Sharing our plans for the exterior of our home, how we decide what comes first and what gets done later, our phased approach to house projects and how we get organized and actually get it done.

Today:

Here is our house as it is today. We bought a flip home and the previous buyers, painted the exterior Sherwin Williams Iron Ore (a deep charcoal black-gray) and added a wood pole to the deck. They also painted the door a peacock blue. While we love the midcentury modern vibe, there are a few things we want to change to make it our own.

We like to approach house projects in phases. A lot of this is due to financial constraints. We just can’t afford to do everything at once. The other piece is physical constraints of time and planning. The first start to organizing our house plans is to make one giant list. Have you ever done this? I like to break it down by area and today I’m sharing our plans for the exterior of our house.

Exterior House List:

• Overhaul landscaping

• New fence and gate (removal of old fence)

• New exterior chandelier

• Paint siding

• New windows on front

• New front door

• Treat lawn and get rid of weeds

• Add house numbers

• Garage with office/guest suite above

• Furnish the front porch with two chairs and a side table

We do this for each area of the home and put it in Google Sheets or Google Docs so we can share and add/delete as we want to. We add everything from items that have to be done to make the house liveable to dream home ideas like a garage with an office over the top (Yes, that on the list!). From there we look at the budget and start to prioritize items.

In this house, we took on a big project before we ever even moved in that included walling in an office for Ty (see our previous home’s office here), adding doors in the laundry and living rooms and adapting the kitchen to fit a pantry (see plans for that here). That pretty much spent our budget for phase one but there are still a few things we’d like to do this year.

Phase 1:

For phase one of our exterior renovation, we’d like to get the lawn back into shape and remove the weeds. We are also excited for spring so we can see what the landscaping looks like when its actually in bloom. This will help guide Phase two where we come up with a plan and cost estimate for landscaping. We also will add some mulch and reshape the existing beds in phase one. This will require removal of monkey grass and physical labor but not much other cost outside of mulching.

Aesthetics wise, there are a few DIY things I’d like to do. We already had a new front door handle put on for safety reasons when we moved in. I’d like to add modern house numbers to the front (see mock up above) and paint some of the vinyl siding under the windows (currently white) to tone down the white siding. We will also be getting new windows on the front as part of our closing agreement, although those are still waiting shipment (supply chain blah blah blah).

Although, a new front door isn’t in the budget this year, I’d like to paint the current front door Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black in the interim.

Phase 2 and beyond:

Phase 2:

Next year, I’d like to look into installing a new solid wood midcentury front door. With that, I’d like to paint the currently white vinyl siding around the door, add brass numbers and a new capiz chandelier. We definitely want to come up with a plan for fully landscaping the yard in phase 2 if not fully complete that plan next spring. I’d also like to find two chairs and a side table for the front porch too.

Phase 3:

Eventually, we’d like to invest in new fencing and an electronic gate for our driveway. The current fence is a chain link one thats sprayed black. It is a great interim solution and functions well for what we need. Ultimately, I’d like to have an iron electronic gate and possible a black iron post gate around the yard as well. The biggest barrier for this project is actually removing the current gate as its covered in thick winter creeper vines.

Phase 4:

Last but not least, our dream is to have a two car garage in the back corner of our yard. We’d love for it to serve as an office for Ty and double as a guest suite for those who want to stay. I dream of it having a small kitchenette too.

ONE // TWO // THREE // FOUR

What do you think of our exterior house list and plans? Not everyone enjoys the actual exectuion of these projects like we do, but regardless of where you stand on that organizing and planning for your home projects helps get them done. We love using this phased approach. It gives us bite sized projects to tackle and keeps us from getting overwhelmed. Do you have a strategy for organizing your house projects? I’d love to hear about it.