The Exterior Gets Some Love, Part 1

We had a little open house last weekend, which really pushed us to wrap a few exterior things up that had been hanging over our heads for some time. Let’s start with the front!  First, here’s the “before” of the house when we bought it.

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We painted our front door red several months ago and LOVED it, but it’s taken us a while to find the time to get the screen door painted as well.  Now it’s finally finished!

We are still in the process of getting all of our shutters reconstructed (there are 2 for every window on the house), and that could take quite a while because they are so expensive.  So we decided to just put them up on the front, and it made a world of difference!! The house just looks so much more complete from the street now.

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Next, we had the porch painted in a gray that’s slightly darker than the color we chose for the metal roof.  Charles picked it out, and it’s perfect!

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Next, we hung the historic marker and mailbox, and added a couple sets of chairs with tables and potted flowers.  Eventually we’d like to have big rocking chairs on one side of the front porch and a porch swing on the other.  But thanks to Charles’ parents, we got to use these sets for free. :)

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A few weekends ago, Charles took all the bricks that we had left over from the front and back cheek walls and lined flower beds all around the house.  He threw in some pine straw and made everything look neat and tidy.

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So here it is.  Our curb view!

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And just in case you need a before and after…

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Come back next week to see what we’ve done to the back! In the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to keep up! :)

UPDATE: see the back of the house here!

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62 comments on “The Exterior Gets Some Love, Part 1

  1. Wow! You have come so far in such a relatively short time. It must feel so gratifying to drive up to such a beautiful home at the end of the day. Kudos to both of you for all the hard work.

  2. That is beautiful!! Wow, you have a seriously gorgeous house. I LOVE old houses, they have so much character! I really like the red door and the gray porch, too. That porch! To die for! I can’t wait to see more of it! Visiting from Inspire me Please :)

  3. Sarah, I am in awe and so impressed at what you have done! Seriously, very few would be able to accomplish what you two have. I featured you on my fb page and gave you a shout out too; thank you for linking up to Wonderful Wed. Blog Hop. Carrie, A Mother’s Shadow

  4. Wow! I love to see old things made new and it looks like you guys are doing a great job. The colors you chose for the exterior are beautiful.

    1. Oh how I wish they were simple, Marty! This transformation is 18 months of grueling labor and a lot of money. The house was practically falling down when we found it. Yikes!

  5. Love the pictures Sarah! Occasionally I am in Goldsboro for work, would love to see the awesome house in person. Love you – Tammy

  6. I work in Goldsboro and just happened upon your home on Monday. The pictures do not do it justice, it is so beautiful! You have done a fabulous job on it.

  7. Ohhh, I LOVE these old southern homes. Great job on the redo, as well! We moved to suburban Texas, where these homes are few and far between, but they warm my heart to see people redoing them. Stopping by from artsy corner thursday.

  8. What a gorgeous home! I envy your large front porch and neat flower beds. I like how striking the shutters are on the second level against the color of the clapboards; not, though, as much a fan of the shutters on the front porch bay and windows framing the front door. It looks a tad too crowded to me, like the shutters are falling over each other. I don’t mean this as an insult, please don’t take it that way, it’s just my impression from the photos. Perhaps seeing the house in person is an entirely different viewpoint. So cool that you went with a metal roof! Not only will it last at least twice as long as a more conventionally shingled roof, it is so efficient at channeling rain water and snow melt (if you have any snow melt) off the structure, and metal roofs are also very traditional, predating asphalt shingles by far. A lot of work owning a landmark historical home, you are doing fabulously, keep up the good work, it looks gorgeous.

    1. I guess everyone’s entitled to their opinion, Jan. We chose to leave the shutters because we were restoring the house, not renovating. We wanted the exterior to look exactly as if it might still be 1902, and the shutters were original to the house. The metal roof was also original, we just had it painted. In our case, our state offers tax credits for properly restoring historic properties, which adds up to quite a big chunk of change. Definitely worth it to go back and do everything historically!

  9. Hi Sarah! I just wanted to let you know that I LOVE your home, and I’m featuring you as one of my Rockstars this week from Creativity Unleashed!

    As a Rockstar you’re in the running for this week’s MEGA Rockstar! Grab your friends and come vote at http://www.theboldabode.com/2014/09/letters-rockstars-creativity-unleashed-week-35.html

    The MEGA Rockstar gets loads of love including:

    1. Shout outs on all my social media houses.
    2. A bucket full of Pins to my biggest group boards
    3. A big sidebar ad proclaiming them the MEGA Rockstar of the week
    4. And a feature in my weekly newsletter!

    Congratulations and Good Luck!!!

  10. It looks so fresh and pretty. I know how much work it takes to restore an old home. The house I live in is my second one. Keep up the good work. An old home is well worth the effort.

    Big Texas Hugs,
    Susan and Bentley

  11. Wow, It looks like a film set to me! We just don’t have houses like this in the UK. It’s so pretty, I love the colours you have used and the garden tidy up is miraculous. Good work!

  12. The neighbors must love you both for you hard work. That is what it’s really all about – work. I am so glad you didn’t know then what you know now, you might not have stepped up! Be sure to pace yourself, once it’s complete you’ll want to start over with another one. It’s addictive!

    1. Haha! Yes, they were! They told us later that they had seriously considered moving because of how bad the house next door looked.

  13. What a difference! I love your home, and it’s so awesome that it’s got a historical marker. Ha! my house was built in 1971. No historic marker ;-)

  14. Wow!! Huge pat on the back for your hard work. It is a beautiful home. I can see why you purchased it. A jewel. I’m sure your neighbors appreciate your hard work too! Happy SITS Day

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