New Siding is on it’s way!

I mentioned in my last post that we had a contractor coming by the house…We are residing! Originally I was hoping to reposition the windows AND reside, but it was going to be twice the amount…plus we have to have the house painted on top of that, so instead I am hoping to improve the curb appeal with new window frames, paint, and some well positioned landscaping. :)

Here’s how the house looked when we first bought it.And then here is the house minus the little glass “covered thing.” It’s a porch…I don’t know what to call it. Since this picture was taken, we have removed the TV satellite dish, and the little magnolia that we planted has died and still needs to be removed. Originally I planted the bamboo with the hopes that it was going to grow tall and distract from the blank walls, but they have just gotten bushier…not taller. Go figure!

Now let’s talk inspiration!

After fighting it for a few years, I have finally accepted that I can’t turn our house into this. Sigh, oh well!

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All these inspiration images I have pinned over the last year. My plan is to take bits and pieces to hopefully improve the look of our house.

This one I love the dark trim. Originally I was hoping to have white trim, but since our trim is already dark navy black (Jesse and I argue over what color the trim is. I say dark blue, he says black. It’s clearly dark dark blue:) And we are only replacing the trim around the front windows, it seems like it will make life easier if we keep the dark trim. Otherwise we would have to paint all the trim on the back 3 sides of the house AND the garage, going from nearly black to white which doesn’t sound appealing!

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Our window frames are currently pretty thin, and I think would definitely look better if framed with a thicker trim. I can’t get too detailed or ornate since I want the windows to blend in with the style of the rest of the house, so I found this frame…simple, but bold.

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We are also going to mimic the frame around the entry way to create a focal point and make the front door look more inviting!

{1st season of “The League” tv show}

This was my first photo shop attempt. I started with the white frames, but then realized that for simplicity sake we should keep them dark.

I am hoping though to paint the inside of the covered entry white to brighten it up, so I need to add white in a few more places to tie it together. I don’t know exactly how it will work yet, but I’m hoping to paint the inner frames of the windows white along with the chimney to add some POP! I like 2-tone windows! And that’s actually how it is on the garage. The windows are white with a dark trim and I love the contrast.

And the garage is a whole other thing. I am not sure what we are going to do with it just yet. I guess I will get quotes for painting, but there is a good chance we will wait until next year to paint the garage so spread out expenses…which means we will have a mismatched house and garage :) We will be “those people.” Every neighborhood has one, or a few, and you drive past wondering, “what are they thinking?” And a small part of me is wondering if we could just do it ourselves. It’s hardi-board siding which means that we don’t have to sand or scrape. I need to do a little research, but if it’s just prime and paint, I think it’s something that we could tackle over a few weeks.

And I’m ready to replace the bamboo! I need something with some height, so I am now thinking cedar trees. What also excites me is how great they are going to look against the light grey color of the house.

And one last extra little addition…our address.

I’m opting for some vertical numbers next to the front door. I think it might help balance things a bit.

Jesse, on the other hand, is convinced that it would greatly improve the look of our house if we painted our address in big numbers on the front.

Let’s vote! Which do you like better? :)

Hopefully the siding should get finished by the end of this week, or early next week, but I am getting very nervous that it’s going to look horrible and that I will hate it. But then the practical part in my brain thinks it will look 10 times better!

And then I came home from work yesterday and found this! Turns out they got started! You can see Leia in the window, I think she was a little freaked out about what was going on.