By Matt
The siding of the house has been progressing all summer and recently the exterior has been painted. The aesthetic of the house is a modern take on a Swedish farmhouse. As such, the house is long and narrow, the siding is board and batton and the color is a deep red.
Since actual hardwood board siding would be prohibitively expensive (decided to spend that money on insulation instead) our builder suggested LP smartside panels (a manufactured wood product) as the siding and batons applied to match the desired look. Interestingly we had put the same product on Maxs tree house. Up it goes!
The typical color of a swedish farmhouse is termed Falu red. Falu red is not just a color its a type paint with preserving and protective properties. Discovered by the Swedes it is a mixture of copper, iron ochre, silica and zinc mixed with linseed oil. This produces a deep rich paint which was applied to the sides of houses and barns throughout Scandinavia. In order to match this color we looked at several color swatches at the Benjamin Moore store and tried to get as close as possible and then had the painter apply five of them to the house. After we commented on them as being either too candy apple or too orange or too pink he was able to hone in on what we were looking for. On it goes!
