House Exterior Before and Now...

We have been working like maniacs over here trying to get the curb appeal up to par on the new house. As of yesterday, I think I’m officially proud of it for a little while!

There is some serious planting I want to happen and the backyard is missing tons of grass, but it’s finally to a good clear starting point.

My “before” shots are all from May, the month we found out we got the house. Since we didn’t close until July 2nd, these pictures really just show the 1 month we’ve owned the house:

Front of the house in May 2012

Front of the house July 2012

The big things we got done on the front in the 1 month we’ve been here are:

• New Roof: HUGE difference right?? This was obviously a splurge but it’s going to be worth it in the long run. We did upgrade to architectural grade shingles and went with an “Onyx Black” color opposed to the gray color.

• Painted front door: The door before was faded, dirty, had holes in it from where the old numbers used to be, and was really just a mess. So I spent one weekend sanding, primer-ing, and painting 3 coats of Behr Ultra “Holly Berry”. It was HOT that weekend but the fresh red paint paired with the new hardware made an immediate impact!!

• Painted shutters: This I did not do my self. We are not “ladder people” and there are some high windows on the house. We hired a guy we knew from high school who teaches/ coaches so he does odd jobs in the summer. He did a great job and for a bargain!! He bought us new hardware and I supplied the Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black in a Gloss.

Shutters before and after they were painted!

You can see how the old hardware was rusting straight down the front. Forget the fact that these were so faded I didn’t know what color they were supposed to be, that rust KILLED  me. They look so much better now!

• Power Washed: We found a guy on craigslist who was more than half the price of the other quotes we had gotten. While the house is SO.MUCH.CLEANER. it’s still not perfect. We’re told we’ll have to plan on washing it every year so the cheaper price at least made a big difference for this year.

• Landscaping: We hauled out soooooo many dead bushes and limbs off of trees. We layed some mulch and mowed the lawn. It doesn’t seem like a lot but the neighbors have literally been commenting on it since we moved in. I think it was so over grown it was just hard to see anything. The weeds looked like trees and shrubs looked like tumble weeds. HUGE “shout out” to everyone who helped with the yard – it’s brutal hot and we cleared a lot of debris!

You can even see a big difference on the front corner of our lot:

Corner of front yard in May.

Corner of front yard in July.

I mean, REALLY?! You can see the road now! While I am super pumped about this, I have now been told by 3 different people how upset I have made all the little kids on the cul de sac – apparently this was a key hiding spot and I “ruined” it. So sorry guys!

Speaking of landscaping, here’s the back yard’s progress:

Looking out from the back deck in May.

Looking out from the back deck in July!

From the fence in the back yard, looking toward the house in May.

Looking from the fence, towards the house in July.

Obviously I am going to melt into a puddle just thinking of how hot it was every day outside for all that work. I am so glad it’s done and already brainstorming ideas for what plants I want and where they’ll go. Fun!

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