A Facelift (no not for me)

You know what's really encouraging? To dig back through the pictures of our house circa 2009. It's so easy to focus on all of the current projects and future plans for this little castle, and forget just how far it has come in just a few short years. A perfect example of what I am saying is our garage. Our property is long and narrow, with a little two car garage situated at the back right corner of the property. Our driveway is about 200 feet long from the curb to the garage doors.

Because of this fact, and the fact that we live in the Land of Snow, we don't use the garage to park our cars. We tried that the first winter we lived here. After hours (literally!) of shoveling we realized the error of our ways and from that day forward we have always parked up by the house. The garage houses all of our outdoor stuff in the right bay, and there is a workshop in the left bay.  When we purchased the house, the garage was in pretty sad condition. Peeling paint, untreated paneling, missing windows. Yuck.


In this picture, in which you can also see my dad and youngest brother hard at work tearing out yet another strange garden bed, you can see that apparently  we parked the car in there at least once. If I remember correctly, my Intrepid fit in that garage by the skin of its chinny chin chin, and we abandoned the idea shortly thereafter.

Also! You can see the old front door propped up against the fence. So glad we replaced that door asap. That was a great project too.



So the first project was safety, i.e. replacing the broken window panes. The broken windows sure did come in handy if you forgot the garage door opener though. For the longest time (six months? a year?) we kept a stick leaning up against the garage and used that to reach in through the broken window to hit the garage door button. Truly. We were those rednecks.



I love that the garage has these big windows. It adds some interest to the big old panels. No, it may not be the safest, but I'll take less safety over ugly blank doors any day. So, the window panes were replaced.



Now to do something about those ugly paint colors. What was it with these people and that horrid shade of orange, anyway? Prepare yourself for the power of paint. Ready?  Ta da! We went with the same trim color as on the house, and the same bright, happy yellow that graces the back deck and entryway on the house. I love it. Also, not pictured, we replaced the lower right hand side of the left bay with new paneling, since it was rotting away into nothingness. Some of the trim is still in pretty rough shape, but it's looking so much better now with a few coats of paint.



Also, please pardon the pile of garden junk in these pictures. I guess I was too lazy to sweep that up? I think I was pregnant when I took these pictures last summer. Yeah, I'm sure that's what it was. :) Anyways, the view from my kitchen window has improved substantially, thanks to a couple gallons of paint, two window panes and some new rot-free paneling. So.Much.Better.



But, lest you think that we are super people who have finished every possible project in this house, here's the side of the garage that faces the neighbors.



That's gonna need a lot more paint. :)

Clean House, er, Garage

On my sidebar there on the right, you'll see that I keep a running tally of things that are currently on my project radar. Of course, these are only a sampling of my mega to do list, but I have fun trying to check them all off. My most recent cross off was the long overdue garage cleaning and straightening.

Not exactly a fun task, but one that was long overdue. As you'll be able to see by the pictures below, the garage was a chaotic mess that has never really been dealt with. The previous owners left a bunch of stuff in the garage when we bought the house, and we were pretty excited about some of it. they left lawn tools and a lawnmower, which was a godsend for two broke first time homeowners like us.  Unfortunately, they also left a bunch of random junk, plastic plant trays, firewood and other garbage. And then, as we settled in and began renovations, cleaning the garage never even showed up on the radar. :-)

Someday, I'd like to thoroughly clean and sort out the garage, paint over the orange paint and install some more organizational items. But for now, a major toss of all garbage, straightening of equipment and a thorough sweeping will have to do! Here are all the fun before and afters:

The plan is to use up that wood throughout the summer and fall in our little chimenea, and then evaluate what else needs to be edited and cleaned up. So, for now, it's not perfect or particularly pretty to look at, but it is neat and clean!