Say Hello to Our Pink House!

Our house is officially pink! A decade-long dream finally came true when we redid the siding on our Chicago home with the James Hardie™ team.

An Upgrade 13 Years in the Making

We purchased our 1887 Chicago Victorian home in 2013, and we’ve been upgrading the interior and exterior ever since. Inside, we’ve tackled everything from new doors and millwork to a full gut kitchen remodel. Outside, we’ve replaced the roof, all of the windows and just about everything in between. After all that time, effort and expense, 2026 was finally the year we tackled our white whale: ALL. NEW. SIDING. As a quick refresher, here’s how our home looked rolling into this year.

This post is sponsored by James Hardie™. Hardie products offer unmatched durability, cost savings and climate resilience. All thoughts are our own. As always, thank you for supporting the brands that support our small business!

While it looks okay from afar, the 30 year old, low-quality vinyl siding was fading, cracking and just plain falling off of the house. It needed serious attention. We’d always dreamed of Hardie® Plank siding to bring back the wide lap, historical charm of our home. But as our time and budget were focused on other projects, it felt like we’d never have capacity to tackle it.

Last year, that changed. We began to get serious about the siding after a text from our neighbor letting us know a piece of our siding had fallen into her yard. Yikes! Working with the James Hardie^™ team was always a stretch dream, and this was the year we made it happen! Pinch us. No, really, you may need to pinch us, because it’s hard to believe we’re sharing this with you today!

Speaking of dream companies, we worked with Northwind Exteriors for the install. They’re a member of the James Hardie™ ALLIANCE and are trained, vetted and proven to be high-quality installers of Hardie® products. If you’re in the Chicagoland area, we highly recommend reaching out to Joe at Northwind.

A Historically Bold Color Choice

Choosing a color was the toughest decision we made on this project. We wanted to make sure it was appropriate for our home’s 1880’s construction, so we researched the time period and found multiple references to pink homes in Chicago after the great fire in 1871. We played with color samples, phoned a friend, and after a long process we eventually chose the rich, dusty pink of Coral Sand (shoutout to Mountain Sage and Evening Blue as close contenders). Regardless of the color we chose, all Hardie® Plank siding is finished with ColorPlus® Technology for superior durability. That means the house will look great for years and years to come!

We were a little unsure of how the color would be received by our neighbors that see our home’s exterior more than we do, but everyone loves it. We’ve received nothing but kind words since the project wrapped! Our goal was to choose a color that stands on its own, but doesn’t scream. We’re the only pink house on the block, but the sophisticated hue feels appropriate and timeless.

Adding Back the Charm

Much like when picking the siding color, we referenced historical photos to help choose siding styles and trim details. We planned for simple yet historic window trim with a drip cap, sill and apron. Then we added oversized frieze boards to highlight the home’s many peaks. We knew we were headed in the right direction when demo started and we discovered that some of the details we hoped to recreate were there from the start! These charming details are a nod to our home’s history.

This is not to imply that we’re married to historical materials or that we tie ourselves down to making the home look exactly like it did 140 years ago. We just want it to look period-appropriate. As if it might have looked this way if it was built in a time when climate-resistant, colorfast materials like Hardie® plank lap siding existed!

Decking, Columns and Trim, Oh My!

As most projects do, our siding makeover grew in scope as demo began, and we decided this would be the time to rebuild our aging porches while we were at it. So we carried the same historically-appropriate thought process into the column and railing designs as well.

We chose other materials from the James Hardie family of brands and selected TimberTech® composite decking in Antique Leather for our decking surface. It looks so much like real wood that you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

A Garage Upgrade

There was no world in which we’d install phenomenal new siding on the house without also addressing the garage! In most Chicago configurations, the detached garage is plainly visible directly behind the home, and ours is no different.

That glass door with an oversized transom window, below, leads right into (and out of!) our kitchen, so it was equally important that the garage looked the part. We intentionally kept the layout in the backyard and didn’t change much, but the warm pink of Coral Sand envelops the space like a hug.

Finishing Touches

We think of lighting and decor as a home’s jewelry. The finishing touches that tie the whole thing together. We didn’t make too many changes when it came to furniture, but did some minor electrical reworking to optimize things. We added a ceiling fan to help keep the air moving on the front porch when things get stuffy. While the siding was off, we also ran wiring for our security camera so we’re no longer battling battery drain.

Ready for the Future

Checking this massive project off of the list has changed everything. Our home’s exterior is finally an accurate reflection of all of the work we’ve completed on the inside! We’ve invested in the home’s future and our future in it.

Our sincerest thanks to the James Hardie™ team, Northwind Exteriors for the fantastic install, TimberTech®, AZEK™ and Porch Builders for the incredible work on the porches (more to come on that phase of the project)! And as always, thank you for following along and supporting the brands that support us! We couldn’t do it without you.

Get The Look

Sharing all of the materials we used to make our dream home come to life, below!

1. Hardie® Plank Lap Siding in Select Cedarmill® texture in Hardie® ColorPlus® Technology finish in Coral Sand | 2. Hardie® Trim in Roughsawn texture in Arctic White | 3. Timbertech Composite Reserve Collection in Antique Leather | 4. Timbertech Impression Rail Express® with Classic Top Rail and 4×4 Post Caps in White | 5. AZEK 6” Crown Moulding AZM-45 | 6. AZEK Band Moulding AZM-217 | 7. AZEK Trim Boards | 8. AZEK Imperial/Rake Crown AZM-6937 | 9. AZEK Base Cap AZM-164

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Want to catch up on this project from the very beginning? Check out our IG series! Here’s where we started, demo and house wrap, using the Hardie designer, our color choice, and the whole house reveal!