Most Improved

We haven't done that much to the exterior of our home.  The biggest change, taking the boards off the windows, was actually free!  We also put on a new roof and one of our neighbors crafted two window boxes for the front of the house as a housewarming gift.  I also put a couple of perennials in the front bed and some stucco work is currently being done.

A couple of months ago, one of my neighbors handed me an application for our neighborhood's Most Improved Home contest.  I submitted the application, along with a photo of our home from the day we closed on it:

I also submitted some photos of our home from a couple of months ago, even though the stucco work hadn't been started.  

The contest was judged by a panel based on some unknown measure of awesomeness.  I received a letter this week indicating we had won 2nd place!  What a great surprise.

Although most of the work we've done in the house has been on the interior, it's nice to look back through the photos and see what a difference the little changes can make.  

It was so great to see the other winners' before & after photos as well.  Some people did some landscaping, others some painting, and others added water features or retaining walls.  Such a great idea….can we have an interior improvement contest as well?  If so, count me in!

Thank you to our neighborhood, BMO Harris Bank, Lowe's, and Bank Mutual for sponsoring this event!

Showing the Back door the door.

Oh, the back door.  It's one of the older, more antiquated (ahem, ugly) features of the house.   We had wanted to replace it right away, but decided to wait until the big items were brought in and out (e.g., old oil tank) so that a new door wouldn't get dinged up.  The door is chipping and flimsy looking and we thought it would be easy for someone to break into.  We thought this until a few weeks ago when we locked ourselves out of the house because the front lock was jammed.  After trying multiple times to get in the front, we decided to try to break down the back door.  

Here was a perfect moment for Greg to get all cop-like and bust down the back door.  After kicking and running and kicking and kicking it some more, the door wouldn't give.  

Okay, one point in defense of the door.  It's not flimsy, just ugly.  

Our neighbors have quite a few tools so Greg went to ask them for a crowbar to pry the door open.  He came back a few minutes later with the crowbar and went to the back of the house to pry the door open.  Our neighbor that we borrowed the crowbar from came out and suggested that we try going in through the basement window.  

A few minutes later, our neighbor is holding Greg by his ankles as Greg dangles through the basement window, headfirst.  He successfully makes it inside without smashing his skull on the concrete floor and unlocks the front door so that we don't have to break in.  

Although the back door does have good qualities, we will still be replacing it.  Let me show you why:

Perfectly creepy for Halloween, don't you think?  

I went to Home Depot over the weekend and found this one as a replacement.  

I like the craftsman look and it's made of fiberglass.  The sales guy said it would hold up better to dings than a steel door. Anyone have any input on this…does fiberglass hold up better than steel?  

Home.

This past week, there's been burst of activity here.  I haven't been able to post as most of my time is now dedicated to homework, floor sweeping & scrubbing from drywall and sawdust, sorting an endless pile of paperwork from the girls' school, and kissing the wrinkled forehead of a sweet lil' babe.  

Last Thursday, the install of our kitchen cabinets began.  It's incredible how a kitchen can make our house feel less like a campground and more like our home.  Here's the kitchen we've been working with the past couple of weeks (it had a nice, minimalistic design):

I was feeling a little apprehensive about the new cabinets because I have never actually seen them in real life.  I was hoping they would be the perfect shade of cream and not too white & institutional-looking.  Turns out they are a perfect cream and pair wonderfully with the floor color.  Today, the cabinets were all hung and the crown molding was put on.  The countertop guy came yesterday with my 230 pound sink and took measurements. Fingers crossed that the countertops arrive yet this week.  Here's what my kitchen looks like today, without any staging or tidying up.  I have no time for such frivolity ;)

Our bedroom has also been drywalled and painted. Thankfully, I have not done any landscaping in the backyard because a giant truck pulled all the way into the yard to lift the drywall into the house through the rear window.

A lot of work has been done on our room in the past couple of weeks.

I had originally purchased a giant orb light fixture for the living room and it was way, way too large for the space.  We decided to hang onto it and use it in our bedroom which has a vaulted ceiling.  We looked the light over this weekend and decided to upgrade to the larger size.  So glad we did because the light is now up and is the perfect scale for the room.

As exciting as this past week has been, I was reminded today about what really makes our house a home.  Sure, it's cool to have a house with a rad light fixture, but what's really wonderful is watching our kiddos work on puzzles in the living room, do homework at the table, and help me out with gardening; it's sitting outside with our neighbors at a block party; it's walking to friends' homes for playdates or dinner; it's inviting friends & family into our home. Those moments are what breathe life into the culture of our neighborhood & our home.  I want my contentment to come from that.