Construction Update

The construction at our house is now complete, including sod replacement due to the damage caused by the construction equipment when the back patio was expanded and a retaining wall was built. These renovations were supposed to come on the heels of the screen porch addition in June, but instead did not commence until mid-July. The timing was unfortunate, but now that it is all done and the grass is beginning to look better it was all worth it.

screen porch with new siding door

For the screen porch we decided to just order new cushions for the wicker furniture as we didn't want to wait on new pieces. With Covid still impacting all things in our lives, furniture orders are taking 6-8 months to fulfill. Surprisingly we were able to get our custom cushions in just three weeks. We did, however order a cafe height table and two chairs for that space back in June. Those will not arrive until November. 

Because we expanded the existing patio, we also felt that we needed some additional furniture there. We decided upon two lounge chairs by the same manufacturing company as the existing outdoor furniture. Those were ordered in June with the table and chairs, and should also arrive in November.

The back of our yard has a berm leading up to the high point of the yard. It just never made sense, other than to the developer I suppose. With the addition of a retaining wall, it now looks like it has a purpose. The last thing that needs to be done is the planting plan. Jim is working on that today, with the help of a local gardening specialist. Because we live in a different planting zone, with totally different soil, we wanted the advice of someone familiar with those variances. It is our goal to have all the plants put in this fall.

patio extension and stone wall

Once that is all done, we should have a fabulous outdoor entertaining space. The lake view is great, of course, but the plants should provide a nice foreground to draw the eyes to the lake.

Under Construction

front porch

We are halfway (maybe) through a construction project at our house. I never really thought that we would do so much work on a brand new home, but I guess there are always things you wish were different. Going through a builder in a new development, we had very few options for customization.

Our screen porch off the living area had a footprint with both pros and cons. On the pro side, the porch was enclosed on three sides by the house. It was secluded and very private. However, it was not very large at all. If you had more than 4 or 5 people in the space, it felt crowded. Plus the design meant that the air did not circulate in the porch. We decided to extend the porch out to the end of our bedroom so that we would be able to accommodate more people as well as a bistro table and two chairs for dining while looking out at the lake. We also wanted to add porcelain tile over the concrete pad in the porch as well as the front porch to give those areas a more finished look.

At the same time, the contractor was to take out the two windows in the living room, replacing them with a sliding door opening to the porch. This would also allow us to see the lake from the living room while sitting on the sofa, and also let more light into the room. The screen porch was completed last Thursday, but unfortunately the sliding door has been delayed until late June. That is too bad because it would have been nice to get all the messy work done at the same time.

screen porch before and after

We are really pleased with how the front porch and the screen porch turned out. We are in the process of deciding what furniture arrangement works in the rear space, which is a little tricky since the sliding door is not in yet. We would like to keep the wicker furniture we have out there as it is Lloyd Flanders and is good quality. But we may order new cushions as the ones we have are 15 years old. Lots of decisions to make, but that's all part of the fun!

St. Louis Shuffle

We have been shuffling furniture around in the house. Katie took her trundle bed to college, so we needed to take the twin bed out of the small bedroom and move it upstairs to the third floor so she has a place to sleep when she comes home. Then we found out that we are having additional company for Thanksgiving, and with Andy and Megan here we will have no bed for the other guests. So we took a second look at the small bedroom and decided if we moved the dresser and my sewing machine/table up to Katie's room, we could set up a full size bed in the that bedroom. But first we had to move the roll top desk/chair and vanity table/chair out of Katie's room.

We now have a roll top desk in the entry foyer (anyone need a desk?), and a vanity table in the basement. The other items fit in Katie's room just fine, though I'm not sure she would agree. The small bedroom is now a blank slate. With nothing in there, it would be a perfect time to paint the room. And we are not sure what to do about a bed. We have an antique wrought iron bed frame in the basement we could use. The problem with it is that it was made during the time when people only had a feather mattress on their bed - no box spring. When you put both on the bed you practically need a step stool to be able to get into bed. Should we try to find a modified mattress/box spring or just start over with a new bed? Decisions, decisions...