Category Archives: remodel

Front Walkway, Steps, and Porch – December 2021

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Similar to the back patio, we had needed for several years to make improvements to our front walkway. The mortar was crumbling between the bricks and it was literally beginning to fall apart. Our single step had sunk a few inches, about the spacing of one brick, making going up and down the step more of a hazard as it was steep walking up or down!

One of the biggest changes Kevin wanted to make was to enlarge our steps and porch area so that it took up the entire width of the bump out at the front door. We also wanted a larger walk leading to the step itself. We are super happy with how it all turned out and that it was able to be done yet this year – in the month of December nonetheless! We also added up lighting on the house, down lights on the steps, and up lighting to a couple of trees in the front yard as well.

Choosing the color for the front was rather challenging as our brick is a funky color to try to coordinate with. Amy came over and helped us narrow down our options and we selected a particular paver only to find out there wasn’t enough inventory to do our project and no more was going to be produced. Ugh! So Matt gave us a few other options and we chose a new color, but it wasn’t going to be available until the 3rd week of December. However, after the walkway around to the back patio was complete we looked at how the walk looked alongside the chimney area we thought it looked like it went really well. So we yet again hit up 9Trees and asked to change the paver to the same Fossil color we used in the back.

And now for the pictures!

February 2019 ~ New Windows!!

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We got new windows!! After years of not being able to open many of our windows (and me complaining) we took the plunge and replaced all of the windows in our house! The kitchen bay window at our new sink was replaced when we remodeled 4 1/2 years ago, but every other window, including those in the garage, are now brand new! The back door near the bay window in the kitchen was also replaced. We have not replaced the glass doors to the porch for now.

We went with Pella Architectural Series 400 windows that are white on the inside, white screens, oil rubbed bronze hardware, and a putty color outside (same as what was put in the kitchen bay window other than those were brown screens). They are wood windows with aluminum cladding on the outside. We have all brand new screens and in some rooms new blinds, other rooms just bare windows for now. All of the wood trim was replaced but remains unpainted as of now. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be able to open the windows!!! And each of the rooms looks so nice, even though they aren’t yet painted. We plan to paint them white which of course brings up the issue of our oak stained trim and doors everywhere. At some point we’ll likely get everything painted white – perhaps over a period of time as that will be a huge project.

Here are some room by room before and after photos. From the outside it can be hard to tell, but the old windows are the paint color and the new ones are a tan-like putty. Sadly I guess I didn’t get a full view of the front of the house before, only after. In any case, you’ll notice Brutus modeling his statue-like behavior as I went from room to room taking before pictures :).

BEFORE

AFTER

I took Griffin and Reid to the zoo the first day of the window project. It was in the mid 50’s and sunny to overcast. Right as we were arriving home they were tossing his window frame out and we were able to snap a pic of it coming out. Pretty cool!

In the loft, they did a really great job taking out the wood trim and then putting the same trim back. You can really barely tell they did anything other than the window is now white!

We’re also making some improvements to our screened in porch. A couple of years ago when we got a new roof, we had two skylights put in the roof. The ceiling, however, was a flat ceiling so you couldn’t see the windows. Brett is opening up the ceiling, putting in a couple of beams, some lighting, electrical (including controllers for the skylights that will open), a new window on the north peak. As it turns out when either Pella or Lowe’s slightly screwed up the window order and the two side windows in our master bath bay window were the incorrect size. The ended up giving us those for free! We were going to use one of the windows that came out of the house but instead ending up using a brand new window in the north peak wall of the porch. We’re putting in windows in the porch as well, but they aren’t in yet. I’m really looking forward to having more of a three-season room that stays pollen free 🙂 These pictures are the beginnings, it’s still a work in progress.

November 9, 2014

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20141108_093940I’m looking forward to a few days of doing just what Finn is doing here, ha! We’ve had such a crazy busy week this week that I hardly snapped any photos. And while some of these photos are a bit fuzzy they capture Finn’s personality pretty well. He is calm and sweet, followed by fun and spunky, and sometimes he’ll mix in a little sass here and there. He NEVER sits down unless he is eating or we play Sesame Street. He is always busy investigating, watching, playing, observing, exploring, running, jumping, dancing, you name it! Every night when I put him to bed and say “I love you”, he replies “wuv you mama” “night night” “wuv you”, “wuv you”, “wuv you”, even after I’ve closed the door. Gives my heart tingles – he’s so sweet. He is speaking a ton, often times 3 or 4 words together (yewwow truck mama, pease choc choc milk, bye bye dada, tank you dada (or mama, or Debbie), pease takta mama).  He usually puts the “please” before whatever he would like and then adds mama or dada to the end. And he is so polite, if you give him something he has asked for he almost always says “tank you mama” without any prompting. IMG_20141108_112030082_HDR IMG_20141108_112103749_HDR IMG_20141104_174811790 DSC_0735 IMG_20141109_202910236 IMG_20141109_091750164 DSC_0743 DSC_0737Now that we’ve partially painted the basement (tv area) and Kevin put everything back in it’s place we’ve been spending time together downstairs. One night Griffin kept saying “out, out, out” so I went to see what he had gotten himself in to and found this, including the pouty/sassy lip:IMG_20141109_200753346And it made me think of how small he used to be when we kept this rocker upstairs in our bathroom and would plop him in it while we were showering or getting ready and wanted to keep him in one place.  Such a little boy – this is from August 31, 2013:august_31_2013-2We spent some time preparing our house and completing a lot of smaller details to get everything presentable in order to host the 40th birthday party for my fabulous friend Sarah. I began to think we were a bit crazy trying to tackle so many things, but it was great to have a deadline to get things wrapped up. We painted the basement ceiling now that it is complete. Brett created a really pretty wood ceiling with can lights that was based on a design Kevin found. Then we painted the walls white (rather than the yucky almondy-yellow color, blech) and Kevin put it all the furniture and various things back together. Kevin and his dad installed several light fixtures. We put up curtain rods and curtains. We purchased a couple of area rugs and accessories. Everything is really coming together and looking quite nice! There are only a few images here, more to come in the near future. DSC_0709 DSC_0713 DSC_0715Around 30 of Sarah’s family and friends were able to join us to celebrate her 40th, and sadly I didn’t snap any photos that were good enough to share. They were all un-posed and not quite flattering as people were eating and talking. I forgot to take any of the setup and food except for the desserts (duh!) – but we had quite a tasty meal of ham & cheese sammie appetizers, grilled chicken, grilled peppercorn pork tenderloin, garlic mashed potatoes, pumpkin-sausage soup, mixed fruit, green salad, and a quinoa and rice salad. For dessert we had a super tasty carrot cake (from Whole Foods – it was so pretty), and yummy macarons from Pistacia Vera  in German Village and delish sugar cookies from  Sweet Tooth Cottage in Powell that perfectly matched the invites. Sweet Tooth does an amazing job – I highly recommend them if you ever want personalized or unique cookies for events! DSC_0729 DSC_0726 DSC_0724 DSC_0727 DSC_5707-2