New windows and siding

This fall we decided we started looking at new shades for our windows. Somehow this led to the decision to replace all of the windows in the front of the house. And then that led to the decision to replace the siding on the front and sides of the house, because if they were going to have rip out the trim and replace it to do the windows, we might as well do all of it. If you give a mouse a cookie...

here are some before pics...what you can't see is all the bits of rotted wood and chipped paint. The old siding was board and batten style, using the T111 plywood siding. Prone to rot. Yuck.

A couple of in-progress pics, along with roller skating kids. We went with a lighter siding color, and kept the board and batten style.

Stay tuned for the finished work - we're still waiting on the weather to get stable so the final front door painting can be done...

House Hunting

We started looking for a new house when our triplets were 6 months old. We knew we were quickly outgrowing our starter home and wanted more space. The house hunt took a long time - a combination of us being picky and the market being sort of flat. Finally, after at least 5 months of searching, we settled on a split-level built in 1970. We chose it for the square footage (~2700), the 3-car garage (even though it was detached), the large yard (~1 acre), and the nice established neighborhood with good schools. We knew the "bones" and the location were good, so we compromised on appearance. The house was definitely stuck in the 70s, with some decor from the 80s. Here are some pics of the house from before we moved in:

front

back - see the awesome screened porch, and open deck?!?

I am still searching for the interior pictures. They're on my hard drive somewhere...trust me when I say that we have quite a bit of mustard yellow and avocado green in our kitchen and baths...

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog! I wanted a place to document our new home and the changes we've gradually been making. Our house was built in 1970 and is a split level - not exactly what we were looking for when we were house-hunting, but the space and the price were right. We've been making cosmetic changes and invisible changes, and we have lots of things yet to do. We're hoping to keep the 1970/mid-century modern feel without quite as much avocado green and mustard yellow...