Thank you justgotabeme! It is true, we find ourselves in the FRONT of the house quite often! The first evening, we poured cocktails and just sat out front and stared. We are very pleased! CEfreeman-Ohhh, what a long, peaceful country driveway that is! I wouldn't want it to look too "maintained!" Hi Lyfia! I posted quite awhile ago, I was very gung ho on the faux wood grain...as a matter of fact, I wanted to do a faux carriage door look, adding the rustic hardware. Most people were against it...and this was when I was planning on painting my house a dark color. Now that my house is so light, I don't want a big dark expanse that takes up such a huge chunk of the front. If my house were bigger, or the paint darker,I would consider it. I do love that look, just not for this house at this time. birdlover-yes, we are thinking two big black pots on either side of the arch...and maybe on the far side of the garage...with bougainvilla or some flowering vine set on a trellis just a bit off from the house walls so they don't actually grow on the walls! The reason we are thinking black pots is...when you drive to our house, you first see the south side of it...with a row of windows with black awnings over each window. So we feel the big black pots will tie the side and the front together. lukkiriish-thank you, I just love those california spanish homes! Thanks for comparing my home to one of those! Ok, again, I really appreciate every single comment. It has been so much work and money and as much as my hubby and I enjoy it, it is nice to see it be well received here!

Thanks guys! Breezy: I cannot remember the paint color but my painter is still working in the basement so I'll ask him tomorrow. I wanted a warm grey for that room. Neutral but not a cold feeling. Enduring: the kids' bath is black slate. I love slate but did not want as much variation in size of the tiles as most multicolor slate tends to have lots of variation...easy to stub toes. Black slate does not and I loved the black/white theme so it is easy to change accessories as the kids grow up. The guest bath is slate but not black. It is actually mostly navy with some gold tones. Very interesting and again less variation in size. Still waters: we had the heating system reworked (boiler in basement so its radiant heat) so we adjusted some of the baseboard heaters and took that one out and kept the one on the back wall. Worked out well to add the extra storage.

Wonderful job Matt! Love the end result! We went through the same thing this year...my kitchen was windy some mornings when I made coffee ;) Happy cooking! I especially love the little girl in the doorway, very sweet!

Hi all! since covid hit, my husband has been working from home in our outdated office. For his birthday, i wanted to update it to something more ”our style” and more masculine. Some of the updates include: trimwork on an accent wall, new ”neutral”paint colors (greys, whites, and wood accents), new faux roman shades, new rug, ceiling fan with light, furniture, wall art and sit/stand desk. it looks like a whole new space! what do you think? the yellow walls are the before pictures…