Before & After

There's a whole back story to how we ended up living in our current house (see here). And it's only taken about two years, but we're finally getting around to finishing up a few things on our renovation list. The majority of the inside was completed before we moved in (and, let's be honest, builder's hate to work on their own houses, so some little things may stay on that list forever).

The exterior has taken a bit longer, but is finally coming together. In the last few months, we've done quite a bit. The brick mailbox (pretty much standard in our neighborhood) has been installed. The chain link fence in the back yard has been replaced with a new shadowbox wood fence. The narrow driveway has been extended to allow people to both park in our driveway and also open their doors. And now, the landscaping has been completed.

The very original before ... including the faded green shutters and the random green mailbox ...

The just moved in with minor exterior upgrades (new shutters, new lighting) but original 1970s landscaping still in place ...

And the up-close new landscaping with river rock (because mulch requires too much effort on an annual basis) ...

And the nearly finished after (please ignore the river rock still sitting in the driveway in this photo, it is now in the backyard around some additional landscaping there) ...

Home sweet home. A little more so each and every day ...