Exterior Updates One Boulder at a Time
It’s Wednesday at West Park Drive and welcome to my latest adventure in home transformation! Today, we're diving into the world of exterior makeovers here and goodness, this one needs it! Get ready, because this ugly duckling is about to spread its wings and soar!
My first mission? Tackling those giant boulder rocks adorning the front exterior walls. (What is it with these boulder eye sores? See my earlier post about the interior ones we demolished!)These rocks had overstayed their welcome, and it was time for them to “roll” on out. (ba da bum!) With a mix of determination and talented help, I said goodbye to the stone-age look and welcomed a fresh, clean slate.
Thankful for the gifted mason, our brick-laying hero, armed with mortar and a keen eye for detail. He listened to my vision and like a master puzzle solver, he rebuilt the wall brick by brick, creating a seamless blend with the existing structure. Since we planned to paint the brick anyway, we focused our energy on finding lighter shades of brick, but not trying to match the existing ones.
Another design element I needed to tweak was reworking the supporting column of the roofline. It had to stay for structural support but its bulky presence had to be omitted. My goal? To open up the front entry and create a chic MCM courtyard vibe. The dilemma stumped me! While I can typically envision design solutions, this time I struggled to find an approach that balanced the aesthetic goals with the structural requirements and budget constraints.
When my creative well ran dry, I remembered the power of teamwork. I reached out to a few of my design enthusiastic friends and together, we brainstormed our way to brilliance. It was a beautiful reminder of the wisdom found in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up."
The result? A cedar support beam nestled in a brick base, ready to mingle with the additional cedar accents we have planned for the windows. It was the perfect design solution for this space!
So, what do you think of our exterior evolution so far?
Keep following and stay tuned for more updates, and remember – sometimes, all it takes is a little imagination (and maybe a few friends) to turn a “rocky” situation into a solid success!
