I lastly have all new photographs of the entrance of our home after spending the previous couple of weeks engaged on numerous initiatives on the outside. So let’s soar proper in.
I’ve to start out out by displaying this image that captures the massiveness of the oak tree in our entrance yard. It’s difficult to seize the entire tree in a photograph as a result of it’s so massive. I really like this tree, and I’m all the time so unhappy when fall comes and it loses all of its leaves.
However now let’s get to the home. I went again and located “earlier than” footage from two totally different years in order that we might evaluate what this home seemed like again then with the progress I’ve made thus far. We’ll begin with the entrance of the home the day that we closed on our home again in August 2013. It was fairly drab, however I noticed nice potential on this little home.

This subsequent image is from early spring in 2016. That is once I was desirous about portray the home yellow, so I had yellow paint samples on the entrance of the home. We had changed the home windows in the lounge, however the remainder of the home just about seemed the identical. I like these footage higher than my unique “earlier than” footage from three years earlier as a result of you possibly can really see extra of the home because the bushes don’t’ have many leaves on them.

And right here’s what it appears to be like like right now…



Right here’s one other one from the day that we purchased the home…

That is what it seemed like within the early spring of 2016 with a number of new home windows, a brand new mailbox, and some yellow paint samples, however all the pieces else nonetheless just about the identical.

And right here’s that very same view right now…



Clearly, I nonetheless have rather a lot to do on the entrance of our home and in our entrance yard, however this little home has come a great distance!

About 4 months in the past, the town began engaged on our road, tearing out previous crumbling curbs and pouring new curbs. I’m actually grateful that we now not have crumbling curbs, however I positive do want they’d changed all of them as a result of now the curbs are two totally different colours. I attempted strain washing all of them, and after they had been moist, they had been all the identical shade. However then they dried two totally different colours once more. Oh, effectively. That’s out of my management

I believe the 2 modifications that made the most important distinction are (1) changing the storage into my studio, and (2) pouring a brand new driveway that goes to the again of the home.

After which fully redoing the entrance porch has made all of the distinction as effectively. It was a concrete porch with slim concrete steps resulting in a slim sidewalk.

And now I’ve a wooden porch (which I constructed over the concrete porch), beefier white columns, vast entrance steps with handrails, and a a lot wider sidewalk.



I simply love taking a look at these previous footage and seeing how far this home has come.

I really like the progress thus far. It has taken years to get so far, however the truth that I’ve carried out a lot of this on my own, with my very own two fingers, makes me proud.

However in fact, I’ve so many extra plans. Once I get again to the surface initiatives (hopefully later this 12 months when it cools down), my first precedence might be including steps to the brand new bed room door over on the far left facet of the home. After which I’d like to get began on landscaping. I’ve such grand plans for that little space in entrance of the breakfast room home windows to the appropriate of the entrance porch.


I took these footage yesterday at about 7:00pm with the solar happening behind our home, in order that made the entrance porch look fairly darkish. In particular person, it doesn’t look darkish like that. There’s fairly a distinction between seeing the home in a small picture on a pc or cellphone display and seeing it in particular person.

I believe a number of individuals had been confused about the place the steps that I constructed a few months in the past had been situated. These steps are on the facet of my studio (i.e., the unique storage), so that they’re on the appropriate finish of the home by the driveway. You possibly can see under that the driveway goes to the again of the home to the carport that we had constructed throughout the garage-to-studio undertaking. After which my workshop sits proper behind the carport.

The solar was actually vibrant on this facet of the home once I took these footage, however right here’s a greater view of the studio, carport, and workshop structure.

So in actuality, you don’t ever see the 2 pink doorways collectively. My facet studio door is pink, however it’s important to be wanting on the home at an angle to see it, and you may’t actually see the entrance door to our home from that angle.

When you get far sufficient to see the pink entrance door, you possibly can now not see the facet studio door.

I’m so happy with the entire enhancements I’ve made to the entrance (and facet) of our home, however I actually can’t wait to handle that space in entrance of the breakfast room home windows. It has such potential, however proper now, it appears to be like a little bit unhappy and forgotten. I envision a pergola above the breakfast room home windows constructed utilizing the identical brackets that I used on the facet of the studio, however in a smaller dimension. And naturally, I’ve shared in previous posts that I’d like to have a fountain or water characteristic of some type in that space. And naturally, vegetation. Plenty of vegetation.

And I nonetheless need window packing containers underneath the home windows on the studio, and doable underneath the window to the left of the entrance steps. Constructing these window packing containers remains to be on my checklist of issues to do. I’ve to snort at the truth that I’ve dreamed of window packing containers on these home windows for years now, after which I went and constructed window packing containers for my workshop earlier than I constructed them for the home.

I do know it’s arduous to see particulars of the entrance porch from such a distance in a small picture, however y’all, I’m so happy with our entrance porch. For the primary time since we’ve lived right here, I really feel just like the entrance porch is definitely completed. It had upgrades by the years, but it surely by no means had a completed skirting till now. And the truth that the skirting matches the stone on the left facet of the home is so thrilling to me.

Right here’s what the home seemed like from that angle again within the spring of 2016.



After which there’s the door on the opposite facet of the home. Sure, it’s a bit odd to have two doorways on the entrance of a home, however with that Hardie trim eliminated and the brand new fake stone added, I really like the way in which it appears to be like now. I believe it’ll be so cute as soon as it’s all completed with steps, vegetation, and maybe a little bit pergola over the door to match the one over the breakfast room home windows (if I can work out how one can connect it to stone).

Once I look again at these previous footage, I’m wondering how I ever noticed the potential on this…

However I’m so glad I did! I get exhausted simply pondering again over the entire effort that went into these initiatives, however they had been so definitely worth the effort.



Okay, I really feel like I took a few thousand footage, and I’ve a tough time narrowing down those I wish to share, so I’m simply going to submit the remainder of these with none commentary. Get pleasure from! (Facet notice: As I used to be modifying these footage, I noticed that I might flip loads of these footage right into a kids’s e-book known as “The place’s Tiger?” He appears to make an look in most of them. 😀 )











Extra About Our Home Exterior & Yard















