Appearances Matter

Now that we've officially met, let’s move past the terribly awkward getting to know you stage and jump right into serious relationship status. I know, I move fast, but I am dying to tell you all about my tiny abode. We bought this house just about two years ago, exactly to date. We were lucky enough to find it right away and snag it up. Guys, it's sooo cute and tiny. I am not kidding when I say tiny. We're talking 980 sq. feet filled to the brim with love {and junk}. It was truly love at first sight for me. You know how they say, when you know, you know? Well I knew. This place was definitely sending me some good vibes.

Here we are, our first picture with our new home and our one baby at the time. Completely unaware of the hard work, sweat and tears {obviously my dramatic tears, "no, that's not the paint color I asked for! Why does everything happen to me?"} that lay ahead. I could kick myself in the rear for not taking better before pictures with my camera.

Apart from a new paint job the interior of the house didn't need much, but we'll discuss that another time.  Don't think because we're in said "serious relationship" you get to see all the goods right up front!  For now, you'll have to settle for the exterior which we tackled immediately. By we, I mean my very handy husband who we shall name Handy Andy going forward.  Handy Andy and I are actually kind of like Chip and Joanna Gaines. You know, a very amateur version of the {best couple ever} but can't you see the similarities? I digress. Take a look at this yard, and that paint, and those windows. Pretty terrible.




The first thing we did was add hurricane impact windows and doors. Living in Miami, it's an absolute must to have some sort of protection against the hurricanes.  Next, we added trimming. Poor old house, it was in desperate need of a face lift.


Once all that mess was said and done, it was time for my favorite part. Picking the paint color! I was actually on the fence about the color at first. I originally wanted to paint it a very light gray or mint green. Handy Andy came home with a sample of the color and I just wasn't sold.  Years of experience have taught me to paint a few HUGE swatches on the wall and live with it for a few days.  That kind of convinced me and we went for it. So happy we did because  the contrast with the white looks amazing and very different from all the other houses on the block.



We also had to lay an insane amount of grass, as much of it was dead and not very well taken care of.  Handy Andy is OBSESSED with his grass. No, I mean OBSESSED. We have sprinklers in and he still waters it every night.  I can't say I blame him, it is looking beautiful these days. 

 
{We actually have to repaint the house. When the sprinklers were first put it in, the water stained the walls. We tried to paint over it with with color-matched paint and failed. Rookie mistake}. Here she is today, in all her glory.  Handy Andy built the pergola over the front entrance of the house and planted the bougainvillea.  I love, love, love the hot pink against the dark gray. Adds the perfect pop of color. We also recently added the white fence and landscaping. 
Isn't she charming?


{Can you spot the T.V. on and Handy Andy standing by the window? He can't get away from the game for a second. I forgive him, look what he's done to the house}.

On to our next project...