Fall at the Shore Shack

It's been way too long since I have posted. Fall has been busy busy busy! We went to Florida at the end of August, and then to Ireland for almost two weeks in mid-September. Needless to say we haven't made much progress on the house.

We did manage to install our new outdoor light. We were so happy to trash the old one! Here is what the front entry looked like with the old light.

It's always been bad, but it looked even worse after we painted the railings! To make matters worse, the light wasn't even working. We tried just about everything we could think of, but had to call in an electrician. He was able to get the light working and installed the new light. He also fixed our doorbell - bonus! Here is the new light in all its glory.

We had purchased the light over a year ago but waited until we started the front entry project to work on it. We sanded, primed and painted it the same color as the metal railings. We are happy with the new look!

Notice Gilly creeping in on this photo! It's also hard not to notice all the pumpkins...we went to the pumpkin patch yesterday and got a little pumpkin happy. It's officially Fall at the Shore Shack! We picked every single pumpkin right off the vine, and it was fun walking through the fields looking for exactly the right ones. We also came home with over 20 small pumpkins and squash (? we're not really sure what they are!) I have been spending all day figuring out how to arrange all of them. Here are a few in the kitchen.

Aaron pulled out all the Halloween decorations yesterday, so I've been trying to find a place for everything today. Gilly is a big fan of our candy basket!

It only took 30 seconds after I put the basket there for Gilly to climb in and claim it as her new favorite spot. :-)

So the light ended up taking a little more time than we expected, but that always seems to happen with even seemingly simple home improvements! Next up is to finally install the house numbers, and we are thinking about making some improvements to the door frame before painting the front door. Our goal is to finish those before Thanksgiving (we are hosting again this year).

Railing Progress

I'm back with an update on our metal railing progress.

The front porch of our house has metal railings and metal interlocking squares. When we purchased the house, they were painted white. The railings had chipping paint in areas, while the squares had some rust.

We wanted a cleaner, more sleek look, so wanted the scrolls removed. Cue the metal artist who knew just how to remove the scrolls.

After the scrolls were removed, there were small holes left where they had been attached and some metal was exposed. We used some bondo and a metal primer to cover them up.

To finish up the project, we prepped, sanded and painted the railings first as we knew the squares would take forever. We were right - when we got to the squares, the sanding took FOREVER. Then again, so did the painting! While it took only about an hour to prime the railings, and an hour to paint them, the squares took two hours to prime and four hours to paint. This project took several weekends to finish, but we are happy with the results so far. We think the paint helps to tie in the beach pebbles.

With everything painted, the light looks even worse. Oh well, we have one ready to put up along with some new house numbers. Then we just need to paint the door and the trim around it, and our little "curb appeal" project will be complete.

Front Porch Progress

It's been awhile since we posted, which I'm sure is no surprise. June was incredibly busy, and we didn't accomplish anything on the house. Luckily July was a little less hectic, and we've been able to get a few things done.

Our main focus has been on the front porch. The scrolls on the metal railings have been removed (for a much cleaner look), and then we sanded, primed and painted them a "smoke grey." We are really happy with how it is looking so far, and are eager to get the rest of the list done so we can finally post some "after" pictures!

Here's our to-do list, which if nothing else helps us plan for how we're going to get all of this done.

1. sand, prime and paint the squares
2. paint the house numbers and light
3. remove existing light
4. install house numbers and light
5. paint trim around front door
6. prime and paint front door

We are hoping to have all of this done by mid-September, so then we can focus on landscaping again (planting a few shrubs, planting some bulbs, adding a bed in the backyard). Right now I am motivated by the fact that it looks pretty silly to have partially painted metalwork. In fact, we are planning to sand and prime the squares today!

I will post some in-progress pictures soon. The pictures are my favorite part, as it reminds us of how the house used to look and the progress that has been made. I just looked at some pictures of the front porch right after we bought the house, and wow, does it look different now. I really can't wait to see what it looks like this Fall!

Landscaping Part 2

While we haven't done much inside the house lately, we've been working on the two beds in the front. Our friend Mary of Pinnacle Lawn Care designed the beds for us last year and suggested a few things for the front bed: a Japanese Maple and 3 false cypress. After considerable landscape stalking (wouldn't that make a great name for an HGTV show?!?), and validation from our friend Mary, we went to work filling in the two beds with a variety of other plants and flowers.

Now, when I say we "landscape stalked" I'm serious. We drove around, walked our neighborhoods and searched the internet to get ideas. We consider our house to have a modern look - not quite mid-century but has some mid-century features. We wanted our landscaping to have modern features as well. We tried to educate ourselves on what would work in each bed - one gets mostly shade the other is full sun. We also wanted things to complement each other and the house. It's still hard for me to believe how much reading I did on landscaping - never thought that would happen!

Let's just take a moment to remember what the front looked like when we bought the house...this was taken early April 2009.

Here's what we have as of late May 2010. I must say we are pleased as punch with how it looks so far.

We now have allium, false cypress, blue fescue and palace purple coral bells. Not only is it amazing that I planted most of them, but it's hard to believe I actually know what they are!

Then we have the south side corner...

More tufts of blue fescue, 2 different types of sedum, morning light maiden grass and a goldlace juniper.

The beds are connected by more beach pebbles, with 2 different types of stonecrop scattered throughout.

So there you have it...all the front landscaping we finished this Spring 2010. In fall we plan to add a few bulbs (various types of allium). We're looking forward to seeing how this all looks in a few months, too. (and if we manage to keep it all alive)

Now our attention turns to the porch...fixing the railings, painting the railings and decorative metalwork, painting the front door, replacing the light and adding house numbers.

Landscaping Part 1

We've realized we have a lot of catching up to do on here. Even if no one else reads this blog, it's been fun looking back at our previous posts. It helps us remember all the work we've done, and it's a good reminder that we still have a lot to do. So that is my motivation to update more regularly (seriously).

The past month and half we have been doing lots of landscaping work. As you might recall, our entire house was surrounded by 40 year-old yews when we bought it. We quickly ripped those out, did a ton of grade work, and were left with excellent drainage but nothing else. Our good friends the Barnes and Wieses gave us a beautiful Japanese Maple, but that was about it. Let's take a look back...

So here is the house as it looked when we bought it. This was taken in early April 2009...yews everywhere and a square bed with white stones near the front porch.

Close-up of the front porch...

Then we had all the yews removed, and the house looked pretty crazy. Notice how spotty the grass looks and all the rocks around the trees.

We decided pretty quickly that we needed to soften the angles of the front porch and the straight lines of the house with a curved bed in front. Aaron got to work...early May 2009.

We added beach pebbles along the house and finished the front bed...

By fall 2009 we had the maple and added mums and pumpkins to make it look like we had something going on...

By early April 2010 our grass had filled in (thanks to aeration and overseeding), the rocks around the trees are gone...

and we also began planting the beds in the front.

I am happy to report we have planted 2 of the front beds, added some more beach pebbles and replaced the mulch. BUT...we have to replace 3 grasses already, so I will have to show you how everything looks in my next post! Stay tuned!

Have you seen our basement?

I've been struggling to wind down tonight and thought I'd put a couple pics of our basement up. Thanks to our friends at Cameron's we have a nice new basement. The table was a present from Sarah...she even had it delivered and assembled right under my nose. I was literally upstairs when they assembled it. Although, I had the flu and was not quite with it.

Oh, and then we have my play area:

This is actually a little old, as I have a 1968 Gottlieb pinball machine called Royal Guard.

Pretty cool architecture in KC

After touring Oklahoma City's modern architecture, I was inspired to check out some local spots here in Kansas City. I've discovered we have a pretty nice selection of modern homes in our neck of the woods. A KC architect named Donald Drummond designed over 1,100 homes in the KC area and Oklahoman Bruce Goff designed three homes here as well. One cool thing I learned in research was that there was an NBC show in the fifties called The House That Home Built that documented 20 architects from different metros who designed and built 20 modern homes as viable options to more traditional homes of that era. The show did not last long, as only 11 of the 20 architects completed their 20 homes. Drummond was one of two architects who finished on time, along with California architect Eichler. Sarah and I stumbled into a Prarie Village, KS neighborhood around 98th and Belinder on Aberdeen Street. Out of nowhere appeared a midcentury modern ranch-a-thon consisting of over a dozen homes. They were pretty incredible. Here's a sample of Drummond's work in KC:

Anyway, we'll be visiting the Goff homes soon and keep you posted on what we find.

Oh yeah, we have a house too. And it's looking great. We've landscaped this month and plan some outdoor painting of our front door and metal work. We also have commissioned a local artist for a backyard sculpture. Thanks Dave.

Aaron

A New Start

Yes, it's been a VERY long time since we updated our blog! I can't believe a yucky toilet ring is where we left off.; however, we intend to start updating the blog more regularly.

We have made a lot of progress on the house, but still have a long way to go. We ended up not moving in until July 2009...which means we worked on the house for just over 3 months before we even spent a night in it! Since then improvements have slowed WAY down...but we've spent plenty of time making the house our home. Decorating is my favorite part anyway.

We've now hit the one year mark of owning our home, and we're pleased with how some of our hard work is paying off: our grass is thicker and greener than just one year ago, our window wells have stayed dry, and we've seen no standing water on the "bad" side of the house. Two years later, we also actually have wedding pictures in frames hanging on the walls! It's the small things...

Since we just reached our one-year anniversary, and more likely because it's spring, we are ready to begin tackling some more projects. But while last year was about BIG projects that typically meant spending a lot of money (refinishing our wood floors, removing popcorn ceilings, burying our downspouts and putting in a french drain), we're all about small projects that give us a lot of bang for our buck(s). Here is our Spring/Summer home improvements to-do list, in no particular order:

• Update the Guest Bathroom - paint everything (walls, trim and cabinets), new drawer pulls, new stick-down tile, repair shower tiles, install shoe molding, and put in new fan/light.
• Curb Appeal at Front Entry - remove scrolls from railings, paint all metal, paint front door, paint/install new entry light, and install new house numbers.
• Front landscaping - so far we only have a Japanese Maple, which was a beautiful gift from our friends the Barnes and Wieses; however, the lack of landscaping is pretty depressing. False cypress, various grasses, more Mexican beach pebbles, various perennials, a new Forest Pansy Redbud, and more are all on our list.
• Back landscaping - more grade work needs to be completed in back by the air conditioner, and subsequently we will plant some shade-loving plants. We also plan to create a bed in a back corner, which we intend to fill up with bulbs in the Fall.
• Finish great room and foyer - paint trim, install new shoe molding, and paint gold accents on fireplace...then these rooms will be finished

Realistically, both time-wise and money-wise, this is all we'll be able to complete this Spring and Summer. But we'll also be saving up to add various decor, including new rugs, so stay tuned to that. (If anyone is still even tuned in!)

We're hosting an Easter brunch tomorrow for family and friends...looking forward to the beautiful day and we're planning to enjoy our new patio furniture. We promise to post some pics!