It Is Finished - Mostly!

I am so happy to report on this wonderfully cool, overcast Fall day that the outside of our house is all finished - with the exception of a few small things.  After much HARD work in the rain, heat, and even the cold my husband (with some help from friends and family) has made our house look like a brand new house!  We started this project in our minds about 2 years ago when we moved in.  But we put our desires into action the beginning of August and have been working on it ever since.

Our view from back of house
 (taken Saturday)

Potato field behind our house -
anyone need some potatoes?
Come glean some!

First I want to say how blessed we are with this home.  It suits our needs just right and we love it here.  This house sat empty and for sale on the market for 2 years before we bought it.  The structure of it is great.  It just had a sorta "ugly" look to it, which was what kept people from buying it.  And I will admit - we looked at the place 3 times before we bought it.  The first time I said a resounding "Nope!" to it.  I, like many others, was only focused on what met the eye - and let me tell you, it was not very pleasing!  But my husband, with his construction background and ability to see things not as they are but as they can be talked me into looking at it again, and I realized that there was so much this house could offer.  Not only did it have the space we needed, but it sits on an acre of land, is on a dead end street with farm land all around us (I LOVE the open spaces!) and has a spectacular view!  So I was sold!  We have lived here for 2 years now and here is a little of what we have done to the inside:

Kitchen before.

Kitchen after

Bathroom before (ugh!)

Bathroom after

Living room before (I'm really not a fan of carpet - especially
after we tore this up and saw all the "pet" stains on it!  yuck!)

Living room after

Laundry room before.

Laundry room after (and in case you are wondering,
its a completely different room that Matt and my bro-in-law
built in our garage.)

The infamous teal door front door.  Actually, all the doors were this color!

Front door after (until now!)

 Since moving in we have wanted to change the color of the siding, but didn't have the money or time really to accomplish that.  But, after 2 winters with extremely high electric bills, we knew we needed to add more insulation and replace the windows.  So, with the offer of a government grant that we qualified for, we began the journey of adding 2 more inches of insulation all around the house, as well as replace the windows.  So, while we were at it and tearing off the siding anyway, we went ahead and replaced it all and can I say that I LOVE it!  So, lest you all are kept in suspense any further, here is what our "new" house looks like today!

 Before:

Last winter we had an "incident" with the garage door completely falling
off the tracks - on Matt!  It never worked right!  So we were totally
hick"ish" with a tarp for a door for a couple months!

After:

The sun was not shining, so its hard to completely tell the color,
but it is actually a gray even though it sorta looks brownish here.

No more bay window in the living room!  Yay!

Finishing up the last bit!

We have extra roofing and siding that we will use for the shed.

No more blue tarp! :-)

 So there you have it!  If we get a sunny day here soon, I will try to take some better pics.  All that is left is a few pieces of fascia on the back and to paint the foundation.  We are so thankful for how God has provided us with all this and are looking forward to some lower electric bills this winter!  Hope enjoyed the little "tour" of our home!  Now, come and visit!!!!

Until next time...