Project # 1: Curb Appeal

Katie and I purchased a house that was foreclosed upon. None of the toilets were smashed, the only holes in the wall were from fixing an outlet that should have been put behind the fridge in the first place. Nothing was terrible about the house, but everything needs attention.

The living room/dining room is a pale shade of pink that just doesn't look right. Perhaps the reason I find the walls so offensive is the brown floor tiles, they're not so bad; unless they're paired with pink. Katie hates the tiles, but doesn't have a great problem with the pink, but she hates the tiles.

The master bedroom is a funky green that's just a bit harsh for a relaxing space. Not to mention, whoever build the closet instert didn't have clothes like Katie. That's coming out before we move in, to be sure.

The second bedroom has a nursery perfect light blue - no, no one in our trio is pregnant. Frankie and I are dudes, and Katie just isn't. But if we want to use the room when we expand the team, the chair rail is definitely going to change or just come out. Also, this is the only room with crown moulding, which is a nice touch.

The kitchen is a bold red color, only the painter didn't grasp that bold takes two coats. Since they never put a second layer of paint down, so it looks like a slaughter was had in the room. Also the prep didn't include fixing blemishes, so the kitchen needs some sanding, sealing, and priming before being painted a more subtle color. Additionally, there is a holiday theme, as the countertops are green with a fleck of gold sparkle. It's festive, from Thanksgiving to December 25th, but the rest of the year it is tacky.

The exterior is no better than the inside, porch paint is worn on high tread areas, trim is flaking or the wood is rotting from age and moisture from broken gutter downspouts, and the concrete tiles are cracked and also the paint is flaking. Also, whoever last put a coat of paint on the place was going for a classic Caribbean style, with a cool aqua marine. That's going to be changed too. Not to mention the shed doesn't match.

Long story short, there isn't a surface that doesn't need some paint.

Which brings us to project number 1: Fresh paint on the porch and trim. An hour or so after closing, I pressure washed the porch. I definitely gunked up a couple boards, and discovered some that will need to be replaced, but everything is going to work for the time being. The next day, i primed all the bare wood.

Priming sounded so easy, but when you start priming, then you realize the crumby cracked plastic lattice work around the porch has paint all over it. So I ripped it off, and primed the whole side of the porch underwork. This isn't too much, but I'm home alone while Katie is out of town for work, and that leaves me the single dog carer. I didn't finish taking all the lattice off, but it definitely changes the look of the house. So it's all coming off, for now. Next step, do we only hide the gap with bushes or replace the lattice work too, what do you think?

 I want to paint all the porch trim (pillars, railings, etc... in a bright fresh clean white) and then the porch surface is getting a fresh layer of grey put down.

This begins the wash and prime paint routine of every piece of trim on the building...

In due time, the upper trim will be replaced with that fancy PVC wood I've been seeing. Never paint, just fix it with stainless screws and go team! It's almost perfect. Additionally, broken concrete shingles around the house are going to be replaced, and this fall there will be a painting party. Point being, I want this place to start looking better from day one.

Ok, enough for now. I'll proofread in a bit.

What Was Your First House?

Today Katie and I closed on our first house. We were mildly excited, but truth be told, it was just faster than we ever thought it would happen. It's quite overwhelming right now, but since I have a while (30 years) to work on the house, I guess I will have a while to sort through it all and tell stories about all there is racing through my brain. To keep my brain from writing too much and making a mess, here's what I'm going to be writing about when I sit down and make a 20 minute focus every day or two:




1. How we met/married/got to being homeowners.
2. Searching for the perfect house with the talented Jean Matich
3. The Winchester Mansion of Arlington, Virginia
4. Why we wanted a fenced in yard
5. The size of our "To do list"
6. How our house is better than snakes
7. Subtlety - The tile in the living room, it isn't mustard colored, but the walls are a little pink
8. SLAUGHTER in the Kitchen -  worst paint job ever
9. Our Paint Scheme
10. Fighting Foreclosed Freezer Funk

To find out if anyone is reading this, here's a question for you: What was your first house? What made it awesome? What was the worst part of it? How would you have done things differently?

-Jeff