Hey everyone, Just a quick update. We are all moved, doesn't mean a single thing is done. Oh my, the mess, the boxes, the dust, the things not finished. Serious unpacking tomorrow. My back is sore, my feet hurt, we can't find sheets for kids beds, our kitties are stressed, electric still isn't complete, no dishwasher, frig or stove, they come tomorrow. But....... my home, my home, is beautiful. My heart is here, if I had any doubt before it was eased today as we looked at the setting sun in our piece of sky. Our old home was in the trees and absolutely no outside living. People wonder why I wanted 68 windows and 8 pairs of french doors in this house. Today I can say, to bring God's creation to every room in the house. It is stunning. My life is here now, He has brought me home. I appreciate all your support , wonderful prayers and well wishes. I will post pics soon. I am taking bunches because I want to share this with everyone. Kimberly

Thanks, homebound, for the quick response. I suppose I should rephrase the "pretty clueless" to make it better understood. I know how to do a lot of things around the house - have painted and caulked many times before. Have laid tile a couple of times in small bathrooms. I have cut trim to make shelves and small items. I have changed out lighting fixtures and other odds and ends, but those seem very simple. However, I've not taken on projects such as these that would be outside in the elements. I have confidence that I could replace these columns with new materials, until the idea that something might be behind the molding that I don't know how to handle, and I don't know how that top "header" piece would come out. Also, I don't know that I really like the look of all that detail that's on there right now, in addition to the problems that come with all of the pieces patched together. I found some pieces of molding online (the long pieces added together are sold as full pilasters preformed out of polyurethane on some websites, so I wouldn't have to patch it together) but I wasn't planning on spending that much for them. I thought the cedar planks might be a much cheaper option. A handyman quoted us a price of around $400 to replace the pieces, but that seemed high also! I guess I can go back to the drawing board and come up with a better solution. I don't think leaving some of the pieces is going to work because 1) The piece right above the door will probably be destroyed when the storm door is replaced because it is sitting on top of the screws, and 2) Some of the wood is soft to the touch and is especially bad in the top "header" board. That is the main reason to replace (along with the fact that it looks really bad). Thanks again, and if you have any other ideas I'd love to hear 'em. -ll

Thanks. meanom I did start a new thread on adding some whites to speak to the windows. One suggestion was to paint white casing around garage (currently that is grey). Since so many helped on this thread with the difficult garage door decision, I wanted to make sure I wasn't messing with the garage door if we add some white. Here is the long shot. Feel free to comment on the other thread or here. Please tell me if you like J or this new J with white version: J with white casing: Here is the link to the repeating white on the exterior thread, for those that can stomach one more of my exterior design elements. If not, thanks for all the amazing help on my garage door decision. You guys are the best! Carol [Thread: Repeating white on the exterior to speak to windows [(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/repeating-white-on-the-exterior-to-speak-to-white-windows-dsvw-vd~3185395)

too dark for safety. i dont see them as an awful feature... any color you have to walk up and down every blessed one of them, i'd rather not worry about guests missing their footing. a word about the second, lower, landing... the bottom of the stairs would have to come out further to compensate for losing 2-3 steps midway. not a tragic thing, but building isnt as magic as photoshop. i agree, a good deck builder could do something interesting here. find one that has complicated designs in their online portfolio.