I met one of my best friends in life as an adult. That almost never happens!
She’s the kind of buddy who feels like a sister/cousin/childhood pal from the playpen/camp bunkmate all rolled into one. There’s so much that I love about my dear friend, but one of my favorite things about her is I think she is secretly in the CIA. I swear, this girl can unearth any data you could ever imagine!
Lost an unlisted phone number? She can dig it up! Need something totally obscure for a client? She can find it on some hidden cyber-corner! Want a decadent piece of jewelry? She can source it for practically nothing! I have no clue how she does it. . .
Her wonderful eye for design naturally lead to our working on her houses together. And when it was time for her to sell this city house for a horse farm, the lack of curb appeal was holding back offers.
We came up with the idea of whitewashing the brick to make the house more salable, and ever the researcher, she wanted to do it the ‘real way’. Somehow, she found this old-school recipe and the total materials cost for this project was $9.00. Yep, you read that right. NINE DOLLARS!
To gain a full appreciation of what a steal that is, here is an image of the back of the house. It’s gracious and rambling (half of it is hidden by trees and not even pictured!)
This lime wash is the time-tested method used for centuries all over the world. It’s a shockingly simple recipe and is so easy to apply. Here are the instructions. Practically maintenance free, the wash is made from natural substances so it lets brick “breathe” – this makes it an especially desirable finish for historic buildings.
I love how the watery whitness softens the brick and makes the whole house seem more important. We carefully chose a trim color and a contrasting hue for the mullions. The door is a yummy gray blue in the highest gloss finish. Find where you can buy all of the paint here in the Buying Guide!
Needless to say, this house practically sold before the paint was dry!
Happy Shopping!
xoxo
Anne
