Primer

A couple of photos of the front of the house with the new coat of primer!

This small swatch is what the final color will be...kind of a bluish green.

You can see it here too.

So exciting! Already a big change from this.

Final Kitchen Design

Progress on the house has been painfully slow these last couple of weeks. The kitchens and bathroom have been gutted and the exterior paint went up this Friday (pictures of this after we swing by the house this afternoon). Now we are just waiting for the permits in order to start the plumbing and electrical work. I finalized our plan for the kitchen with our contractor last week in order to submit the permits. Here are some screen shots from the Ikea Home Planner (which has been an awesome tool). We decided to go with the White Ädel ("Shaker Style") cabinets because they are truer to the character and period of the house.

Here's what the Ädel cabinets look like in real life.

(photo courtesy of Ikea.com)

(photo courtesy of ikeafans.com)

Backyard Bush Whacking

We spent this Sunday whacking at bushes in the jungle that is now our backyard. We made a remarkable amount of progress and we couldn't have done it without the inspiration and support of our friends Mike, Katie, and Katie =) Here are some before and after pictures (click on the pictures for a larger view).

and after...

A couple of pics of the front yard, before...

and after....

Exterior Colors

Here are a few photoshopped photos of the exterior paint color we have chosen for the exterior of the house. Originally I was thinking of more of a slate blue, but after looking at samples, we decided to go with more of a gray-green-blue combination called "Franklin Lakes" from the Benjamin Moore Exterior Color line. I really like the way the green undertones make it kind of an earthier color than just the slate blue, as the earthier colors are more typical of craftsman style houses.

I also really like the idea of doing royal blue accents for the window sashes and porch columns.