Upgrading the Florida Home

Carol and I will have owned this home 2 years this coming March. We bought the house fully furnished. We have made a number of changes to the furnishings. First we changed the bed to a king with a memory foam mattress. We each bought a desk at the same time we bought an entertainment center. Originally the second bedroom was an office. All that stuff was donated. We put a queen fold out couch and a long table for Carol's sewing machines. Recently we changed the dining table and chairs and replaced the coffee table and end tables. I am happy to say that all the old furniture and the stove either went to Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity. Please understand there was nothing wrong with the stuff, it just wasn't our stuff or style.

Recently I have been looking at the outside of the house. When I watch TV at night I sit near what was kind of French doors. The were in poor shape and I could see daylight in one corner. Additionally, there was no way to add a screen for air circulation. Also there was no current storm door in the front. A local contractor was working on the street and I asked him if he could do some work for me. We all went to Lowe's and picked out the new slider for the back of the house and a storm door for the front. Below is a before picture of the rear entry way. You can see that there was rust on the door and it generally looked "shabby". There was also some rot. The next picture is after the slider was installed. Oddly Lowe's had to order a screen door. You would thing they would be in stock.



Below is a picture of the front door. It is functional but no real eye catching appeal. With an interest in staying within a "I can pay for this in cash" budget, we opted for just a storm door with a hidden screen.
The screen is in the top of the door and pulls down as you lower the top panel. If you look closely you will see a small portion of screen at the top. The lower white bar is the frame for the top panel and when the screen is fully closed that bar aligns with top bar.

The final piece to yesterdays change were new outdoor lights on either side of the garage door. The old lights (sample below) were dull and really added nothing to "curb appeal".


Below is a picture of one of the new lights. The brass matches the brass on the front storm door. This in my opinion gives the front of the house a "fresher" look. Now the brass house numbers look dull. Do I get brass polish or just buy new numbers.

We have recently planted some flowers in front and want to add some more. I have one more front project. I need to replace the eyebrow windows in front. And maybe a spiffier front door. Carol is out looking for the "RIGHT' curtain rods for the slider and dining area window. We have the fabric for the curtains. We still have a couple more "wants" but they will have to wait.