished.
The new color blends well with the mortar in the brick (they’re nearly the same shade up close), so the addition feels seamless. The paint gives the door, trim, and columns more depth when viewed from the curb, yet doesn’t make the other cream siding stick out because that color still ties into the trim.
The biggest change you notice in person is that the facade reads as a single, more cohesive surface. Before, the big cream rectangle looked visually broken up next to the brick; now the porch area reads as a unified element rather than three disconnected blocks.
Best of all, the yellow door pops next to the slightly deeper Flagstone tone instead of sitting against that washed-out cream background.
It almost makes us forget how the house looked during our first walkthrough in 2010.
Anyone else tackling siding? We used a small foam roller and a brush—John rolled along each length of siding while I cut into the grooves and worked the edges—and were surprised at how quickly two coats went up.