a new look.

This fall our big focus was getting the house wrapped and siding installed.  This is what the siding looked like when we moved in.

We're not 100% sure, but we think it's lead paint, which as you know is not exactly healthy to be around!

Our goal in getting this big task done was two-fold.  Not only was it hideous looking, but by wrapping the house we could potentially save a good chunk of change in heating costs over the winter.  Last winter we used up 1/2 of our oil heat by the end of January - and that stuff ain't cheap!  By replacing all the windows over the past year, and finally wrapping the house, we hoped to be able to cut this cost drastically this coming winter.

the before.

Before we could begin the house wrap process, Dan spent countless hours building out the frames of the windows in order to make a place for the siding to hid behind.  This process seemed easy enough when he began, but as he worked his way around the house he realized that not all of the windows started with the same thickness of trim!  Seriously, on one side of the house each window had a different style of trim.  Needless to say, it took much longer to complete this step than initially planned. {and I failed to get ANY pictures of the process!}

Next came the wrap.  We enlisted the help of our dear neighbor Dan Sheets.  Together they were able to wrap the house in just a few days.

Once the house wrap was up, the casings around the window were cut and installed.  Again, I didn't manage to get any good pictures of this process, but here you can see a finished window behind neighbor Dan.

The siding seemed to go up super quickly thanks to the help of Raul & Cory (who often help with Dan Sheet's Home Repair business).   Maggie decided she needed to be in on the action too...

At this point, we were headed to NYC for a long weekend to visit Kristin & Andrew.  We weren't expecting to see much change, but we were totally surprised to come home to this....

A few more days and the house looked brand new.

Check out our House Tour for more pictures of the finished product!