October Projects

I finally got my 8k from Obama (Thanks!) and my mom encouraged me to look into window replacement. I met with 4 different companies and the range in prices was crazy. The lowest estimate was $3,500 and the highest was more than $15,000. I never imagined there could be that much of a difference. I settled on Michael Woody with Bon Air Exteriors. He was actually the first person I called and the first who met with me. I really liked his no-nonsense attitude and he really did a good job of explaining everything. I am going to replace all of the windows in the house and garage. I am also having his crew repair my gutters and to make sure they are draining properly.

After that I plan on removing all of the little odds and ends screwed into the molding of the windows and then getting shades. I am leaning towards roman shades because I think the dogs/cats would destroy cellular shades and I don't care for typical mini-blinds. Any opinions out there?

Joel and I are also working on building a fence. This has been a slow, on-going project as he can only help me during the week and I usually only have off on Wednesday and I am not always free. As of today, the post holes have been dug, the posts are up and cemented, the horizontal pieces are installed, and the pickets are up. Now we only need to do the gates (x3). Joel also decided to add 2 extra posts to create a trellis for my wisteria to climb on. After that is completed, I would like to dig up the boxwoods in the back yard, hang a swing from my big tree, and create some sort of walkway from the main gate to the patio. In the front yard I would like to start planning out what I am going to plant in the spring. I would like to put hydrangeas in the raised bed on the left side and some sort of foliage on the right side.

I would also LOVE to gut my kitchen and laundry room. I would like to figure out how to expand the kitchen into the laundry room to create a bit more counter space and a pantry along with a half bath while retaining a space for laundry. Unfortunately, I am no where near close to being able to afford that so I just get to daydream about it for the time being.

I will post pictures a bit later.