Curb Appeal: Porch Complete

 

Our front porch is finally complete! Check out this post from last March if you're just joining us! We started the project in October 2013 and had high hopes that it would be finished within 3-4 weeks. Sadly, our amazing JELD-WEN Craftsman 6-Light Camber Top door was on back-order from the manufacturer, so we had to wait....and wait....and wait. In the mean time, our contractor, Jason of Pathfinder Construction, was constantly checking up on us and evaluating each nook and cranny of the jobsite. He (and his crew) went above and beyond to ensure that every detail was on par with our expectations. They also did a great job of cleaning up at the end of each work day. I can't say enough good things about this contractor!

We decided to keep our black shutters and paint the new door black to match. When the door was first installed, we began the process of staining the fiberglass. It took 4 days for the first coat of stain to dry. Not okay. This prompted us to do a bit more research on after-market staining/poly coating of fiberglass and the good folks of the blogosphere gave a resounding warning of peeling within the first 2 years. Sooooooo, we opted to sand the door, prime it with Kilz to block the stain from bleeding, and paint it black latex semi-gloss. (The interior face of the door was painted white to match the other doors in our home.)

You'll notice we also had the gable work completed. We chose Granite by Heritage for the vinyl shakes. (Here's a link to the website, but it looks like they may have discontinued that color. It is slightly darker than the Georgian Gray. The Georgian Gray was almost a perfect match for our light gray siding.)

Two of my favorite details of the project were the Elijay Bronze Lantern by Savoy House and Hawthorne Handleset by Kwikset. Both arrived within 2-3 days of my online order and look fabulous.

We are really looking forward to the temperature rising so that we can fix up the garden beds and bring out some pots for the front porch.

Curb Appeal

It's a well known fact in this post-2008 economy that what one paid for a home is probably what one will get out of it when it's sold....but not much more. We found that out in 2009 when we sold our 900 square foot condo for it's purchase price 7 years later! We purchased our current home in May 2009 after it had sat on the market for a year and a half. The seller didn't make much off of her initial investment either, despite numerous improvements including: new paint throughout including white trim, tile throughout the kitchen/downstairs bath/laundry room, new French doors to the deck, new roof, and even some hardwood floors! The biggest thing that seemed to keep our sweet little gem on the market for so long was the exterior.

It wasn't awful. The paint was decent. The vinyl siding was clean. The previous owner had even planted some flowers. But the house looked odd...something just wasn't right. Was it the shrubs? All the windows on the left side of the house? The massive triangle? Don't tell me you don't see it. It's right there!

2010

So we've been implementing our exterior improvement plan for the past two years! We hired a landscaper to design a master plan of low maintenance plants, plenty of perennials, and some showy annuals. He informed us that the highest maintenance plant on any property is grass, so it would be to our best interest to trim some out. I was skeptical, but it's made a dramatic improvement. We try to buy a few shrubs each year. For the most part, we've had success with our greening thumbs; however there are a few plants in plant-heaven...the compost pile! Our best success has been with Walmart plants. Walmart? Really? Now you're joking. Nope. No joke. The plants there are a FRACTION of the price at nurseries and Walmart often has the same supplier, particularly when it comes to roses and azaleas. The other beautiful thing about Walmart is their 100% return policy. Most nurseries will only give you 50%, but Walmart will take anything back! ANYTHING! We bought 6 beautiful blue plants for the front walk one year and they just didn't stand up right. They slouched. So we pulled them up, threw them in a plastic bag, and went to Walmart 4 weeks after we'd purchased them. Now, you do have to beware of Walmart-wares. I never buy a flower unless it's blooming, because I never trust the image printed on the card. I've found that rule of thumb to be true even at smaller nurseries. Also, if it's a specialty plant I'm after, I'll usually find it at a nursery because I know it's been well-loved there versus Walmart.

Anyways..., we've been thinking about finishing off the porch for some time. I've gathered lots of inspiration, we just needed an architect to make it happen. Our amazing friend Jon whipped up something extraordinary! In Brian's words, "I just don't understand why the house wasn't finished like this sooner." That lonely triangle of a house: was it the result of a builder gone MIA? Maybe. But now we've got a plan! I'm still not sold on the proposed color of the door and shutters, but I may change my mind. Right now the shutters have been painted black and we'd like to paint the new front door red.

Garage Updates

My dad has truly inspired my husband to make better use of our garage space. It's only a one-car and can get pretty cramped, even without the car. Previously, we had been keeping our gardening "stuff" in a small prefab cabinet and my collection of spray paint in a box on the floor. These items are prepped to find new homes on their new shelves! Brian discovered that the space against the wall of the garage door had more potential than we gave credit. He used our old shelving from our master closet and a four 8ft boards he purchased at Home Depot to create a work of art! To speed up this project, Brian's uncle suggested that we line up our bookcase ends on the floor and then attach the first and last shelves. Then Brian could work alone to quickly secure the other shelves with his 2" wood screws. Brian then secured the entire shelf to the garage walls (corner to corner). There is a matching shelf on the other side of the garage door. I plan on using my lovely new label maker to spruce up the space! No more searching for my blue spray paint or the ant killer!

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Our Yard

2009 On the Market

We moved into our first house about a year and a half ago. Based on observations from neighbors (some of whom have lived in our development since its inception back in the early 80's), NO ONE has ever done ANYTHING with the yard. Sure, flowers have been planted, but the grass? Well, it was grass no longer. We had to rent a Harley rake to destroy the mass of green weeds and level out the many dips in the yard. It was a painstaking process that lead to a number of blisters.

2010 Shrubs Added to Front Bed

The crepe myrtle out front lost a right hanging branch in a storm, so it looked horribly lopsided. We took that tree out with the hopes of a shade tree somewhere in the front yard.

Our backyard used to be a lush mess providing great privacy, but that just wasn't going to work. The overgrowth extended about 10 feet into the yard. We decided to have a landscaping plan developed by a professional. It required some rearranging and a total overhaul of our grass, but we've completed phase 1!

There is still much to do and many years of work ahead of us, but we're learning as we go and having a great time together.