Saturday, October 22, 2011

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.

4 comments:

  1. All your hard work really paid off for you. Your house looks so much better now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You sure accomplished a lot. It looks so nice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. it looks amazing!

    visiting via truesday's treasures and want to share this link to my giveaway just in case you're a lover of shabby chic like me:

    http://hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com/2011/10/rachel-ashwell-on-creating-authentic.html

    warmly.

    michele

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a wonderful transformation! I really like your new door color.

    ReplyDelete

Your kind comments make me smile!

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