Paint It Black: Exterior Finish

Thanks for following along on my shed renovation journey! I’m writing this all in retrospect. At the time I was working on and living in my shed, it was technically an illegal dwelling, so I was inclined to keep it on the DL. I am not in any way endorsing building or living in a less than legal ADU, but since laws vary in different states and cities, I thought I’d share my story in hopes that it inspires and informs folks who are able to do this in a way that complies with local ordinances.

Since I’d already rented a paint sprayed for the interior, I pushed myself to go ahead and do the exterior in the same week. I’ve always loved all black houses, and even thought they’ve rightfully received some criticism as the trend gains popularity, I still just love the way they look. A friend had just finished painting her (much larger) house black, and gave me her leftover primer. Fortunately, the outside went much faster than the inside. One coat of primer and two coats of paint did the trick here!

Again, lots of time prepping to make sure everything was well taped off and covered. The color that I chose is called Totally Black by Behr, which has a warm tone and is about halfway between a dark gray and a true black. I was really happy with how it turned out!

As you can see, the paint made a huge difference in the overall look of the shed! I felt like other people could finally see the vision that I’d had all along. In addition to the vision that I had for how this shack would turn out, I was also steadily working toward the vision that I had of being debt-free. I’ll write another post about how I paid off $30k of debt in 2 years, but living here is what made that possible. Even with the constant hardware store runs, I still had enough left over to throw a significant amount at my student loans every month. People balk at the fact that I paid $500/month to live in a shed, but most of those people don’t live in the Bay Area. The room I had been renting before was $1200/month, so that alone is an extra $700! And I had so much more agency and autonomy in my shed.

Also, can you believe this before and after?! Truly a glow up. Once the paint had dried, I cleaned everything up and took a much needed vacation (PNW road-trip!) but as soon as I returned I got back to work. Keep reading to see how I built out the interior!