Mug Rug for Papa Pea, Need a Little Advice

Hello All!

Hope you had a good Monday.  I had a really good, busy one.  ;-)

I did accomplish one small bit of sewing this past weekend.  Remember when I made the Halloween mug rugs and I said that Papa Pea said he really wanted one, but he wanted it smaller, and he really liked the plaid fabric?

I sewed up this little round one.  I just made a quilt sandwich with two pieces of the plaid fabric, quilted it, and put some of the black binding on I had leftover.  No pocket, no label.  Nothing fancy.  I just grabbed a lid I had and traced it for the size and shape.

For the quilting, I just did straight lines.  I guess this is the back, because on the front, I quilted the lines going right down the middle of the white stripe.  Doesn't matter, the quilting blends in so nicely.  Anyway, he loved it and thanked me this morning before going to work.  He said it was the perfect size, and he likes the fabric.  It's nice when something so simple makes one's day, huh?

Okay, now I could use a little help from you.....  Remember when I told you Papa Pea had saved up enough money to pour the concrete for my new sewing room?  Well, we're getting ready to break ground, because we have enough saved up to frame it in and get it all weather tight before winter.  We had the contractor over the other day to give us some prices, etc.  So, let me explain where I need some suggestions.  Here is the front of our house (you can see some of the new planting I did this year, where we tore the bushes out and poured the new sidewalk--I added a climbing rose and two hydrangeas, and there are some little small, creeping plants around the base and in front of the brick, but all that is for another day).  You can see the color of the house (I'm so glad I painted that brick!) and the color of the shed, as well as how close the shed sits to the house.  When we bought the place, we felt it had a certain curb appeal, even though the color scheme is a little dated.  My sewing room will get added to the back of the shed.  Here, come take a look....

Here is the side of the shed.  I am standing in our back yard looking at the side of the shed.  (Those little plants you see to the left of the window are more hydrangeas I planted this year.)  The front of the shed/where I was standing to take the photo above is to the right.  We will build out behind this shed 30 feet.  (The addition will be 30 feet square.  I will lose 10 square feet to a portion of the addition that will be for lawn mowers, etc.)  The clothesline will have to be relocated.  The new roofline will form a T with the existing roof.  The front wall of the addition (facing where I'm standing now) will be set back a little from the side you are looking at, so that I have a little covered front porch that faces the back yard.  I hope that looks okay.  What do you think?

Here is my dilemma.  The contractor brought us these siding samples.  We have to pick the color of siding we want on the addition.

The color on the bottom here is basically the color of our current siding.  The green I'm holding is the color I wish our house was.  The taupe is a close second for the color I wish our house was.

Someday, when we do the addition to our house, there is the possibility we might reside it.  But that is probably 5 years down the road.  (I hope sooner, but it could be that long.)

I am not sure if we would change the color of our house at that time.  I do feel like the color scheme is sort of dated, but it also kind of works with the house.  Do you agree the colors are dated?  Or is it just me?

• Should we just side it the same color as the house and let it be?  It will keep some continuity in everything.   If we do that, I can see Papa Pea saying we aren't going to change the color when we build the addition, because we just put brand new siding on the addition....he won't want to replace it. 
• Should we change the shed color (existing and addition) to the color we may put on the house later?  If we do that, then the shed won't match the house and we may lose some curb appeal.  But then when we do the addition to the house (assuming that happens), it will match again.
• Should we side the addition in the new color and leave the rest the old color?  You wouldn't see the new color from the road, so you wouldn't lose the curb appeal.  But would it look weird to have half the shed a different color?

If we change the siding color, that might mean we have to change trim colors, which also might mean we need new downspouts (which we just replaced when we moved in 2.5 years ago....).

Sigh.  I'm so scared of commitment on this whole issue.  Help!  Those of you who have an eye for this kind of thing need to help me.  Please share your words of wisdom!  Thank you in advance!

Now, let's hope the contractor bid comes in at a reasonable price we can afford!

Until next time,

 

Comments

[Maggie Szafranski]

AY YI YI!! Well, My vote would be to go with the same colour siding, so that it does not look patchwork.

[Jackie]

yikes i am too scared to comment...but... here goes... siding is not super important in the big ol' scheme of things in life. Make it the colour you want it to be and in a month, you will have forgotten all about it=)

[Johanna]

Decisions are fun, aren't they? I just went through that with the garage. Luckily, for whatever reason (which scares me) I agree with my husband when it comes to the house and furniture. Yet, we cannot make a decision when it comes to choosing a restaurant! Neither of us will commit! Don't forget, you can always change the shutter color as an accent! A splash of color! Good luck with the color decision. I think that I would go with the same color siding, although.....goodness, good luck! Maybe to further confuse you, maybe a different texture siding, shake style in the same color!

[Amy]

Goodness...I don't know. I think I would go with the matching color unless you are certain that everything else would be changed within a couple of years. If everything else is in good shape, I wouldn't do it.

[Allie]

Wow - well - I think I would go with the same color that you have now. I don't think it looks dated - but if you need a change, you can always change the shutter color. I'm all about being frugal, lol, so I would keep what you have.

Glad Papa Pea likes his darling new mug rug!

[Johanna]

Can't you just paint over siding later? When you want to change the color of everything? And for now just go with whatever color makes both of you happiest? I do agree with Jackie that you will probably have forgotten about the color in a month because you will be busy enjoying your sewing room :)

[Jana]

I think you should do the color you want and maybe change the trim color. Taupe is a teeny bit dated, but changing the trim to white would brighten it up. My two cents. And, it needs to be your happy space. So do what makes you happy.

[terriaw]

Cute mug rug for a boy!

How exciting to hear about your new construction project! You posed a tough question. If I were feeling conservative, I would probably do the color that matches your house so everything ties together nicely. If I felt confident in doing a new color on the house soon, I might consider doing the favorite color and not worry about it.

[Lynn]

I think what is dated is the color scheme, not necessarily the siding color. Stick to the same siding color and update the color of the shutters. Try painting some pieces of wood with various potential shutter colors. One sunny day walk around the house with the painted boards and hold them up next to the windows to audition them as shutters.

How exciting that you are getting ready to start this project!!

[carolld]

Decisions! What to do? I think I'd go with what you have now. Who knows when you'll get the house the color you want. When you do you can just paint your addition that color too so that everything matches. I guess I'm a matchy kind of person because I'd have things match for now.

[Cindy]

LOVE the mug rug!! As far as the color (and FYI...I am so jealous of your soon to be sewing addition!!), though as tempted as I would be to go with the color I love, I would stay with the original color scheme if it's going to be a while before new siding for the rest of the house will be one. That's my 2 cents! But I am THRILLED for you on your new sewing space!! How exciting!!!

[Mary on Lake Pulaski]

Same color...don't worry now about might happen five years down the road. A new sewing studio - that's what I'd be dreaming about.

[Maureen]

So I am going to go off on an island on my own. Change the entire garage to the green. And change the shudders of the house to match the new trim of the garage. One suggestion was white, I think that is a good choice or even a maroon. Several reasons to my "bold, against the grain" advice. 1. In a few years when you go to do the addition, you won't change the color if the addition siding is new. 2. you have two double (white) garage doors on the front of the shed and they will tone down the green from the road. The tan (bottom color that matches your siding) is a compliment of the green. It isn't a clash between the two colors. I would not do the addition in a different color than the main body of the garage because matching colors is hard.
Have fun!!

[Deb]

Cute mug rug! I hate making big, long-lasting decisions - like house siding. But, although I really like the green siding, the color you have is very nice too. I would 'probably' match what I have now since there's no guarantee that you'll do anything in five years or if you'll even be there (and it may be harder to sell if you do a different color). Good luck on your decision - it will be exciting to see your progress - I know you'll end up with something great!

[Doris]

I read all the comments, and agree with Maureen for the most part. But a few questions first:

Do you plan to retire in this home (i.e., you are sticking around for the long haul here)?
If you made no additions, would the current siding need to be replaced in the next, say 15 years?

If your answer to both is yes, then choose one of the siding colors you like the best (honestly the taupe, Choice #2, is probably your best bet. Re-side the garage and addition now. The Taupe will blend very well with the house color at this point, really well. You could even repaint the brick in a color the same as the taupe. Eventually you could move towards shutters the color of your garage doors, and with the taupe siding, you won't have to replace your dark downspouts to make it look right. Just my two cents. Or maybe a nickel.

[Donna]

My opinion would be to match what you have if you are not going to change the other siding. If you think you will eventually change to green I would go ahead with the green. The only thing would be if you go with green now will the siding fade over time and not match the green you may change to in a few years. It is a tough decision. I know when we added on to our house I had to have everything match.
I am jealous you will have all that space for sewing! Just do what makes you happy!
Love the mug rug!
Hugs,
Donna

[jenclair]

Which ever decision you make, don't worry about it. It is what is inside that counts! Whether you match or not, as Amy mentions, you won't pay much attention after a month or so.

[Patti J]

You know something Stephanie, what does your gut say? Drive around and really pay attention to other houses. Out buildings do not have to be all matchy matchy. My red barns don't match my white house. A lot of out buildings don't match the house. By making it a totally different color, but complimentary would be beautiful and it wouldn't look like you "missed" the color. Then when/if you change the color of the house the color can then match or have it different enough to be interesting. What is the first thing you want yo see when you drive in your driveway? The house or the out building? Personally I would go with a different color. To much matchy matchy gets boring real quick.

[Joan Rankin]

I think your new sewing room would look great in the green you selected.

[Ivy]

I say change the siding to the entire house to that lovely green! Haha, just kidding! :) You should probably use the current color for the siding. But someone just above said their barn doesn't match their house--good point!

[Deb]

Hi Stephanie! I'm just reading blogs since before the election. So I think you've made your decision already according to the next post, but I would have picked the same color so it wouldn't look out of place. Yes, changing shutter colors would add some variety and newness to everything. Can't wait to see your sewing room!