Renovations on the house....

 This Summer has been taken up with completing the outside of our porch renovations which began last June when we replaced the stairs and landing leading to the inside porch.  New sidelights, mail box and house numbers were added. The paint put on the stucco where windows had been removed didn't match the rest of the house, OOPS! Back to the drawing board.... or paint chips. :)

 Then cornices were added over the new door and windows, which had been installed while Dad was on college break over Christmas. The Winter cold caught up to us, sigh, thus making us have to wait until Spring in order to resume the outside work.

 The inside door frame was installed after the wiring for the lights and door bell was completed. Then while deciding how to paint the new door, I practiced on the inside. With so much character in this door, it just had to be brought out!

 FINALLY!!! a frame has been installed around the inside of the side door!!! We knew that this was not going to be an easy task, so it was put off and put off and put off for several years. It feels crisp and clean now!!! Interesting fact: without realizing it, I chose the same color blue paint for the outside trim as I had chosen years ago for the inside hall and kitchen. I must really like this shade of blue! As I told Dad, decorating is all about feelings!

 Blessings in disguise are not usually easy to deal with. This one came about, because I miss matched the window frame paint, from a dark gold to a light gold. I actually like the lighter gold better, but that meant that all of the windows and door frames had to be repainted, hum. Upon reaching these octagon windows, it was discovered that the sills were rotting and needed to be replaced. More work! Dad was a trooper and set to work completing them just in time for the rain from the hurricane, which turned out to be no more than a typically mild Summer storm.

 Even though the garage is falling apart, it needed to be colored the same as the house... so as not to draw attention to that fact. It still needs the tiny blue line around the rectangles in the door.

 We had to remove the canopy from the back deck so the upper bedroom window could be painted. Dad was so gracious to do it for me, since I DO NOT ENJOY LADDERS! But I would have done it if he would not do the coloring the way I wanted. (the cream cornice and blue strip across the cornice like the door frame here)The little blue line around the door windows doesn't show up in this picture, but it is there.

 The new lights on the side and front doors have photo censors built in. Very convenient when coming home late! That is, if we remember to turn them on before we leave in the daylight.  :-)

 To paint the shutters all red seemed to be to much red, so only the outer edge was painted red. It sure makes a huge difference. What do you think of my climbing contraption? I know it looks unsafe, but it actually was a lot more stable than a ladder and much easier for me to climb up and down on.

TADA! MY MASTERPIECE!!

I matched the wall paint finally, and painted all of the lower windows and the upper ones, which could be reached from the porch roofs. A young man who recently graduated from high school is painting the rest of the upper story windows to match the lower ones, and Dad is going to paint the attic windows.

This has been a very fun project, which started because the porch floor was loosing integrity. Amazing how far our imagination carried us!! Now we have a much bigger living room, a larger coat closet and lots of pantry and storage space with more respectable front and side entrances.

FEELS GREAT!

Next project: The kitchen!!