Lake Arrowhead Cabin Paint Colors (Interior and Exterior)

Y’all, choosing paint colors can be overwhelming! Am I right?!

When we started this Lake Arrowhead cabin renovation, we knew we would be repainting EVERY surface of this home–exterior and interior.  So we had a lot of decisions to make when it came to selecting a color palette that matched the vibe of the cabin and the direction we were leaning toward for styling. Our first decision was an easy one–we knew we wanted to work with Farrow & Ball on selecting and shopping for the perfect colors.

The Exterior BEFORE

I have been pinning rooms and color inspiration from Farrow & Ball for years now–they always come up with colors that speak my love language.  Farrow & Ball is well-known for their rich and on-trend color palette and very high quality paint–plus they offer fully tailored color consultancy services, which I knew we’d benefit from.  If there is anything I’ve learned over the years of painting rooms in my home and refinishing furniture, it’s that quality paint makes the world of difference–the finished product looks way nicer and less paint is required. Look at these inspired rooms painted in some of my Farrow & Ball favorites:

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Shadow WhiteNo.282 (source)

Slipper Satin No. 2004 (source)

Setting Plaster No. 231 (source)

Exterior Vibe: This North Shore cabin is located a few blocks from the lake, nestled amongst several large oak and dogwood trees.  We knew we wanted to go with an earthy green for the exterior so that the cabin would blend in with its surroundings but still have a pop of unique color.  Our task, finding just the right shade of green!

Interior Vibe:  Our goal for the interior was an effortless flow of neutral, yet slightly warm tone whites, tans and blush.  We decided to look for one color for the main living area and bedroom walls (a not-white white, if you know what I mean) so that all the rooms flow together. And then a color to refinish the kitchen cabinets. We also planned for some added pops of color throughout the home that I’ll talk about as well (i.e. we’re going to paint the stairs a fun color!).

Overall, our hope is in honoring the original charm of cabin living while also adding modern upgrades.  We want the look and feel of the home to match the mountain town environment, allowing guests to experience a true camp/cabin getaway.

Let’s begin with the exterior! The house hadn’t been painted in at least 20 years.  The siding had dry rot and hundreds of holes from woodpeckers.  When we removed the interior drywall, buckets full of acorns poured out of the walls from the woodpeckers and squirrels dropping them through the holes in the siding over the years, lol!

We first replaced the trim and then replaced the old siding with new shingles.  The windows were original and still single pane, so we installed new energy efficient, dual-paned windows. We selected a dark matte finish for the exterior window framing to match best with the exterior paint and a white finish for the inside framing of the windows to match with the interior paint colors.  Then we had the exterior windows framed with natural wood to keep that cozy, mountain/cabin look.

Front view of siding replaced with shingles, before adding new paint.

I ordered a Farrow & Ball color fan so I could look at every single color option and these were some of our favorite greens for the exterior. Then I ordered samples to test out.

We ended up loving all of these colors so much, but lighting was such a huge factor in making our final choice.  Some of the greens looked completely different than what we were going for when the sunlight hit.

Ultimately, we decided on a color from Farrow & Ball’s Archive Collection called Pantalon No.221–it is a more earthy toned green/brown that was exactly what we were looking for.  We painted the trim and the siding the same color.  Again, because the home hadn’t been painted in so long and because the surface is exterior in a climate that sees a lot of weather variation, we wanted the best quality paint and primer.  The whole house was primed first which made the paint go on super smooth.

This is what a delivery of paint looks like when you’re painting every surface of the house! WOW! Also, hi Dani!

Now, onto the interior paint selection process.  I was surprised that selecting interior colors ended up being more overwhelming for me.  This is where my Farrow & Ball consultation was priceless!  My consultant walked me through the flow of the home and helped me narrow down to a gorgeous color theme that I then ordered samples for to try out on our walls and kitchen cabinets. She also helped me determine the exact finish that I needed for each paint based on the room and surface (eggshell, satin, exterior, masonry, bathroom, kitchen, floor paint, etc).

Kitchen Before Photo

To stay on budget we decided to keep the original kitchen cabinets and just refinish them so we needed to find the perfect color for the cabinets.  We also decided to replace the countertop and backsplash.  After debating about whether or not to paint the upper and lower cabinets the same or different colors, we decided on a monochromatic look–painting the upper, lower and paneled backsplash all the same color.  Below are some of my favorite colors that we sampled:

Are you ready for our final interior paint choices?!

After much debate, we ended up painting the kitchen cabinets in Slipper Satin No. 2004.  The backsplash still needs to be painted and the countertops fully installed, but I couldn’t wait another moment to share how much I love the fresh paint! I feel like it keeps the kitchen light and bright without being traditional white. I can’t wait to see how it all comes together.

We also decided to use Slipper Satin on a majority of the interior walls and trim to keep each room flowing together and bright.  Goodbye blue wall!

We repainted the fireplace in a masonry finish of Slipper Satin.

Look how much the paint brightened up this A-Frame bedroom!

Every room looks so much brighter, clean and open.  But at my core, I LOVE color!  So we have decided to add some fun pops of color throughout the house next.  Stay tuned to see how our wood stairs look painted in Treron No. 292! And I have some fun plans for Dead Salmon No.28 and Studio Green No.93.

Here are some other colors we sampled that I love:

I’ll share more progress photos and updates as we continue with our renovations and projects!
Read more about this cabin renovation here.