Friday, November 29, 2013

All the News That's Fit to Print!

I'm back! I promise I have a really good reason for being gone so long. It looks something like this:
Yep! A new addition to our family, due March 1. 

So I apologize for the break, but it's been crazy around here! On a good note for this blog, we have been doing some serious nesting! I made a pre-baby list and it looks something like this: 
  • Finish stripping front window
  • Finish trim in bedroom
  • Paint trim in bedroom
  • Finish unfinished side in pass-through
  • Get porch floor down
  • Paint the house
  • Make curtains for bedroom and bedroom door
  • Touch up paint in kitchen and bedroom
Check it out, we have some major progress! Last time y'all saw the exterior of the house, it looked something like this:
The back of the house, new siding and shingles, but unpainted. For the front of the house:
Well, this photo is a little dark, but true to life! I called this color "Cellblock 9". The bushes are overgrown but truly the color is depressing. The sideporch view:
Oh sexy, Cellblock Grey on top of Primer Grey. 

So, we finally found a painter and picked a color. (In the interest of complete honesty, we picked out a color, had two entire sides of the house painted, HATED it, picked a new color and had it repainted. Home renovation isn't for the faint of heart.) Without further ado...

Before:
AFTER!
Yes, we chose blue. Hamilton Blue by Benjamin Moore, Sugar Cookie for the trim. I know blue is kinda safe, but we tried to choose a non-pastel blue to go as bold as possible.

The front of the house BEFORE:
After!
Cell block gone! Yay!

Side porch BEFORE:
Side porch after!
Most notable in this photo is probably the Victorian shingles up above. Yes, they're original (112 years young!) and Cellblock Grey really wasn't doing anything for them. The new shingles on the back of the house got the same treatment.

We're SO happy with the color. The blue is perfect, not too bright but not boring. Not depressing! No more Cellblock! I love the way the trim works with the blue. This photo is a little blown out but isn't it sweet?
It is AMAZING what a new paint job can do for a house. It makes me happy every single time I walk up the front steps. Both the husband and I are happy to get it buttoned up before winter and it just feels like such a huge thing to cross off the list.

Here we go:
  • Finish stripping front window
  • Finish trim in bedroom
  • Paint trim in bedroom
  • Finish unfinished side in pass-through
  • Do something with the nasty floor in pass-through
  • Make dining room functional
  • Get porch floor down
  • Paint the house
  • Make curtains for bedroom and bedroom door
  • Touch up paint in kitchen and bedroom 
(I also did the touch-up paint but I won't bore you with the photos!)  Onwards to the next thing on the list! Yippee!