I know it’s hard to keep up with the many projects we’re working on, but here’s yet another one: the exterior of our house! This is a project that actually has progressed rather quickly, which is great (and rare right now, so we’re counting our blessings). Finding a good contractor is so hard, but I think we finally found a good one who is communicating really well, and it really makes things progress quickly!
Here is the ultimate before image, from right when we moved in. It looks quite different now, as you’ll see below, since that front area with the front porch and bay window, is the add-on interior space. We also got rid of the front chimney all the way through the house. Plus, that concrete path is gone, and a new one is installed up to the new front door (on the deck), as well as a new deck.
First Up: Remove the “Eyebrow”
I always hesitate but I’ve heard this secondary rooftop through the middle of our house called an “eyebrow”—whatever it is, we’re letting it go! We don’t really need it and don’t love the way it splits the house in half, so we went ahead and had it removed.
Removing the Back Door
We’re also removing the current back door, and we’re going to replace the big window next to it with a giant sliding glass door! We will still need to add a tiny deck in order to have a couple of steps down to our patio, but it’s going to completely change the function of the whole back of our house, not to mention add a ton of light to the kitchen.
Straightening A Bowed Window
As much as I love the window sill space to hold a plant, I’m just not stylistically a fan of bow and bay windows (especially on a more modern house, which is more our style). So, we ordered a straight window that matches the size of this opening, and we had the bow removed last week to straighten it out.
What’s Coming Up Next
That’s all just the beginning, here are the next few projects on our schedule:
Windows
We’re finally getting new windows (or at least about half of our windows will be replaced) after ordering them in October! I can’t wait to see how it comes together, especially because our front door and new sliding door should come at the same time.
Stucco Patching
We have some areas, due to the removal of the “eyebrow” and the front fireplace, that will need to be patched with stucco to match the existing. It’s surprisingly hard to find a stucco guy, but I think (hope!) we found a good one.
Paint!
I am so excited to get this house painted! I mentioned years ago that I was considering going dark with the house color, and I really felt a pull toward green. I’ve mentioned it to a few people and even created a mockup that I’ve shown people. I’ve been floored by the pushback—one contractor even said something about it looking like a haunted house (he did not get our business).
So when we checked on the progress of the “eyebrow” removal and saw they’d revealed the old siding behind it, and it was green (!) it felt like a big seal of approval from the universe.
I’m going to stick to my guns on this one and we’re going with green! (And if you don’t like it, you can feel free to keep that opinion to yourself.) I can’t wait to get the whole house painted—it’s really going to bring everything together.
Outdoor Renovation Projects
That’s a lot to take in, and if you’re a little bit confused, I’m sorry! I know it’s a lot right now (just imagine how we’re feeling), but it’s so exciting to see so much happening at once. I can’t wait to finally see our vision come to life on the outside of our house.
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