Week 15 & 16: Raise the Roof
Happy new year! I hope all of you have been able to spend time with friends and family as well as reflect on 2016 over the past few weeks. It was a year full of change for Tyler and me. The year started off with me quitting my first job since graduating college followed by a trip to southern California for some sun, inspiration and a whole lot of thinking. We then waged our bets with the biggest decision of our married life - stay in Indiana and move closer to Tyler's job or pick up everything and head to the west coast. Ultimately, space and family won out and we soon sold our very first home and moved into a 500 sqft studio. I later accepted a new position at my old company and we bought 8.5 beautiful acres in rural Indiana. The past six months have been filled with designing the future home for our family. Whew! 2016 was full of ups and downs, but I couldn't be more thankful to start 2017 with images like those shown here full of promise for a slower way of life.
Amongst all of the craziness of the past year, it is more clear than ever that I long for simple. Simple days, simple food, simple design, simple.... living. A life filled with quiet, grass, veggies, fresh air, and the people I love. 2017 is a chance to continue the lessons we have learned ever more intentionally and to find our footing just a little more than the year before.
But enough about us... I'm sure you're here to check out the progress on our home! It's been an exciting few weeks full of two steps forward and one step back - you know, same old same old. :) The biggest accomplishments? Roof! Siding! Trim! Tub!
Things started off with the installation of Hardie Board siding on the house. Hardie Board is a brand of cement board which we will be using on both the house and garage. The house will feature a board and batten design while the garage will have lap siding. Everything will be painted white, but that likely won't happen until early spring when temperatures are more mild.
With the installation of siding comes a lot of trim work as well. As you can see, the large front window has been fully trimmed out and looks great! All of these little details are really making the house look more and more finished each day.
Above is a nice view of the deck ledger board we had installed. While we won't be adding a deck right away, we wanted to go ahead and get the ledger board installed and trimmed out now that we can easily build the deck down the road. The awning that goes over the slider was also installed. It's a small detail but one that made a quite an impact by adding some depth to the house.
Inside, some additional framing items were finished up as well as electrical, HVAC and plumbing finalization. We have our inspection next week, so keep your fingers crossed all goes well!
Starting 2017 with a roof on the house makes me oh so happy. The garage roof should be finished shortly as well and then we will be on to insulation and drywall. Eek!
2016 was one wild ride, but I have nothing but excitement for 2017. Cheers to you and yours for a year full of new beginnings!