The Big Reveal

I have been waiting for all the stars to align, the final touches to be made, and the "ah ha" moment. That moment has finally arrived this week! A large section of the back of our house is complete! The transformation hasn't seemed drastic over the past year, but when I compared the "Before" and "After" pictures the difference is incomparable!  Is it even the same house??

Over the past month we invested in the outdoor shower which debuted not long ago; a beautiful stone walkway completed by our friends at It's About Thyme Gardening out of Portsmouth, RI; some steps for the back porch (a novel idea); and pretty summer flowers that I found in nearby Bristol.  A lot of hard work and time went into this house project and we love the results! 

I was hesitant about hiring a contractor to landscape, but the end result was well worth the added expense!! The curve on the grey stone pavers and the cobblestone flower beds really pulled the whole back area together.

Eventually over time the entire house will look like this back section with fresh paint and new cedar shingles. We chose Sherwin Williams "Naval" and "Gray Clouds" as our colors for the exterior. We found that their Duration paint is the best exterior paint - a little bit pricey, but a nice gloss finish and  excellent durability.  The cedar shingles are from Liberty Cedar in Kingston, Rhode Island and the materials for the outdoor shower are spay leftover from Andrew's sister's house construction.  The outdoor light we found online at Lighting Direct. 

Stay tuned for the front porch reveal in the next few weeks...