New Door --- Finally!

 

What a relief! We finally had the time, weather, inclination, and time to tackle the house exterior. Our poor house was previously owned by an elderly woman who in her old age and advancing Alzheimer's wasn't able to care for it. She also became a recluse several years prior to selling and wouldn't allow anyone in to help. The outdoor trim was in such bad shape that every time you'd walk in the door, a shower of peeling paint chips would follow you.

Bass took a week of vacation to tackle some of the more time-consuming projects that he hadn't gotten to yet. On the "October List", as we started calling it, we planned to:

Replace the last 2 windows

Scrape, sand, prime, and paint all exterior trim, shutters, and garage door

Power wash the house, swing set, and garage floor and

Replace the front door (you know, the one with the crack in it)

Now for the picture proof that we got it all done!

BEFORE: back steps (totally slimy!)

AFTER: clean, ugly bushes removed, new windows, fresh paint

 

 AFTER: clean and painted; I even spray painted the super rusty railing.

 

AFTER: New double hung windows in the dining room (facing the back yard)

AFTER: back side of house

BEFORE: East side

AFTER: clean, dead bush and branches removed, new slider window

 

AFTER: old, icky shutters removed

 

BEFORE: West side (by garage); branches and compost pile in the side driveway

AFTER: washed, new windows, small perennial planting bed

BEFORE: Peeling garage door overgrown with evergreens

AFTER: bye bye bushes, hello garage. 

Our neighbor was amazed that we found a garage door that matched our shutter color. He thought we had put in a new aluminum garage door. Amazing what a couple coats of paint will do!

 
BEFORE: Peeling paint everywhere, slightly hidden behind scary bushes.

AFTER: Fresh paint, new windows, new landscaping.

 

BEFORE: front of house in there somewhere

MID-PAINT: I was trying to decide whether or not to paint the garage white or brown so I snapped this pic to help me decide.

 

MID-PAINT: Everything primed but needing some color.

AFTER: Finally finished painting!

BEFORE: Peeling paint, crack in the door, nasty step. Ick!

AFTER: I painted the trim behind the faux pillars with brown to make the pillars stand out more. I don't love the shade of blue that I used on the front door so I might have the store retint it a shade darker and try again.

And one last before and after:

Such a big change! It was a lot of work but totally worth it.

Still on the list for outside: replace the light post in the little bed next to the driveway,
repave or resurface the driveway
replace the back door
add a motor to the garage door
add a few plants (and bulbs) to the garden beds
and someday replace the roof.
Maybe we'll just save all that for next October.

Linking up here.