Seven years ago my husband and I bought our home from my great aunt. My uncle had passed away 2 years earlier and she needed the money to survive. Once we bought the house from her…we rented it to her very cheaply so that she could still live in it. About 3 years after that, we had to make the decision to put her into a nursing home due to her declining health. Sad to say, she passed away last spring.
My aunt and uncle had bought the house back in 1972 and had lived in it ever since. Over those years they never really updated it or modernized it. At the time we bought it…we weren’t sure if we would live in it or sell it once she passed. Long story short, we decided to keep it and moved into it almost 3 years ago.
One of the reasons we decided to move into it is because it’s like a second home to me. I spent a LOT of time at the house when I was a child growing up. They helped my single mother raise me and my brother. I guess you could say…it was my second family home.
Before we moved into the home we gutted 70% of it. We added a new master bathroom, a family room, laundry room, remodeled 2 of the 3 bedrooms and updated the kitchen and dining rooms. We are still working on the living room, craft/sewing room, man cave and game room. We are also going to add-on a third full bathroom.
Late last summer we decided it was time to update the exterior house paint. The house had it’s original white & dingy paint on it that looked absolutely terrible! We also bought new window shutters, refinished both front porch surfaces (they were cracked & falling a part), updated some more of the landscaping, etc.
One of the big projects that we did was add a nice white porch railing to the bigger front porch. That new railing cost us $585.00 and took us 3 days to install. Oh my gosh…a lot bigger job than what it looks. We are going to do the smaller front porch in late Spring 2016.
Then we tackled the new exterior house paint. I decorate in a coastal and beach style and decided to go with Sherwin Williams ~ Stormy. It’s a beautiful coastal color that at times looks gray and at other times blue/gray depending on how the sun hits it.
So far…we gave it a new paint job, replaced 2 front doors (yes, we have two doors), replaced all exterior porch & entrance way lighting, fixed the cracked cement on the porches, added a nice porch-deck railing to one porch, painted the window shutters, repainted the front porch columns and updated to matching door mats along with some other smaller things.
As you can see…WOW…what a difference that made! The house now looks like it belong’s in this decade & century! ha! Come late spring & early summer the new windows will go in, a new back deck and our new swimming pool. Yay!
Anyway…just wanted to share some before and after home improvement photos with you. Are you currently working on any home improvement projects? If so, tell me about them!
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I love the porch columns, and the light fixtures look nice to…really updates it. The fresh paint does wonders and it looks great. The coastal blue/gray color really fits your style. I bet you love it. Do you still smile whenever you come home from somewhere?
I do! When we first moved in…the house gave me the creeps because every where I looked I saw my auntie and uncle’s house. Now that we’ve been here for 4 years and done 70% of our planned remodeling and additions to the house…it feels like OUR house now.
That is great! Best of wishes on that last 30% but the house looks so much fresher and nice.
I think the color you choose really makes the house stand out as compared to the previous color. I like the look of your front door and window shutters. What a big job you undertook but looks great.
When I saw the new color on your house I knew it was yours. You’ve posted many pictures of your ‘coastal’ decor and this looks like it. Great updating of your beloved house.
I am so very sorry for the loss of your great aunt and uncle. I think your house is very lovely. I love the color that you painted it. I think it looks so fresh and clean you guys have done a wonderful job.
I like that stormy color you chose to paint the exterior. You did a great job on the updating. The shutters, railings, doors and porch really stand out in contrast to the stormy color
I really really like that color and may consoder it for ours. We re repainting this year (hopefully) and currently it is ‘denim blue’ . When it started out it was much darker, and has now faded badly . I was thinking of a colonial gray with the blue look and the Stormy you used is really about the look I wanted. I prefer the blues, hubby grays but I usually win. ha!
I like what you have done for updates it really makes the home much more inviting.
Its amazing what can happen when you start remodeling for sure!
I was going back and forth between a blue and a gray…then I found the Stormy shade. Sometimes it looks more blue when the sun hits it and looks more gray in the shade. That’s what I like about it…it’s definitely in between both shades and is just perfect. I also like it with the white trim and accessories.
I love that blue! It was a really nice choice. It’s wonderful that you get to live in a place that already feels like home, too.
You guys did a great job with the house Shelly. I love the color of the siding too. I am sure your aunt would be pleased with all you have done to the home.
I love the new color! It really brings the exterior to life! Looks great!
I love the color too! It took me 2 weeks of trying out different samples of paint before I decided on that color. I think it really brightens up the white trim. We are doing a few more things out front, I’ll get some photos and share them soon. We put in a new lamp post out front in white…it’s pretty and looks 100 times better than the old black one that used to be out there.
We started on the back side of the house last week. We are putting in a new deck, the above ground swimming pool, some new landscaping, a play area for the grand kids, etc. I’ll get before and after photos of that too.
A porch that stands out great color
This looks like a really great update! The color really brightens up the house!