the house reveal {finally}

Do you remember last fall when we undertook the big task of painting the exterior of the house?  It took under a month, but for some reason, I haven't posted the afters.

I wanted to start with the before.  The very beginning.  When we first moved in.

This is after we moved in.  I can tell because there are plants in the yard and stuff on the porch.  Oh, and the forest green screen doors and screens had been removed from the front doors (yes, we have 2 front doors) and windows.   By this point we had owned the house for about five months but been living in it for 3.
We looked at lots of houses on our search for our home.  We were determined to find a home that was under what we could afford and needed work that wasn't too extensive.  Some of the houses we looked at felt like giant sheds.  The floors shook when we walked and everything was apartment grade.  The first time we walked into this house, we were sold.  It was in worst shape than we were hoping for, but the way the light came streaming in through the windows and filled the space allowed us to see the possibilities.

Our first priority was the inside of the house.  At the time Buddy was 6 weeks old and Moonpie was 2 1/2, so there was very little I could actually do.  John spent every weekend working long hours while the kids and I sat on the porch.  He had lots of help from family and friends- making the improvements all the more special.  I love that I can walk through the house and think "Max painted this room" or "this is where Don and Mitch hung the recycled bead board".  It's pretty neat.

After 25 years of being a rental, the most recent being a very sad situation with lots of police involvement, we were pleased to offer the house a chance to be a home again.  It had been so neglected. I remember when we first moved in, we never heard birds, saw bees or butterflies.  It was a sad, sad place.

We have been here for four years now.  We are still working slowly- one day we will replace those kitchen counters!- and our big improvements still include the help of friends of family (like the roof replaced by our old friend last fall).  We are happy to have the outside finally looking how we want it to look!  Let me introduce you:

pay no attention to all of the dead plants!

We love it!  The teal doors still make me happy every time I walk up to them.  Such a beautiful color!

And as pleased as we are with the outside, we are most happy about the feeling inside.  It is comfortable, peaceful and warm.  It feels more like home than any other house that we've ever lived in.

Here's to old houses with stories to tell and the privilege to add to that story.