Our House

We moved into our house knowing that the front pillars were rotted out underneath their aluminum covers. After hours were spent (by Mark and his dad) repairing the pillar on the east side of the house where the house is drooping, the center pillar decided it was no longer needed for structural support and began dangling in place. Needless to say, it was necessary to remove it before it fell on an unsuspecting passerby. So, we had to call a contractor to have the porch lifted and new pillars put in. The siding had to come off in order for the contractor to check for rot in the wood of the pediment as well. So, we got to pay for some new siding as well.

We opted for round, fluted pillars and our porch no longer droops. Mark even installed recessed lighting so we could get rid of the big black hanging lantern over the front door.
The lights are so bright, they seem like flood lights.
We have also had some trees removed and branches trimmed
so that we have full use of our backyard.
I'll have to list all of the improvements to the interior of the house later. It makes me bone-tired thinking about it now, especially since we are far from finished and the holidays are nearly upon us. I've spent a portion of almost every day (and night) working on this house. I feel worn out. I'll suffice myself to say that we have new carpet upstairs and in the family room and I have painted the family room, the living room, the study and most of the upstairs bedrooms, walls and ceilings. (Some of the rooms have required removing wallpaper etc. What a pain!) Mark has replaced all of the electrical outlets and switches and patched walls and fixed a lot of random things that needed fixing in this house. We found hard wood under the carpet on our stairs, so I stained it and painted. We also had a carpet runner put down the middle. We are putting in hardwood floors in the study and living/dining rooms and have boxes full of wood planks filling our entryway as we speak. The house is in total disarray with furniture placed in the garage, blocking the front door and filling the entry etc.
I feel as flustered as the house looks.

On the outside of the house I would love to figure out how to remove the shutters without breaking them so that I can paint them black. I am also planning on painting the front door. I might have to wait until the spring. It has been hard to have so much work to do on the house, but it is starting to pay off. First of all, it doesn't smell like smoke around here anymore.
I am also really pleased by the colors in the rooms I have painted.
I am discovering how much I like color! Things will come together eventually.
I hope we'll fully move in at some point as well.

Interior before and after pictures later.