House Restoration Oh My

Our recently purchased bungalow continues it's transformation. The pace is so leisurely, I feel like I'm home in New Orleans. The house has a calm quiet gait, don't you know...i.e. everything is taking longer than expected. It's a slow and steady process and as my Daddy says, it'll be done when we die. As finances are tight, we've had to pick and choose what to work on and when, and after getting the inside livable, we're starting on the exterior and bigger projects. The kitchen is still a nightmare, basically retaining it's original decor from when the house was built in the early 1920s (I want a dishwasher damn it and those rusted metal lined bread drawers are lovely...I digress) but we've had to start with what we can afford at the moment and that means beginning with the front porch.

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A dear friend and young un who owes for us legal services rendered, has agreed to do a lot of work at cost with minimal labor charges, so I am not forced to sand the porch, ruining what nails I have left after hand washing all those dishes. He's a trouper and the porch is coming along. After heating and scraping off about 12 coats of lead paint the wood underneath is actually decent. The roof of the porch is a beautiful deep walnut and the goal is to stain the porch to match and add a dark chocolatey wood porch swing. The rod iron patio furniture (a gift from inlaws--read free!) will be repainted and relegated to the back yard.

The porch has been completely sanded, new trim added, and all that is left is the stain and polyurethane. I'll post more photos when it's completed. The house really is a work in progress, but once the front is completed, I think we (and the neighbors) will be pleased.

Have to head to the office now to my chagrin, so have a great day everyone & I'll post more later.

xo, L