We have wanted to redo the landscaping in the front of our house for the last 2 years.  So finally this year it got done.

Here is the before.

My dad helping to cut out the bushes.

Hailey helping get rid of the bushes.

Bushes all gone.  Yay!

We laid out a hose to try to figure out where we wanted to put down some stones to separate the grass from the flowers.

Stone all laid out.

The new landscaping all done.

Closer view of the new landscaping.

You may remember that last winter Rich redid our family room- took down the dark paneling, put up drywall, painted, etc.  We got new furniture and added a fireplace.  (Pictures of the process are here.)  But I didn’t like how the entertainment center fit in with the rest of the room.  So, I had said I wanted something smaller.  Finally it looks the way I like it, complete with Rich’s Christmas present:

When we bought our house last summer there was a small room in the downstairs that Brooke decided she wanted to use as her room when she stayed with us.

Move in day- dark brown paneling and dark blue carpet

Brooke painted the room white and Rich put down a new floor.

Since then Brooke has graduated and does not use her room anymore.  So we decided to turn it into an office for Rich.

Here are some before shots:

A view into the closet- it was never painted and floor was left alone since it was inside the closet and no one could see it anyways.

The other side of the room.

Paneling ripped down.

Once the paneling in the closet was taken down you can actually see into the room next door- our laundry/storage room.

Dry wall going up

Closet gone to make more room.

Rich picked out a color for his office and painted it.  Here is the finished room:

When we moved into our house I said one of the first things I wanted changed was our deck.  I didn’t like how it looked and I didn’t think it was very safe.  The railing made me nervous because I didn’t think it would stop Hailey from falling off of the deck.  I had to wait almost a year but the deck has finally been redone.

Day one of the deck renovation- this is how the deck looked before.  Rich and my dad are making some plans for the new deck.

Adding some more posts and beams.

The base of the new deck.

The floor of the new deck, with the old stairs propped up on the side.

The new, much safer railing

Almost done.

Added some landscaping.

The finished new deck.