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Front Door Upgrades

17 Feb

We showed you back in December here where we bought a new-to-us 1920’s front door from a salvage yard in Rockford.

It was beautiful but needed a little work. We had to chop off the bottom of it to fit our opening, move the handle to the other side, fill holes and sand it all.

IMG_2049Then we had to decide on a color to stain it. At first we thought to go a nice dark brown, but after we did a sample realized it would blend in too much with the hardwood floors (once they are finished to match upstairs). We decided on a cedar color.

Before I show the new door, here’s a look at the old one.

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And here it is now:

IMG_2481Amazing right? We are in love. It lets in the perfect amount of light and has so much charm including beveled glass which is rare these days.

IMG_2473We added new oil rubbed bronze hardware which contrasts well with the cedar color I think.

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With the fancy new door, we couldn’t have gold, broken front porch lights, so we headed to bought these ones from Home Depot that look like old school lanterns. They are by Hampton Bay and were $69/each, which isn’t bad for this look.

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Here is what the door looks like from the inside. IMG_2465

And just for fun here is a side by side.

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Do you love it as much as we do?

The New Roof

11 Jan

I finally get to post photos of our new roof. We got this done mid-December but then it snowed the very next day (good timing?) and it’s been covered with snow up until yesterday. I didn’t even get to see it completed in the daylight.

It has been in the 50°’s the last couple of days, so all the snow melted, and ta-da a new roof is underneath!

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Here’s the before:

12 Oaks Before 308

It is hard to tell with the angle of that before picture, so here is a view from the back which I think demonstrates the change even more.

Before:

Back of house and pool

After:

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We used architectural shingles from CertainTeed. The color is “Moire Black” which is actually a dark gray/black mix, not pure black. The architectural shingles give it a lot more dimension. We’re really happy with it.

And guess who installed it?

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My Dad! He comes highly recommended.

Right now, it is full speed ahead on the bathroom. So far Ben has laid the Durock, installed the new tub (it turned out to be cheaper than re-surfacing the old pink one), and built the shower niches.

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We picked out tile (12×12 marble from Home Depot), toilet and ordered the vanity from Home Decorators. And the electrician is coming Monday to wire the room for can lights and sconces.

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Stay tuned for bathroom updates, plus we finally have the doors in upstairs. Photos to come.