In our neck of the woods (Greater Boston), homes wear their history on their sleeves, with clapboards, cedar shingles, quirky trim, and details you won’t find elsewhere. For us, exterior painting is more than just a new style; it must help your house withstand the weather, look good doing it, and maybe even get the neighbors thinking that it’s time for their property to get some love, too.
A Project in Detail
Take a cedar-shingled home that Catchlight worked on outside Newton. After decades of snow, sun, and sideways rain, the shingles had gone from charming coastal New England gray to brittle and sad. We could’ve slapped on a coat of paint and called it a day, but that’s not how you keep a house standing for another hundred years, and it’s not how we operate at Catchlight. Instead, we gently cleaned the surface, repaired damaged shingles, and prepared the whole thing as if it were about to be judged. Only then did we move to primers and paints chosen to work with the wood, not against it.
Timing & Prep: The Unsung Heroes
Spring is when you notice what winter did to your siding: flaking paint, warped boards, and enough mildew to qualify as a science experiment. That’s why timing matters. Prep is everything. Scraping, sanding, stripping, patching, all the glamorous jobs no one brags about on Instagram. Skip these, and your new paint job will look great…but only for about 5 minutes.
Picking Colors That Make Sense
For color palette selections, we like to keep it grounded. Some homeowners lean into timeless neutrals, soft grays, warm whites, or gentle tans that let architectural details shine. Others want bolder accents, such as rich blues, deep greens, or charcoal trims, that make a statement without looking theme park-ish. The key is picking colors that fit your home’s proportions and personality, of course, matching your tastes too. A stately Colonial might look great in a creamy white with black shutters, while a more conservative Cape could pull off a pop of color without it seeming misplaced. Either way, we offer color services via our Boston-based color consultant.
Materials and History
Boston’s housing stock is a mix of styles: Victorians and Tudors in Brookline and Newton, Colonials and triple-deckers in Cambridge. Each needs a different approach, and Catchlight’s work is about balancing good chemistry (using oil where it’s needed, acrylic where it flexes better, etc.) with respect for the home’s materials.
Exterior Painting in Greater Boston
A great exterior paint job should protect what’s already there, respect the home’s materials, and use the right prep and products to ensure the finish lasts; that’s what it all boils down to. When it’s done right, you get durability, character, and fewer headaches down the line.
Ready to give your home an exterior that can handle Boston’s weather and still turn heads?
Contact Catchlight Painting today.
