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Porch update

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by the Artist

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Anyone traveling by Applewood headquarters will notice our porch is getting a facelift. It was showing its age after 18 years. Hard to believe we have lived here long enough, that now our original renovation is needing renovation!

So for the past two weekends the Carpenter has been demoing and rebuilding. And this has brought us to a big design decision. To remove the porch railing which opens up the space pretty dramatically as well as updating the style, or rebuilding the rail system. 

My original intention was to rebuild the railing. It has served us well. It adds just enough privacy from our very busy road. And now we are wide open to the road. Wide open. So there's a problem needing to be solved! After much discussion we have settled on adding a landscaped garden area to create soft privacy. We could incorporate a section of fencing too. But I'm not sure I want that much privacy. 

This will be phase 1 of updating our 20 year renovation project. I'm going for all white with black accents. Modern "farmhouse" style. I'm focusing on simple updates that won't take much of the Carpenter's time or strain our budget. The most expensive part of the update will be a new craftsman front door which will be either black or stained depending on where I land design wise. I'm going to try painting all the window grids black and remove the shutters. These changes will definitely freshen and update our cape cod. 

We also have a very old mostly dead pine tree that will be taken down that the Carpenter wants a wood carving done with part of the trunk. If we can nestle a "white bear" into garden scape in a subtle way then I'm all for that!

The Carpenter finished up late last evening in the rain. He had to get the steps in. I can't wait to see it finished! If only the Carpenter had more time. ha!