Our 1996 Split Level

We moved into this split level home in July.  This is the Real Estate Listing when it was for sale.  We have made a few improvements to the outside of the house since we moved in.  The family we bought from replaced the front door, but in this picture it had not been replaced yet.  The shutters were a seafoam green when we moved in but the paint was badly faded.  One of the first things we did was to paint the shutters.  We chose exterior resilience paint in the color foothills .  The door has since been painted the same color.  I will post a picture with the door painted soon.  We also trimmed all of the landscaping back, it was out of control!  We power washed the sidewalk and stairs.  We could not believe how dirty they were! Seriously, we didn’t realize they were even dirty until we cleaned them.  We left for a bit while they were still wet, and when we pulled back into the driveway they were so much cleaner they looked like they had been bleached!  Needless to say, it was a HUGE improvement! Here is the house now.

When we moved in the gutters were so full that when it rained they just overflowed.  We ended up paying someone to power wash the entire house, including th gutters, soffet, and facia, and they also cleaned out the gutters for us.  That was the last thing we wanted to spend money on, but I was not about to let my husband climb up and do that (he is a bit clumsy), and in the back of the house it is very far off the ground.  That is all we plan to do on the outside of the house this year, but we have several plans for next summer! 

Update 11/01/14:  See our painted handrails here.  See our fall front stoop here.  

The house is in a great neighborhood, and on a super cute street, with the cutest amber colored street lights at night.  There are so many pretty houses within walking distance.  I need to take a walk soon, and take some pictures of my favorites to post for you! 
The house needs so many updates on the inside that I could go on for days about all of the things we want to do.  It has 4 bedrooms, and three bathrooms.  We moved from a house with huge walk in closets and tons of storage, and this house has way smaller closets and less storage, so that has been our biggest challenge, especially since I LOVE clothes, and I have a ton of them!  My husband also has lots of suits plus his every day clothes.   
I am planning to post lots of pictures of the inside of the house and show you what we have done so far.  I will also show you a list of the things we plan to change in each room.  I would love it if you would join me on my journey to update this house on a very small budget, and we plan to do the majority of the work ourselves.  I am currently in the process of refinishing the kitchen cabinets.  They are nice oak cabinets, but look like they are straight out of 1988.  So far, we are extremely happy with the way they are turning out!  Pictures coming as soon as they are finished. 

www.sherwin-williams.com   exterior resilience paint in the color foothills