I have so so much to update you on for the Monroe House and I struggled with how to do it all in an interesting and efficient manner. When you have two thousand photos that all look VERY similar, it can get boring real quick. All the bad siding looks identical to all the other bad siding. Go figure. So we have had a lot done and I hope to give you the quick and dirty version of the transformation. And I hope you love seeing this ugly rock turn into a shiny gem as much as I do!
As I said in the past, we are paying cash for the renovations here…we had originally taken a small loan to pay for the house and since have paid that off and now we are socking away money each month to dedicate to bringing it back to life. Obviously these first steps are VERY expensive comparatively so we felt like it was necessary to do the outside first. And the number one thing on the outside that bugged the ever living daylights out of us was the nasty awning.
The awning was described as a overgrown mustache that had grease and food on it and I couldn’t agree more. I didn’t like it when it was clean and I hated it when it was dirty.
Since it was attached to the exterior of our house and had been there, it was unfortunately considered “historic” and so we did have to get permission to remove it.
When the day finally came that we could remove the screened in porch and the railing and the awning, I think both Jeremy and I were literally like children who were told they were going on a fantastic vacation.
The first thing we did was decide to remove all of the railings and the screens. That thing had been there for decades and it was begging to go.
The screens were my favorite part because I felt like there was finally AIR TO BREATHE. Before that porch felt like the air was getting filtered through nastiness before getting to my lungs…..
Also there is something very therapeutic about swinging a sledge hammer 🙂
The awning wasn’t extremely difficult to remove….a couple nails held it in place. Honestly I am kinda surprised that it had survived for as long as it did without being damaged.
Jeremy got the whole thing off himself. And since it did have holes and rusted rot spots….we hauled it off to the recycling center for $42 🙂
But just look at this beauty now! I love it clean shaven 🙂
Even though this was just a tiny miniscule step, removing that awning and porch junk was like giving this beautiful house a little dignity back.
If you are wondering what happened to the windows, we had to hire an asbestos abatement team to remove some hazards from the house and unfortunately only a few of the original windows were able to be kept. It was a sad day but we did have some idea of the original design and so we know that when the siding and windows are done….it will look incredible.
And now for one of the best demo before and afters ever on an exterior….
BEFORE with awning
AFTER without awning
So so much better right?! I love it! I’ll be sharing a whole lot more about the exterior changes here soon! But for now….let’s all exhale and inhale deeply knowing that if you sit on that front porch….you can breath 🙂