EXTERIOR GUEST HOUSE MAKEOVER FOR UNDER $400

It’s been on my To Do list to paint the exterior of our guest house. It’s also been a dream of mine to paint a house black. Well we went for it and are so happy with the results.

First off, the existing guest house was sorta bland. No real personality and a little flat, literally. With no major roof line and a flat exterior my first job was to add some dimension. I had my handy man add 2 in boards 12 in apart from each other to create a little depth. We used pre primed wood from Home Depot. He caulked the seams so I could have a smooth finish and paint line and to protect the wood. The cost for labor and wood was around $200.

I picked up a can of spray paint at Home Depot and before I began painting the house I spray painted the existing light fixtures and flood lamps gold. The can was $5 and we could never replace the lights for less than that. And I have to say I love them!

A light sand job took place on all the old wood trim and then we were ready to paint. I used Benjamin Moore Black Top in an exterior paint and flat/matte finish. I was inspired by Amber Interiors and our recent trip to Sonoma.

This paint job would have been far easier with a sprayer but we did it the old fashion way and rolled with a rough texture roller and cut in all the corners with a paint brush, which is something I find relaxing… weird.

The guest house has been here for who knows how long and had some weird quirks. Like an old ugly silver window. So I decided to paint the whole front window black. That made a dramatic update. I was planning on painting everything black and leaving no white detail on the house but as I moved a long I love the white detailing I left. Just enough to make it pop without being too farmhouse-ish or nautical. (Nothing wrong with those, just wasn’t the end result I wanted).

Current door color is black but I will be painting the front door Dirty Martini by clare paint. Not technically an outdoor paint but the heart wants what the heart wants. Plus I know myself and will probably want to repaint it anyway in a few months.

We finished off the look with two olive trees from Home Depot. $60 for both.

The grand total for our work came in just around $400. If you already have the texture to your outdoor space you just saved a big chunk!

All and all we are so happy! And now our backyard and guest house looks better than our actual house… which only makes more fuel for us to get goin on the exterior of our home. That’ll be next, so stay tuned!