Back of the House Gets A Face-lift

Ok, I am so not trying to turn this into a home-improvement blog. But there have been some fun things going on around here which I want to share. Many of our readers know that we did not buy our house for its cosmetic beauty, but because it was in a great area, had pretty good “bones”, and was in our price range. Frankly, much of it was pretty awful-looking when we bought it. But, we have been really thankful to be here.

So now, after many months, we have updated/improved/replaced many things which needed attention that were NOT cosmetic and which, while adding to the very important “soundness” of the home, didn’t do much to enhance the appearance of the house (think electrical, plumbing, gas lines, gutters). But this past week, we made the first profound improvement to the place cosmetically. And from the back at least, things are looking pretty nice!!

Here is a before shot of the back of our house. The folks who used to own the place let their dogs live out here (as well as several thousand colonies of fleas…which we have since evicted!), and they (the dogs, not the fleas!) did a number on the brick walls, back doors, deck floor. Ick.

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Here is how the other side looked, complete with random trash and Christmas lights (it was August!) left by previous owners:

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Here is the same spot now (with one lonely, albeit lovely chair which belongs to my lil’ sis):

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The pic doesn’t show it well, but the deck is actually a darker color than the house, so there is a bit of contrast. Still working on my Photoshop (or, in this case, Picasa) abilities…..

Here’s another before (remember this, Jamison?):

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And this afternoon:

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From what our sweet next-door neighbor tells us, this deck is over twenty years old, so I don’t know how long it will last, but hopefully we have just prolonged its life significantly with this latest TLC. I am loving this space. If you’re in the area, come on over for a glass of tea and a chat on the deck. We can fight over who gets to sit in my sister’s adirondack chair!

3 Replies to “Back of the House Gets A Face-lift”

  1. Ohhhhhhhhh it’s so pretty!!! Yes, I do remember that day! I can’t believe so much time has passed!

    Congratulations on your house upgrades; everything is looking just AMAZING!! =)

  2. Aside from the deck itself, I really like the lighter (white?) framing on the doors. Iced tea sounds nice enough, but I keep hoping for weather more in keeping with hot cider! Whatever, I look forward to sitting on your spruced-up deck.

  3. Thanks, Jamison!

    Mom, I totally agree both on yearning for cider as well as the immense improvement on the doors: we found the slats for them in the garage after we’d moved in. I was so tickled! The white is what we hope to paint all the house trim in someday. While the rest of the trim could use some sprucing as well, that’s a much bigger job, so we hit the neediest spots for now.

    The new color outside brings SO much more light inside our family room. It is amazing how much more cheery it feels…I am SO thankful!

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