Monday, March 28, 2011

I Spent My Down Time Wisely

Okay....so that is mostly a lie.

When I 'veg-out' I really 'veg-out'. Cause believe me...when I don't have the energy to do something with horses....I don't have the energy to do anything else. You know..like clean house? ;-) (Not entirely true...Megan and I did do a lot of deep cleaning this weekend)

I got all caught up on creating outdoor living spaces from the DIY channel...
Since this year we are focusing on updating the outside of the new house...I was completely enthralled. I would very much like to have something similar to this...
Okay...so that fireplace is a bit much, but you get the drift. I promised My Honey an outdoor kitchen. The man can seriously BBQ. He was a little bummed about leaving the other house, because he had just had a ginormous deck built on that house.

I really like the outdoor living room thing...
There are things that are going to have to be taken care of before we can go crazy with the patio though. The house needs all new windows...It really wasn't all that cold last winter and we noticed a lot of cold air coming in. I sure was appreciating those expensive shades I bought last fall.

There is no insulation worth mentioning in the walls...Originally, I had thought to pull all of the siding off, reinsulate and TyVek the exterior. I thought I wanted to reside the house with 1/2 log. But, you know...that log siding requires a lot of upkeep. A LOT!! Soooo...A friend suggested we just have insulation sprayed into the walls and have stucco sprayed on the exterior. I resisted that until I saw a house that I loved the color of and decided if I could replicate that...that would suit me just fine. The house I liked is a lovely milk chocolate brown with tan and white trim. I think that would go well with the rusty-reddish and tan stone I want to use with the patios.

The house also needs all new gutters and sometime in the near future new shingles.

It sounds like a lot...and it is. But with the occasional help from friends, the only thing we won't do ourselves is the insulation and stucco. It's going to make a lot of difference getting things done this year because the Honey Man is NOT going to be working himself to death.


7 comments:

Sherry Sikstrom said...

I love the outdoor living room! Gorgeous, and an outdoor Kitchen too! We wioll all be coming down for dinner!

ACountryCowgirl said...

Love the pictures, and it is going to be so cool when it is all done. You are so creative so I know it will be amazing. You have such a beautiful place and gets better everyday:)

Rising Rainbow said...

I think the idea of outdoor living space is very cool. It will be a fun protect. Windows, insulation etc just sound like a lot of work. LOL

Mrs. Mom said...

Oh girl, that is so NOT! FAIR! First ya tease the ever loving hell out of me with an awesome INDOOR kitchen, and now you are really going after the serious stuff with an outdoor kitchen. Dammit!!

Yeah and good luck convincing HoneyMan to NOT work himself to death this year ;)

xoxo

Angie said...

I love outdoor living too.. my 5 year plan (not work related) is to make a desert sanctuary in my backyard and have stolen(oops my niece told me relocated)some hedgehog cacti from the desert and begged agave from my friend Jonel(well I gave her the mama plant to begin w/)and spent more then I should have at Lowes :). Trimmed trees n bushes damaged by the freeze and looked like I was in a catfight when I was done.LOL(you always end up w/ scratches when you work on desert plants). Can't wait to see what you do.. so exciting :)

Crystal said...

I love the last pic, that would be so cool to have outside. I would like to do soemthing like that one day.

We have no insulation in our walls either but I just want a new house, not new siding, lol.

Shirley said...

That fireplace is not a bit much! Its terrific and I'd love to have it in my backyard! I like the lighting in the last photo, but it would seriously attract the bugs.