It's Great To Be Home

Before & After: The Exterior

October 17, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 30 Comments

Well hello there, peeps & peepettes! I know it’s been awhile, thanks for hanging in there! I don’t have any fabulous explanation for my absence, other than that a little break felt nice. :)

This is the final stop on our before and after tour of our third flip – the exterior!!

Here’s the professional “after” shot that went in the listing . . .

( Courtesy of Lance Hames Photography )

. . . as compared to what this little ol’ house looked like when we bought it back in June:

Yikes, right? The exterior got a full facelift, including a new roof, new windows, a serious tree-trimming, a new front door, a tiled front porch, new exterior lighting, a paint job, and some new sod and landscaping. All of it was in dire need, if you ask me!

Here’s the front of the house from another angle – not as dramatic-looking as the professional shot, but this is what you get when I’m behind the camera. :)

And a similar angle, pre-spruce-up. (Sorry for the spots, not sure what was going on with my camera).

And last but not least, the covered patio that leads to the backyard:

( Courtesy of Lance Hames Photography )

Prettier than it was before, no?

The new windows, lighting, French doors and paint job really freshened things up, and we used the patio furniture from our own patio to sort of “set the stage” for some serious porch relaxation.

I might have some flip updates for you guys in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

P.S. To avoid missing any posts in the future (or to save time so that you don’t have to check back here for updates), remember that you can always subscribe to IGTBH by email or in a feed reader by clicking on this nifty little button to the sidebar on the right:

Paint!! And Landscaping!!

August 4, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 13 Comments

We’re getting there! The exterior of the house is slowing being tamed.

When we bought the flip back on June 2nd it looked like this:

And now, after some landscaping, a new roof, new windows, a new stained front door and a coat of paint on the bricks, it looks like this:

Yes, there’s plastic over the windows, we still need shutters and the soffit hasn’t been painted, but we’ll get there!

Jason and I have started our marathon lawn-watering sessions – 33 days of 100+ degree heat have NOT been kind to the grass. We’re hoping we can resuscitate the grass, so cross your fingers for us! Are you guys melting in this heat, too?

P.S. My car’s thermometer read 128 degrees the other day! That is insane.

The Flip: The Exterior, Then & Now

January 31, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 19 Comments

After I showed you guys all the before and afters of the inside of the flip, I realized that I never gave you a proper before and after of the exterior!

Here’s how it looks now . . .

. . . and here’s how it looked when we bought it at the end of September:

The very first thing we did was have the ginormous dead tree cut down, and we also got new shutters and a fab new oak front door – the swirls and curls on the original door just didn’t fit in with the clean lines we were going for with this house (and I’m very jealous of the new door, since our front door is almost identical to the old door that got the boot).

Along with new hardware and lighting, the old metal post was replaced with a stained wood post, and the front porch (which was kind of an icky aggregate) was tiled with some sleek new slate.

I always kind of lose steam when it comes to the exterior (I’m definitely an interior gal), but I think the little changes made a big difference in the curb appeal of the flip and took this house out of the 70s and into this decade. What do you think?

P.S. This is my 400th post! Yowzers!

P.P.S. You may have noticed that I’m tweaking the look of the blog a bit – I still have a few more tweaks, but what do you think so far?