That's the funny thing...house got aluminum in 1952, reportedly b/c my husband's grandfather got astronomical quotes for painting that made it cost-prohibitive. So, I assumed it probably had a paint job from 1940-1945 ish. The body of the house is not peeling at all in most places--very tight--and where it is, there's only wood underneath. Most definitely no other color. Around the windows, I have found chips of a very dark red and a dark green. But nothing on the band boards, trim, friezes, etc. I read somewhere that this style of house (Folk Victorian, I think?) was built by solidly working class/middle class people out in the "country"--we are about 10 miles south of Albany, NY, so that was definitely rural in the late 19th c. They were able to copy some Victorian traits--scalloping, thick trim, etc., but never really copied some other Victorian things like turrets or Gothic influences or the super-dark/intricate color schemes. So wish I could find a pic of this house from the turn-of-the-century! I have some very elderly neighbors, so I may ask them--you never know--our house might be in the background of their old family photos! Thanks again for the help! Sarah

ssg- good point about the cleaning. I would defiantly like to avoid as much maintenance as I can. emmarene- Thanks. I have read up on garden webs opinion on shutters ;) I tried to draw these in at just about the proper size that would cover a window. I would have to do the actual measurements to see if they would make sense or be too cluttered. Garage won't work, if I go by garden web principles, since it is a double window and shutters on those make no sense (they would each be like 3' wide?) I have no inspiration picture. I keep trying to look around for one and haven't seen a ton of pictures focused on these things. That was just a random trim I thought was pretty- honestly I didn't even look at the size. I am going to try to make a scale model of the house and trim and try it on but no idea if I am that capable or not. I did see this picture for window crosshead which I thought was nice. That has no sill. Not sure if we should do a sill or not. Also I read a thread that said traditionally the trim below the window is not thick like the sides- it could just be a sill with no trim board). No idea about this or what to do.

Wow, sorry this has happened to your project. Sadly not too many solutions that don't involve tearing stuff apart and/or spending more money. You need the baseboard there as it needs to cover the gap between the flooring and the wall. If your floor had been run all the way to the wall you might have been able to get away with faux painting a baseboard onto the wall. You have a gap, you need baseboard, so you need a narrower fridge or one that doesn't have a freezer drawer. At this point, your easiest, and probably cheapest solution, is to get a new fridge that fits the space. Sell this one or place it in the garage for the extra stuff that won't fit in you new fridge.

Nice House. Healthy looking lawn. Do some research and identify all the shrubs in front of your front entry porch. Since they're getting crowded, at the appropriate time of year, consider moving all but one kind. Find out if/when it is appropriate to trim the tallest ones so they're more uniform in height. Posts: If/when you do decide you want larger/wider/thicker posts, then, as long as the ones you have are undamaged, keep and clad them. By adding a short roof overhang in front of your gable like is on this one http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/time-to-replace-your-roof-in-athens-check-out-our-roofing-athens-guide/ You could extend your porch ceiling enough to enlarge the existing tapered posts at the top as to be as large as at the bottom. Landscaping: In the meantime, you could begin to create a retaining wall near the bottom of your steps so that your planting area above that is level, leaving room at driveway level for a shrub there as well. https://www.homedepot.com/c/ah/how-to-build-retaining-wall/9ba683603be9fa5395fab90d68eac94 Once your retaining wall is built and as the top of the bricks/pavers are ground level, you could continue the row of paver, with their tops ground level, to outline your full planting area. https://www.thisoldhouse.com/gardening/21016722/how-to-edge-a-garden-bed-with-brick Porch: IF you want to make your front porch more user friendly, then before you remake your planting area, consider enlarging the front porch, perhaps even adding a "gazebo" to it. https://www.24hplans.com/top-20-porch-and-patio-designs/#post/0