Knock it back

One of the first challenges in making our small home more visually palatable was the exterior. Although the cement brick is (for me) structurally sound and durable, its stood out from the hillside like the proverbial 'dog's balls'. We decided that the most effective and economic ways to deal with this was to paint, but what colour?

After much deliberation we decided on a hard wearing exterior colour called 'raku'. This is a deep grey, as the name suggests, reminiscent of the raw clay on vessels exposed to the eponymous japanese firing process. I was more than happy with the choice being a previous devotee.

You can see here, the exterior transformation so far. Note also the lack of geegaws on the verandah, the removal of the front door (more on that later) and new windows (more on that later also).