Curb appeal
wishing and dreaming
and thanks to some seriously overwhelming generosity...
We have a front porch. And it's beautiful.
The last several weeks have been exciting around here, from an outdoor perspective. Especially for Trey and Aden. The morning the cement truck pulled up might has well have been Christmas. It was great for the boys to watch the process from start to finish.
In addition to working on the porch, our contractor replaced the siding on the side of the house above the carport. No more dingy gray for us! He also chucked the old metal storm door on the front and hung up a shiny new full-glass fellow.
And a benefit we didn't even think of is that it is now five to ten degrees cooler in the living room (behind the picture window) without us having touched the thermostat. Nice.
Those things combined with the landscaping and dead-tree-removal marathon we completed a couple of weeks ago, and this place is looking brand new. Had the discussion the other night about how sometimes when riding around, I'll see a house and comment on how nice it could be if someone took care of it. That's probably what regular lake vacationers have been saying about us as they have driven by year after year.
Of course it's not finished finished, because nothing ever really is. So in homage to my YHL shiny star, here is my own personal Listy McListerson for the new porch:
Pressure wash. This is not porch-exclusive. Though there is mud on the new concrete, there is also mud on creeping up the left half of the front of the house. And everywhere else structure meets land. And on the carport. And the deck. You see where I'm going.
Flower box rack removal. There is a small metal flower box rack attached beneath the picture window that needs to get the heck outta here. So we can sit on our porch without being gouged in the back of the head. That would be nice.
Furnish. Still trying to decide how much or how little furniture to add, how many seats, gliding/rocking or not. I know the big sales are on right now, but don't want to buy something - even at a deep discount - without being sure. So we may end up living with our old white rockers for a while. No harm.
Color pop. Something I wanted all along (that thankfully came as a recommendation from our contractor) is to choose a color to paint the shutters and front door. There's a lot of white there, and I'd love a little pop. This will be the very most difficult move, for two reasons. Brandon is not a fan of color, and is adamantly opposed to this. And then I have not proven terribly reliable in household color selection. A decorator I am not. So this could be an uphill battle. One I think I'll win eventually. But who knows what it will take to get there.
Decor. The area to the left of the door is a bit plain. Right now, thinking I'd kind of like to hang a not-too-big barn star on the house in that region, and then put something large-ish on the porch. Like a ginormous flower pot. Maybe.
So we do have this list, and while it will be super-exciting to be able to cross some things off, we'll be taking our time getting there. It's just good to be where we are. Can't remember ever loving my home more.
Lastly, I will say that this is kind of a frivolous thing. We're not fancy folk, and in general are fine with just living with things as-is. But sometimes, in His grace and unfathomable love, God chooses to bless us frivolously. And there is nothing but gratitude and humility in my heart. And a huge smile on my face.
Thank you, Lord.
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