Meanwhile, a year later...

I realize I have been quiet on the blog front for the last year!!  Allow me to update you on our projects from 2019!

First, in January, Gabe worked on the wiring for our TV corner.  It's by no means finished, since we've been focusing on the outside for most of the year, but we got it functional for a Superbowl gathering we hosted.

This spot is Gabe's brain child and his creativity will come to life with this one.  I will save the details on this space for another time!  Cliffhanger anyone?


In February, we welcomed a new little lady into our home ;) Her name is Tirzah and she is a sweetie!!!

In March, we re-installed the basketball hoop.  I think both Gabe and Judah are glad for this!

In April, we bought a shed for extra storage, like the lawn mower and that stinky gas can.

It was not the same color as our house color and black trim (SW 6258 Tricorn Black), so I got a gallon of Hardi-plank's Woodland Cream from SW, Gabe and I teamed up and got out there in the fresh air.  He did the first coats and I did the finishing coats.

Mid-July, we hired out the building of the porch roof. My Dad managed the subcontractor while we went away to Michigan for Gabe's grandmother's 98th birthday party (which happened to take place on Zoe's birthday--Grandma Cropsey's birthday wasn't for another week!).

Getting started:

In August, we tackled the front yard landscaping which happened to include finishing the drainage on the northwest side of the house. The drain pipe was installed about halfway out to the road (can't remember the roadblock we encountered at that time) and it was sticking up out of the ground for a half a year.  Gabe's buddy Mark so generously lent us his bobcat (skid steer) so we could finish the job.

A before picture of a strip of long grass and uneven turf shooting down from the house toward the road:

Zoe enjoying some adventures with Daddy:

We had to get the FIOS line marked out again before digging out the trench for the drain pipe. This took about a day's work to lay the pipe and another day to level out the ground.  Gabe also did some earthworks in the back yard with the bobcat, cleaning up the mess that was created at the end of the season last year right before the frost set in when it was too late to do anything.  He got to smoothing out the tire tracks from where the excavator got stuck in the mud, and he wanted to relocate the berm he created in the back woods for target practice with the extra fill dirt and debris that had been created from construction last year.  It looks much better back there now!

And, since we had the bobcat on hand, we might as well go ahead and tear out those overgrown shrubs, since we in process of changing the landscaping pretty drastically in the front.  This was a fun project on a sunny Saturday over Labor Day weekend!  My parents we over helping out with the kids while Gabe was outside playing with his machinery and I was inside prepping hard for our first term of homeschool, so it worked out great.

And so it begins:

Going a little crazy with the chainsaw:

But having so much fun!!

Devoid of one of them!

And then ripping out the stump:

And they are gone!

A couple weekends later after we had a chance to add some new shrubs back in (thanks Mom & Dad for the two smaller boxwoods, all the help with the kids and planting!)--some rose bushes and hydrangeas along the house where we finished up the grading:

Much, much better.  Still a ways to go, but ahh, sweet progress!

And now for the project that has consumed many weekends this fall, and won't now be finished until the spring: the path leading up to the front door from the driveway that act as stairs, garden boxes and retaining wall of sorts.  Gabe and my dad did some measurements, talked through the plans and Dad drew them up:

Starting from the bottom next to the driveway and working their way up the hill:

It's taking shape!

Looking up, looking down:

In November, our contractor Dave came back! To do some punch list items, replace our existing house windows (a line item that we waited on until we had more $$ to accomplish), paint the new porch addition, replace and paint new fascia/soffits on existing building and have gutters installed.

He installed 5 windows (3 in kids bedrooms, 1 large window in living room, and 1 in bathroom) and is here painting newly installed exterior trim:

And, he painted the front door that day!  (actually he painted the first coat, and since I realized it was a warm day with the next day cooling down quite a bit, I went ahead and painted the 2nd coat that evening to finish it off) You can see all the paint swatches taped up on the door, as I'm frantically trying to decide.  No, actually I was cool as a cucumber about the decision (out of character, you may know--me and decisions don't play well together).  Funny story--my first instinct after taping them all up and not looking at the names was SW 6471 Hazel. I went ahead and asked Judah which one was his favorite, and without knowing which one I was leaning towards said, "Hazel" as well!  Furthermore, confirmation presented itself in the fact that Hazel has been my top pick since 2 years ago when we started this mess.  Badda boom badda bing, moral of the story, don't second guess yourself. ;) :D

Dave, painting the front door:

Voila!

I gadda tell ya, it feels good to have THAT done.  And you have to know I went into my master to do list and crossed that sucker off!!!

Closer up:

Let's pause for a second and take this in.  OOOOoooooooOOO!!!  (pretend you are in the movie Despicable Me for a second and you are watching a sea of minions all in chorus---)

And hello sexy black windows!  Nice to meet you!

Have I gone overboard yet? (Why yes, it is past 11pm while I'm writing this)

Dave, painting the porch posts:

And ripping off the old fascia, soffits and gutters, YES please!!!

Ahhhhhh, finally some cohesion on the front of the house.  Long time comin'!!!

Here's a little throw back from 2017, for the funsies:

Is this real life??!?

And now, before signing off, I will take one more liberty and share a picture of our newest little presh from last July:

picture courtesy of my sister in law, Bethany

Isn't she just somethin' else?


Until next time.....

Out with the Old, in with the New

This is one of the last posts I will write for a while, finishing up detailing the most recent additions.  We will not be starting any more projects for a while--just finishing up what we have started!  I see more walnut slabs in our future--installing a built-in desk and shelves in the great room and some live edge shelves in the kitchen (which will be fun to show at some point), finishing up a bunk bed for Judah and continued organization of the garage and basement, but beyond that, we will not be starting on the master bathroom and current hall bathroom over-haul for quite some time.  There are still quite a few exciting projects coming along, down the pike, but for now, we are settling down in our new space and taking a break.

Springtime will be time for landscaping, when green beauty comes out, our little grass seed shoots will fill in and we will be nurturing our newest little beauty, who will make our family of 5.  I might post some outdoor landscaping projects in the spring.

For now, let's go over some of the holes in progress up until now.  There are some before and after pics I can show of the outside: the driveway, the back deck door from the outside, front facade before and afters, back of the house progression pics and then we move inside to detail the garage, great room toy corner, existing living room updates, kitchen backsplash, and finally, the master bedroom that I've been promising a look at.

I think it marked how much the driveway changed--it really changes our quality of life--from entering and exiting the house in a mess of grassy/muddy shoes (not thru the mudroom but the living room!) to entering and exiting thru the garage, with our minivan parked inside!  This is a luxury I have never known.  It is especially nice in the wintertime chill!  Consider me tickled.

Muddy driveway from last February:

It wasn't always THIS bad, but close.

Just LOOK at the difference!!!

We are LOVING the difference.

Here's the back deck door, with a little imp, from last January:

And then, a look at it from the same spot this December:

The same exterior lights we used outside the garage are used flanking the sliding door on the deck.

Shown here:

Moving to the front of the house:

Let's look at a before and after of the front facade of the house.

From March 2013:

To just a couple days ago (December 2018):

We still plan to do a few things to the front, like paint the front door (in spring probably), dress up the front patio stoop with a roof, posts and rails, and paint the fascia black at that time to match the rest of the house.  We also plan to buy landscaping timbers soon, let them dry out in our garage in time to stain them in the spring, and install them in the front, creating a tiered walkway up to the front door (so guests don't have to traipse thru grass to get to our door).

Looking at this pic in the spring of 2015, we can better see the windows that still need replacing as well:

Now, here's a fun progression of the house from one angle--the back southeast corner--with a view of the duration of the exterior construction:

December 2017

January 2018

February 2018

February 2018

February 2018

April 2018

September 2018

October 2018

October 2018

December 2018

Whew!  That was quite a year!  There is a noticeable gap in exterior progress from April-September.  Once contractor Dave had started demo on the kitchen, I had asked him to focus on the interior until it was done.  That might have been slightly foolish, because once interior things were mostly accomplished, he shifted focus to outdoors and then, progress was contingent on the weather.  He switched gears around July, and we ended up having the wettest July and September I can remember!  (8"+ inches each of those months, when the average is 3"!)  We also had some significant materials delays in that time too, which didn't help progress either.

I haven't really shown pics of the garage yet.  Well, here we go!  Up to now, it was a mishmash of items and metal shelves Gabe was collecting for when it was time to organize.  At the final inspection, it was found that exterior supporting walls had to be clad in drywall.  Gabe was planning on doing the drywall in the garage, but in light of this news, Dave had a vested interest in finishing for final inspection (one of his payments hinged on it), and I was delighted, because that freed up Gabe to accomplish some other things on our to-do list (backsplash in the kitchen).  The garage drywall went up fast.  Soon after, we had an unexpected snow day in November that we could spend organizing the garage together!

The fruits of our organization:

And now we can park our vehicle inside!!  Just in time for more winter weather.

The lighting we used in the garage:

A peek at the nighttime view of garage, with exterior lights:

Moving on to finished up interior spaces!  Stay tuned for the finale at the end :)

First we'll take a look at the "toy corner" in the great room.  I just bought a new rug for the space, so it's all cleaned up for pictures!

Moving into the existing living room--view right as you walk in the front door:

Panning left:

 Panning right:

Looking back towards front door:

 Fireplace wall:

Close up:

Looking into the Great room/Dining room:

Aaaaannnnd here's a short little detour into the kitchen to take a look at the finished backsplash and deck door alcove all decluttered and gussied up for Christmas.

Starting with the doorway looking back into the living room:

Continuing to pan left towards the deck door, getting a close up view of the finished backsplash wall:

The deck door and south wall:

And finally, the cabinet/countertop to the right of the refrigerator:

Here's a couple pics of the dining room all shnazzled up for Christmas:

Aaaannnnd, drum roll please, the backordered bar stools FINALLY came in the day before Christmas, after being ordered last May!!

YAY!!! Merry Christmas to us!!

Here's our Christmas tree in the great room--

By day and by night:

And one more, with a bit of decoration in the front:

Heee hee :D

Merry Christmas!  I'll do a separate post, with our Christmas letter included.



Ok, ok, here's the grand finale: the master bedroom, all staged up, like I promised....

First looking down the hall towards the master bedroom (the hallway got really loooonnggg):

I still have to add pictures to the walls

I staged the room with two different bed coverings, bear with me :)

Upon entering the room:

Bed donned in the red quilt I made

Bed has a tribal duvet cover on it that I got from Pottery Barn

Slightly different angle, showcasing the transom windows at the top, by day and night:

Another slightly different angle, ceiling fan included, by day and by night:

More nighttime moody shots of the headboard wall:

I just can't enough of how the light plays off the accent wall!  Just sexy.

Ok, now here's a shot head on of every wall--

West wall:

North wall:

East wall:

South wall:

I just love this shot of faint, late afternoon glow, looking out into our yard, with the tire swing Gabe put together for the kids:

A happy little vignette:

A view of the wall going towards the second walk in closet and master bathroom (which is NOT even started fyi):

At the end of the little hallway is the walk in closet to the left and the master bath will be to the right (currently it houses and locks away the Christmas presents, but don't tell):

A cozy brick wall corner:

And for fun, a few before and afters of the master bedroom.

Here's the first walk in closet wall, before:

And after:

Here's the whole brick wall, with the windows still in tact:

And after the windows were bricked over:

Here's the brick wall, just before the windows were bricked over:

And after:

I think that's all for now!


We wish you and yours a blessed, Happy New Year!!!