April 8, 2015

house tour: exterior

I debated whether or not I want to share this post but I am going to bite the bullet and just do it since so many of my friends and family have been asking for pictures of the new house. We haven't done very much and I find myself not wanting to share any pictures until it's done, but that might mean no posts until 2020 (side note: that was super weird typing that year - doesn't that date seem so sci-fi?). Here's a picture of the front exterior as it is right now. So, far I've almost removed that random tree in the front of the house but otherwise, this is pretty much how it looks right now, except for some of the trees in the background have leaves on them now (this picture was taken in the winter).
We have a decent size lot (just under 1/2 acre) and it's right next to a hiking/walking trail. The house is set off a private driveway so we don't have any street traffic. It's really quiet and secluded but we have wonderful neighbors with small children (three boys next door!) and they love to just ride up and down our driveway on their scooters and bikes. It's kind of a dream!

Anyway, we are slowing making some progress on the inside but for now, I am dreaming about the exterior of the house. We won't be spending the money on painting the exterior for a little while, but I like to have a plan in place to get me through the dark days of yellow and brown. Here are a few (really poorly done) examples of colors that I am considering.
This isn't a renovation blog, but here's what is on our to-do list for the front exterior (the back yard is a whole separate post for another time!):

- paint exterior siding (possibly replace siding down the road)
- repair gutters
- remove trees in back yard and stumps (there are several cotton wood trees in the back that have roots that are dangerously close to our foundation so they have to go - they're the scraggly looking ones in the picture).
- replace garage doors (they are the originals from the 70s which means they don't have an automatic opener, and they are thrashed)
- expand front porch (we plan to bump out the entry and widen it so there's some entry space, which we don't have now in this split-level plan)
- build portico over porch (several people in our neighborhood have done this and it looks really nice with the rest of the house design - plus it's a necessity here in rainy Seattle!)
- add shutters to windows over garage (it doesn't make sense for me to add shutters to the other windows on the side but I think shutters over the garage windows would look nice)
- KILL the moss!
- seed and fertilize lawn - it needs some major TLC!
- plant hedges and other plants/flowers
- fence in the yard (we're still deciding what to do here since our property line is pretty long and fences are really pricey. I'd love a beautiful cedar fence but there are a lot of draw backs to that: namely price.)
- add lighting over door and garage

Anyway, it's a long list, and there is so much to be done inside as well, but we are just so excited to have a house! I'll keep you all updated as we move along with our plans. :)

10 comments:

  1. I love it! I'm so happy for you. :)

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  2. Enjoy the process! I think gray would be lovely :)

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  3. Fun! The location sounds perfect. What about the dark gray with the light blue door?

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  4. YOUR home, it looks great!
    I would like option 1 (-:

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  5. I really like option #1 AMAZING what a difference color makes:)

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  6. It's going to be so great!

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  7. what a beautiful lot! and so much space! I love option 1.

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  8. Adorable! I like option 1 the best (for what it's worth).

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