Torching the Torch Lights

Ever since we had the exterior of our house painted over 14 months ago, I've been dying to update the front porch lights. The oxidized brass torch lights from the 80s looked so dull and old up against the new bright house, but I struggled to find a style my husband and I liked, and one that fit the "look" of the house.

Old light

We didn't like any of the exterior lights Home Depot or Lowes had in stock and we didn't like anything we saw online that was in our price range…until I stumbled across this guy on Overstock.com…

New light

At the time we purchased it, it was under $50 and we were sold on the simple, mission-style modern design.

Before

After

As with any house project, there was a catch. The screws the light came with were too long, causing the light to hang off the wall. 

We had to make a Lowes run to get a pack of smaller machine screws with washers and thankfully that did the trick.

The sleek silver light blends in much better with the rest of our updated exterior and it even gives off more light. Another small project checked off the list!

House Love At First Sight

It was on Memorial Day weekend last year that we saw this house listed for sale on Trulia. It was in a nearby neighborhood we had been "stalking," it was within our price range, it had all our "must-haves," and it had just the right amount of potential. Our Realtor showed it to us later that afternoon. We put in an offer the next day and found out the offer was accepted the day after that. We went from casually browsing to buying a house practically overnight.

We've done a lot of work so far and we have a lot more to go, but I often get so caught up in the urge to fix everything all at once that I forget to take the time to reflect on everything we've accomplished in one short year. It's hardly the same house anymore…and that's a good thing, I think.

Here's a montage of the house as it was listed one year ago and how it stands today.

Exterior changes: Powerwash, new paint (blue, gray, & white), new white steel door, new white vinyl windows downstairs (new windows upstairs coming soon!)

One Year Later

Backyard: Powerwash & new paint, new bay windows, cleared out monkey grass, vines and small trees, repaired broken lattice and play set.

One Year Later

One Year Later

Living Room: Painted walls, trim & mantel, new windows, new curtains, new pot lights, stainless steel outlet plates.

One Year Later

Dining Room: New paint, new windows, curtains and rod, new light fixture, table and chairs.

One Year Later

Kitchen: New windows, custom window seat, new light fixture, primed for paint (next week!) 

One Year Later

Front Hallway: New paint & trim (including banister), new white steel door, new light fixture.

One Year Later

Laundry Room: Painted wall and cabinets, knew knobs, new dryer, custom built folding shelf.

One Year Later

Guest Room: New paint, curtains, art, etc.

One Year Later

Master Bedroom: Removed border, new paint, white outlet covers, curtains (new windows coming soon).

One Year Later

A lot of people think we're joking when we say it will be years before we're done fixing up the house, but it's true.  For every project we've finished, there is an equally daunting project we still have to accomplish (the kitchen, bathrooms, third bedroom, landscaping, etc.). Let's blame HGTV for making us feel as though we can "makeover" an entire house in a short hour-long "episode." Today, though, I will remember this house as it was one year ago when we first saw it, and how far it's come.

Opening a New Door

Even though my parents came down for a holiday vacation, it's been more of a working vacation for my dad, whom I presented with a list of house projects before he arrived.

The trade-off for them to escape the -20 degree temperature in Maine is to help Tommie and I with the projects we're not skilled enough to tackle...which is a lot.  We pretty much max out on anything that requires more than a hammer and a paint brush.

Since it was warm when my parents arrived around Christmas, we first tackled a couple of indoor/outdoor projects.  The old owner's left a play set in the backyard, and even though we don't have kids, I wanted to replace the rotted support beams because during our move-in I found one of Tommie's 21-year-old co-workers enjoying a good swing.  Better to be safe.  A couple new 2x4's with a pressure-treated one on the ground should do the trick.

While shopping for 2x4's, we noticed an entryway door on sale at Home Depot for $159.  Our wood door was swelling and contracting a lot with the temperature fluctuation in North Carolina, and we would have to replace it at some point, so I added it to the "daddy to do" list.  It was a big project to tackle, but everyone helped.  

The new white, steel door has a half-circle window and it helps brighten up the entryway a lot.  It's also really good at keeping out the drafts compared to the old door.  I was able to unload the old door to someone on Craigslist who bought it for $25.  Cha-ching.

Front door before (above) and after (below).

Entryway when we bought it

Entryway now with new paint, light fixture, and door.

Outside with old door & old paint

Outside with new door & new paint. Bam!

Little Living Tree

We've been hustling to finish painting the dining room just in time for the holidays; speaking of holidays, this Norfolk Island Pine is our tree this year.  We usually don't have a tree at all (you know, trying to "save" the environment and all) but since we're hosting Christmas at our place this year, we felt like we had to do some decorating.

The small potted pine was under $20 at Lowes, and since it's alive, we know it will last even beyond the holiday.

Outside, we wrapped white lights around the front porch rails.  I love how they light up the boxes under the roof and kind of want to keep them up year round.  Just like the rest of the house, we have years to grow into our full-on holiday decorating potential.

Perches on the Front Porch

It's great having a covered front porch, especially in a quiet neighborhood.  

By the end of November, porch-sitting season is just about over, but since we just got the house painted, we wanted to spruce up our outdoor seating.  

Our house came with a nice wooden porch swing, and I got a sweet $20 rocker from Craigslist.  

The rocker got a fresh coat of white paint and compliments the new white trim.

Since the painter's ended up power washing all the cobwebs off our porch swing, we broke out some of the leftover gray shutter paint (Sherwin William's Gray's Harbor Superpaint in satin) so that it better matches the house and seals up any splinters in the wood.

  (Porch swing and house before and after.)

Come spring, our little perch on the porch will be completely refreshed and ready to enjoy.

The Brave, the Bold, and the "Blue"tiful

I dreaded making a decision about what colors to paint our house.  We're first-time homebuyers and I definitely don't feel like a decision of this magnitude is within our scope yet.  But, as I mentioned in the previous post, our house couldn't go another season without being sealed up with a fresh coat of paint, so we were forced to dive into exterior decisions head first.

When the blue we chose (Georgian Blue, Superpaint by Sherwin Williams in satin finish) started to go up on the house, it was like Dorothy entering the technicolor Land of Oz…and it was more scary than exciting. 

A small portion of the side and back was painted on day one and left over the rainy weekend so we had some time to acclimate to the new color creeping up the side of our house.  As the paint dried, the color took better to the siding and became less bright.  Still, I bugged out my eyes every time I came up the driveway.  That is one blue house!  (It looks even brighter on the computer!)

But as the color went up on the rest of the house and the trim was transformed from beige cream to a crisp white, it all started to come to life in a good way.  Many of our neighbors stopped to give the painters (Clint Crabtree) compliments on the progress and the color change.  The painters did a fantastic job.

When the color was up on the whole house I didn't have a heart attack, in fact, I swooned a little over the white trim against the rich blue.  Two coats of new paint even makes it look like we had new siding installed and covered up all the faded and weathered spots.  Even standing on the front porch feels like we're in a brand new house (just don't come inside).  In short, the house is bold and "blue"tiful.

(Before)

(After)

(Before)

(After)

Other exterior improvements we hope to make over the next year include a new door (maybe painted?);  new windows and screens upstairs; new porch lights (maybe even getting a couple pot lights installed in the porch ceiling);  painting the porch swing; updating to modern style house numbers and door bells; hanging plants and a couple new plants (maybe hydrangeas) this spring. 

(Before)

(After)

Our new white vinyl windows also look a million times better with matching white trim.

(Before)

(After)

Did we pick the perfect color for our house?  I don't think so, but truthfully, there is no "perfect" color when you're going through a booklet of color swatches that's five-inches thick.  In the end, we chose a color that brings out the unique design elements of our exterior and makes the house look 20 years younger…and it needed that.  Balancing the blue with classic white trim and gray shutters (in Gray's Harbor by Sherwin Williams) helps ground it.  Like any big change, it will take some time to get used to, but it's already growing on us.