Curb Appeal

So many things with the New Old House have been triage; simply getting to the thing on the list that is currently in need of the most help at the moment.

When we moved in last year, there were a number of things that we didn’t care for with regard to the front of our house.  The front door and trim were painted the exact same red as the brick {while the shutters were black} and the front walk lighting was overkill and didn’t work.  The landscaping was double trouble problematic in that it was so overgrown it blocked all the downstairs windows and had enormous Burning Bushes in front of the Rhododendrons.  The lantern over the door was too small and the doorbell didn’t work.  And if we were really being realistic, we hated how the roof color was nearly the same color as the brick.  But let’s be honest, I never entertained the idea that we would consider changing the roof color!

So we started with the easiest project and painted the front door and trim black to match the shutters.  And we polished up the beautiful original lion door knocker and were suddenly so much happier.

We had the Burning Bushes ripped out, the Rhododendrums pruned, and rose bushes and hydrangeas planted.  Our dining room and living room instantly became twice as bright!

I still haven’t found the right lantern, and I’m working with my electrician on replacing the walkway lights this month, so we’re making progress, slowly but surely. But things are blooming, and you can actually see my house which is great improvement.

And then when the snow melted early this Spring, we noticed a teeny tiny leak in ceiling of our bedroom.  Are all of you that are home owners cringing right now?

And the roofers came out, looked at it, and pretty much said the roof was shot and need to be replaced.  And while The Husband saw only dollar signs flying away, I saw visions of the bathroom renovations we’d been discussing literally washing down the drain.  But in our quest for a silver lining in all that is sucktastic in life, we found one!

In the shingle color Pewter Gray.

Because we actually got to change the color of the roof after all.