Bumped

Yeah, bump-out -- looking good! It's officially done and crossed off the list. (I took these pictures at 8:30pm last night -- I was just too excited with the progress to wait until the light was better, hence the romantic dusky mood lighting in these photos.)

It only took S and the carpenter a day and a half to do this project, but I think it made a HUGE difference in the overall look of the house. The kitchen section was a little too narrow to be aesthetically pleasing, and I think the bumpout gives it a better proportion in comparison to the log section. Don't you think?

Before anyone rains on my parade by pointing out that the kitchen window is not centered, I want to point out that it is centered in reference to the actual kitchen space. (Remember, the bump-out is for looks only and doesn't add any square footage to the kitchen itself.) The two windows that are going to be installed on the second floor will be centered in the space directly above the kitchen window, adding the much-needed balance and symmetry between the top to bottom floors. I think it's going to look really good.

And -- side note -- look at that grass growing in the front yard! It's patchy in some places, but overall we're thrilled with it.

Also, in case you didn't notice in the photos above, the slightly scary porch hole was filled with concrete yesterday -- meaning the porch will be constructed really soon. We really won't know what to do with ourselves when we have a porch. We may drive right past the house, not recognizing it as ours.

And now, for a little comparison, here is what the house looked like just a few weeks ago:

And here's what it looked like in 2008 -- odd, overgrown and maybe even a little creepy...

Things had to get a LOT worse before they got better, but I really think we're on the upswing now. We still have a long way to go, especially with landscaping, but it feels good to be rounding this curve and going in the right direction again.

What an exciting time for our decrepit old house. Lots of productive things going on after a long lull in activity. We hope to have a lot more to report after the long weekend. Wish us luck -- we're just 8 weeks out from my due date!

Happy 4th of July, friends! How will you be celebrating?