My Daughter's Cottage

It's still far from being finished but you can finally see some progress on my daughter's place.

 This is what it used to look like.  I've been dying to change the color for years.

 This is all new siding.  The foundation will be painted in the Spring.

 There is lots of touch up work to be done.  This is the new front door.

It's a very dark brown which matches the new wooden ceiling on the front porch.

I lightened this so you can see the ceiling.  Tomorrow, black awnings will be hung on either side of the front porch.

This is the old front door.  And yes, the birdhouse has been rebuilt and after it's painted, it will go where the old one was.  I'm painting it to match the cottage.

It was hard to get a good pick of the copper weathervane.  The Chef is a big 'Game of Thrones' fan so I had this dragon weathervane made for him in Maine.

 This is what the old patio area looked like out back.

 Sort of cute but it was falling apart.

It's a mess now and can't be redone until Spring.  However, they put the posts up and will install the fencing tomorrow.  They will have a pergola over a gate at the entry. You can see how close other houses are.....it's the city!

 Before the start of the project. 

The beginning of the project after the old balcony was torn off.

 The new balcony, new door and windows, privacy screens and wrought iron corner brackets. Two more brackets need to be installed. The big awning will be replaced tomorrow with a black one. My contractor fought me tooth and nail to go with the siding they usually use.  I almost caved in.  It had a faux grain which I ultimately just couldn't live with.  It was keeping me up at night.  I insisted that they use this flat, plain siding which looks like wood but won't need to be painted and will never rot. I love it and they like it so much that this will be the only siding they will use in the future.  Live and learn!

 A better look at one of the privacy screens.

The ceiling under the balcony, the privacy screens, the fence and balcony trim are all done in the same color of brown.  I love using gray, black, brown and white together. This has been such a fun project though it has taken forever.  This area of the city has become very expensive to live in and houses sell the day they come on the market.  I think this is a very good investment and my daughter and The Chef are thrilled with it now. This neighborhood, for as long as we've lived here, has been an old city neighborhood.  Now street by street, houses are selling like hotcakes and young professionals with dogs and kids are taking over.  They are fixing the houses up and the place is transforming before our very eyes.  It's really quite exciting to watch the change and to be a part of it.