I love organization, and I enjoy keeping on top of things when it comes to our home. But my computer is a mess. I have all of our pictures scattered randomly on three different computers. Because of this, I have a hard time finding photos when I need them. Especially “before” photos.
Anyway… as I was doing some picture rearranging today, I discovered this before picture of our front door. It also shows the original white aluminum trimwork. Yum.
And here is the after taken today (Bailey asked to pose again):
Looks nice and bright on the outside, but beginning this week, that pretty door will lead inside to destruction and mayhem and hopefully not death.
It’s finally come time to replace the floor joists on the second floor. Which also means the whole ceiling for the first floor, since they are one in the same. MAJOR work that my husband and boys are oddly excited for. Testosterone=destroying things with sledgehammers.
They replaced some of the joists already (above picture) soon after moving in, but found out a little too late that the size of the boards was not up to code. Those pesky codes. But we love the inspectors. LOVE. THEM. (they might be reading this) So all the new has to come down along with the old:
For the last ten months this was our living room ceiling. Might not have been so bad if it wasn’t for the insulation billowing out the sides.
We’ve also been cohabitating with some old (unoccupied) wasp nests attached to the old joists. Unnerving? Yes. Needless to say, I’m happy to see it all go. And happy that the girls and I will be “vacationing” at my parents house until it’s all over. Yeah, we’re wimps.
If you remember, our new front door was the first find for our new farmhouse. We bought it off of craigslist for $100 before we even closed on the house. Here it is before:
I originally painted it “Laughing Eyes” (by Ace):
But once installed, it still looked too blue. I knew I wanted to paint the porch ceiling blue and Laughing Eyes was not giving me enough contrast. Here is our ceiling in the process of being painted (not close to finished):
In the end, I decided upon Coventry Gray (Benjamin Moore) for the front door color and I’m happy with it:
It took us until now to post pictures because it took us 6 months to finish the project. (and it’s still not even done… see the unpainted door jam?) Since one thing leads to another in this renovation process… it wasn’t just a matter of swapping the new door for the old. Oh no. Since it was a different size, there was gaping where the siding met the new door, which required us to change the siding. We replaced the aluminum siding with Hardiplank and painted it Cottage White (Behr).
We could only afford to replace half of the siding of the house (it wasn’t in the plans after all), so currently we are sporting a two-tone look. The top half is still white aluminum. I’m hoping the neighbors don’t think it’s for keeps. At least from the middle down, the house is lookin’ pretty.
The galvanized lights are from Lowes. The super simple Swedish wreath is from Ikea. Doormat is from World Market. The dog is not for sale. :)
Isn’t it ironic? And we didn’t even plan it. Turns out the first project for the new house is a front door! It just so happens that we found this lil’ old beauty last week on craigslist for $100.
That’s just how we roll. We see a deal and snatch it up, then find how we can work it in. And we always seem to somehow.
So… a question for you. What color to paint it? We’re leaning towards red. Would love to hear your thoughts.
And if you missed the post about what house we’re talking about, click here.
Decked out in seasonal decor, our new door is looking pretty festive. My daughter posed in front to show just how tall the door is. It’s big!
I bought the swag from Wreaths of Maine, but swapped out the plaid ribbon for creamy silk. I also stuck in some lighter greenery here and there. I didn’t intend to be in the picture, but there I am. Hi!
The iron hares came from my mom. (thanks Mom!) I like them so much, I’ll probably keep them up all year. I hung them with droopy linen bows.
The wax candles are battery operated, and give a dreamy glow in the evening. This has been my first experience with battery operated candles, and I can’t believe I haven’t tried them them out until now! They’re my new favorite thing.
The planter baskets came from TJ Maxx. They are presently on clearance for around $6.00:
The kids cut some greenery from the trees in the yard, and we stuffed the baskets full. We also threw in some sticks and pinecones.
Welcome December!
It’s in! There’s nothing like a big gaping hole in the front of your house to motivate project completion. :)
The old french doors moved to the side of the house to replace some rotten ones.
We stained and kept the wood (on the exterior side anyway). Oak isn’t my favorite wood grain, but when you find a door that’s worth a couple thousand dollars and pay only $150.00 for it, the pickiness subsides. :) We took the hanging lantern from inside the house, and hung it over the door. I love the contrast between the metal, wood, and painted siding.
Now all she needs is a little dressing up. I’ll be sure to share the adornments once completed. Have a happy holiday!
We finally got around to hanging the “Rendre grâce” sign.
It’s centered in our dining space for a daily reminder to give thanks.
What feelings or words does this room conjure up for you?
Peacefulness?
Rest for the weary?
Calm serenity?
Well…….. at present, it’s screaming CHAOS! MESS!
Just when one project is done, another begins. Always!
The only thing that keeps me sane amidst it all is the anticipation of the next thing coming. Like this 8 ft. hardwood door we found for a steal at Habitat’s Restore. It’s gonna be good!
But we decided to install it in our current home because 1.what would be do with ourselves without another project? and 2.we can enjoy it for the few years we have left here and 3.it will add value to the home once the market improves. But the last two reasons are really just excuses for #1. ;)
It originally came from a hotel filled with French antiques. The hotel had a fire, and this mantel survived, but barely. The fire is what created the incredibly gorgeous crackle finish you see below. Which we would have kept as is if it wasn't for the very pink hue it was sporting. It looks white in these following pictures, but trust me, it was pink, pink, pink.
Our boys tackled the project of sanding the monster. House projects are family affairs around here.
Like I said, we'll be adding a real firebox in the opening in the fall (when the cooler weather arrives), but until then we painted the "opening" with chalkboard paint. I got the idea to do this from Lauren at the Pure Style blog. I felt it gave the illusion of a real opening.
I still need to figure out what to put on the mantel. And my biggest quandary? Should I keep it pristine white or distress it up a bit?
Oh, and remember my post about our piano? This is where it sat before:
The fireplace is now the first thing we see when we walk in our front door. It's in a spot we can see from both the living area, kitchen and dining nook. We think the mantel makes a good substitute to take the stage.
We're so looking forward to a cozy fire come Fall, and so is Penny.
When we moved into this home, the front doors were glass from top to bottom.
