So Busy

Last weekend I decided that the front entrance of the house was looking a little drab. The fascia (I bet that's spelled wrong) is covered with white aluminum. The aluminum has probably been on the house for about 30 years, so if that gives you any idea of what it looked like. Most of the trim was streaky, or darker in some areas more than others. The dirt had pretty much just settled in. I decided it would be much easier to spray paint it than replace it. I went out and bought some flat white spray paint and got the enttire porch area painted.

I don't think we will paint under the eves or anything; just the areas that really need it. I also decided it was time to put up some new address numbers on the house and a mail box. In the picture below you can see how good of an accent the balck is with the colors. Once we get out black anderson glass door to the porch it's really going to look sharp... Oh yeah- and our lights. It never ends.

We are almost finished painting!

Last week we took almost the entire week off to paint the house. We got elastameric paint, Convex, from Sherwin Williams and saved 50% through my work. It was still $500, but way cheaper than $1,000. The special paint is made specifically for Stucco so that it can stretch and breathe. I personally think the new color looks AMAZING!



Our accents, light fixtures, new screen doors, etc, will be black. Our fence is going to get stained an ebony color once the wood has dried next spring! Can't wait. Alot of our really expensive projects are coming to an end. There is still alot to do but I feel so much less overwhelmed. The outside finally matches the inside. We are no longer the ugly white house on the corner. We are offically the cute Taupe house on the corner!

So Far So Good.

So far I painted the base/ cinderblock part of the house and half of the chimney. I am a little frustrated because I asked specifically for flat, paint/ primer exterior paint and the woman gave me so paint with a sheen. Now if this was the case for the main stucco I would be furious. Since this area gets dirty I figured the light gloss might be nice because it will be easier to clean off. I chose a dark gray and the main color will be a grayish taupe. The chimney and trim are going to be white. If you check out the photo below you will notice where I stopped paint. Look at how bad it was!

We were going to get some stucco paint @ $50 per gallon. I found a paint called Convex- elastameric. They retail for $45.00 but with my work discount they come out to be $22.49. SWEET right? I was little concerned since we are going to need about 20 gallons. This keeps the paint so much more affordable without going cheap and getting paint that is going to need alot of maintenance. It's my birthday tomorrow, I have the rest of the week off and I plan on painting all week. I can't wait!!! A new paint color on the house is the perfect gift to myself!

Finally!

We paint the house!!! We will start painting the house next Tuesday. I picked a color with just a hint more of gray than the original color that I had used on our garage. I finally got the courage to walk up to my house of inspiration and knock. I told the lady that I am in love with her house color and I had to know what color it is. She was an interior designer and luckily for me we had the same color wheel. I am not in the mood to repaint my garage yet this summer but I'm sure you can barely even tell the difference.

Instead of using a sprayer we will be rolling and back rolling. Unfortunately you can't use a sprayer because it's not actually paint. Oh well, now I don't have to do any dreadful taping and covering windows, trim, etc. This should be pretty easy. One gallon only covers 40 sqft. Gulp....

Can't wait to post some photos!

So Frustrating!

So the contractor for the stucco repair has completely screwed us. He is a nice enough guy but always promises and never follows through. He asked for the remainder of the money before the job was finished. Now I know that is a big no no to pay someone before the work is finished, but he said he would be finished that day. Before the work was done he packed up and left. I told him to come back and we went over the areas that were missed or I wasn't satisfied with. He agreed they didn't look good and said he'd be back the next day. It's now been two more weeks. Wow! He promises and then never comes. His friggen ladder is still in my yard too. I'm filing in conciliation court this Friday if it's not finished. What a HEADACHE! NEVER use Andy Holloway!

On a lighter note- check out our completed fence!







I l0ve the stainless steel post caps. Now we just need to find the right shad of taupe for the house. The garage color is not what we were looking for.

The garden is looking great! I'm so happy I had somebody design the landscaping for me!

Fence is Almost Finished!

Last weekend we got quite a bit done. We pressure washed the garage, did some more finishing touches on the fence. We still need to cut down the posts and put some stainless steel caps on. It's going to look sharp. Then we're going to stain it a really dark ebony color.


Oh yeah, our stucco was finally repaired too. He just has a few more touch ups that weren't up to our standards and then we can paint!

On Sunday I decided to go to Home Depot and find a new color for the house. There is an inspiration house that I love in the Kenwood neighborhood so I tried to match the color as close to that house as possible. On Sunday I picked up 2 gallons of paint and painted the garage. The trim has yet to be painted white but it should give you an idea of what our house will look like when we are all done.

It's been awhile...

Sorry for my lack of posts. The summer is seeming to fly by way too fast. We got the entire house pressure washed, the fence and gate up, just a few more finishing touches and it should be complete. We got a great price on the stucco repair on the house and put our deposit down 2 weeks ago and still no work has been done. He seems to be a bit unprofessional but does good work so I gave him a deadline to have everything complete by Monday or we'll go with someone else. Ahh... contractors.

Other than that we just got back from AZ. We had an amazing vacation that involved laying by the pool and doing absolutely nothing for 4 days. It was refreshing. This weekend I will be powerwashing the garage driveway and sidewalk. Our goal is to have the house painted by the middle of August since I am going back to school on the 24th. I just planted the last of the plants in the landscaping for the season. It looks so good. It's hard to believe how far we've come. It doesn't even look anywhere close to the house we bought. Our appraisal came in $40,000 ahead of what we paid and we aren't even finished yet!