I realize that I haven’t really shared what the outside of the house looks like, so let’s get to it. First, I know you’ve seen the front, but let’s show some more

I absolutely love the porch

Walking up to this house the porch really sold me. I always wanted a house with a giant porch, but I never thought I’d get it, because here in the Bay Area porches aren’t really a “thing” so not too many house have them. But I can’t wait to put some swings up and do some really good hanging out here.

Eventually I would also like to tile the ground of the porch. That’s probably phase 2 of the exterior of the house

I don’t like the chipped paint tile and we could just paint it over, but I think new tile would look pppprreeettttyyyyy 🙂

The patio

We have that little patio area that at the moment is covered in children’s toys. I’m not sure eventually what it will evolve into. But for the time being I think it’s a good place for the toys.

This weird gazebo thing will be going

At one point there was a hot tub here because there are water lines leading up to it. We’ll take this down (it’s falling apart JUST a little), and we’ll build or buy a shed and it will store our outdoor equipment.

Now for the main part of the front yard

Oy. There is a LOT going on here. I don’t like cutting down trees, but this is pretty over grown and they really planted things willy nilly

I think 100% of the bushes will be removed. But other than that I have no idea what the plan is. And we probably won’t work seriously on it for several years. I’ll probably rip stuff out, but I’m not sure any seriously planting or redesigning will be happening for some time.

The driveway isn’t in great shape

We slip on it, so I’ve got to get it cleaned up. It’s cracking and definitely needs to be replaced at some point. We got a quote just to know where we’re at – a repair and slurry is $9500ish, and a full replacement is $11500ish. So yes, it will wait a while. I’m just hoping one of us doesn’t bite it really bad down it.

Garage side if the house

Nothing really that exciting. Eventually this “deck” needs to be replaced because there is a lot of dry rot. But we don’t really use this too much, so it’s not a priority at the moment.

The other side of the house

Eventually we want to construct some stairs to get down this hill

And this door goes to the basement

Yes, strange that this door has no doorknob. You can’t open this door from the outside which is completely weird. Before we get the house painted it’s on the to do list to replace this door. And I actually realize I haven’t blogged about the basement yet either, which I definitely should because there is AWESOME storage down here.

Aaaannnnddd the back of the house

I LOVE the back of the house. It definitely needs some work to get to amazingness, but it’s got potential. You like the exterior “curtains” that are up right now? 🙂 It’s helping to block light into the girl’s rooms as we still haven’t fully finished their rooms and so proper curtains are not up.

But I feel like the back of the house has soooooo much potential. First off, the deck: definitely needs to be repaired

Definitely needs to be ripped down. It’s not in anywhere close to good shape. I’m so excited to tear this down and rebuild. The plan is to build it deeper than it currently is so it feels more like a space that you can hang out on because right now it feels more like a thoroughfare. We also want to build stairs so that you can get to the backyard from the first floor.

 

The transformation that’s going to happen with a new deck and a new paint job is going to be fucking awesome.

And here’s that view

Ahhhhhh. That’s what we’ll get to see when we hang out on the deck. Loooooooove. We’re probably going to cut down one tree to improve it. I know, I know, I know. Normally I really hate cutting down trees. I am normally 100% against it. And I feel like a bit of an asshole for cutting it down for the view. But that view is fucking awesome and that tree is just shoved right in the middle of it. To pay it back I’m planning on planting a bunch of (smaller) trees in the backyard. Ohhhhh the backyard

Swoon. Well, not really at the moment because it’s so overgrown, lol. But I love that there are about 3 levels to the yard that are each flat. The first area is right off the back of the house

This will be where we hang out. The more communal area where we eventually put in a patio, maybe a playhouse for the girls or a swing set 🙂

Then you go down a little hill and it’s the second level of the backyard

We’re not entirely sure what we’re going to do with this level. But I think the plan is to have more plantings down here – veggie beds, more trees, etc. Just a casual, more natural setting.

Then the third level

This is the back of the property and then an easement. There’s a pretty steep drop into this wooded area so we’d like to build a fence that encloses this area. But it’s nice to have this great wooded area for the girls to go adventuring. Chris and Zoe already have 🙂

Cuties.

So there you have it, a little introduction to the exterior of the house. As we work on each project I’ll of course get more into things, but this feels like a good intro.

And speaking of getting more into things: I’m HOPING that we’ll get started on the exterior paint in the next month or so. We were waiting while we had to pay for other things, sigh. But now I think we’re just about ready, which is pretty awesome. We’ve got to take down worthless wires, replace that basement door, etc. Then it’s time. Yay! It will be super exciting for this transformation. I can’t wait, eeeeeeee! 🙂