Our New Home’s Exterior Unveiled: An In-Depth Outdoor Tour & Landscaping Visions
Welcome, dear readers, to an annual tradition we hold close to our hearts: our comprehensive outdoor home tour! Each year, we eagerly grab a video camera to capture the evolving landscape of our property – showcasing what’s been lovingly accomplished outside and, more often than not, highlighting the many projects still patiently awaiting our attention. This tradition has followed us through various homes, providing a living document of our journey. If you’re curious to see how far we’ve come, you can revisit last year’s tour here, and the one from 2011 here. And when I say “we take a video camera,” let’s be honest, it’s almost exclusively John behind the lens. My track record with recording devices has led to a self-imposed ban, as my shaky-cam technique tends to give everything a distinct “Blair Witch” aesthetic – a cinematic style perhaps best left to horror films rather than home tours!
This year, the excitement is amplified as we’re guiding you through the exterior of our brand new house. It’s a fresh canvas, brimming with potential and countless opportunities for us to infuse it with our personal touch. Join us now as we embark on this virtual stroll around the perimeter, offering you a detailed glimpse into what makes this property uniquely ours.
A Visual Journey: Our Latest Outdoor Tour Video
Enough of the preamble; let’s truly walk around the house together, immersing ourselves in the sights and sounds of our new outdoor spaces. This video isn’t just a simple walkthrough; it’s an invitation to experience the property’s flow, its natural light, and the various zones we’re beginning to envision for future enjoyment. We’ve done our best to capture the essence of the land, providing a dynamic perspective that still images often can’t convey. You’ll get a feel for the terrain, the existing mature trees, and the general ambiance that drew us to this particular home.
We sincerely hope that this little video answers many of the “what’s going on outside?” questions we’ve received from you all and gives you a much better lay of the land than words or static photos ever could. It’s an honest look at the present state, with all its raw potential and areas ripe for transformation. As for our concrete outdoor plans, we have a multitude of ideas already swirling, many of which are listed in more detail here. Please note, these plans are far from fully fleshed out; they are merely the seeds of inspiration that we’ll thoroughly research, meticulously plan, and thoughtfully execute as we tackle each project one by one. The journey of transforming an exterior is just as rewarding as renovating an interior, and we’re thrilled to share every step with you.
Mapping Our Domain: Unpacking the Lot Layout
Understanding the unique footprint of a property is crucial to truly unlocking its outdoor potential. For us, a not-actually-to-scale lot sketch has become another cherished tradition, offering a simplified yet insightful overview of our property’s boundaries and key features. It helps us visualize the space, plan for functionality, and dream up the landscape designs that will eventually bring our visions to life. This year, we’re excited to share the sketch of our new house’s lot, which presents its own fascinating quirks and challenges.
The Unique Geometry of Our New Home’s Plot
One of the most defining and amusing aspects of our new house is undoubtedly how the lot is oriented. Situated at the very end of a cul-de-sac, our land fans out in a way that we affectionately describe as resembling a baseball diamond. This unique shape, with its broader back end and narrower frontage, offers distinct opportunities for privacy and expansive views, while also presenting interesting design considerations for landscaping and defining different outdoor zones. It’s a departure from our previous lots, and we’re excited by the creative possibilities it presents for gardening, entertaining, and simply enjoying the open air.
It’s also quite amusing to us that despite these vastly different configurations, all three of our houses have consistently had really similar lot sizes. They’ve all hovered around the “almost an acre” mark, a sweet spot that offers ample space without becoming overwhelming to maintain. This consistent acreage, however, has manifested in dramatically different shapes over the years, each bringing its own set of design challenges and unique charms to our home renovation journeys.
A Look Back: Evolving Lot Shapes and Sizes
Our journey through different homes has taught us a lot about how property shape influences lifestyle and design. Our first lot, while also “almost an acre,” was notably long and skinny. This configuration dictated a more linear approach to landscaping and outdoor living, with distinct zones stretching back from the house. It offered a sense of depth and allowed for a secluded backyard retreat, but perhaps less width for expansive communal areas close to the house.
In contrast, our second home’s lot was more square-ish. This provided a different kind of flexibility, allowing for a broader, more open backyard. However, as our informal sketch illustrates (and this one is truly not to scale, making the house look almost as big as a Target shopping center!), even a square lot has its specific considerations. The challenge often lay in creating defined spaces within a larger, more uniform area, and integrating the house seamlessly into its surroundings without it feeling lost or isolated. Each shape presented its own puzzle, pushing us to innovate and adapt our design principles to suit the land.
From Curb to Comfort: Architectural Presence and Practicality
Beyond the lot shape, another fascinating comparison for us lies in how our homes visually present themselves from the street. Our last house and this current one are almost exactly the same in terms of interior square footage – they’re within a mere 60 square feet of each other! Yet, the exterior perception and overall curb appeal couldn’t be more different. This variance isn’t just a visual trick; it speaks to fundamental differences in architectural design and how a house interacts with its site. Understanding these nuances helps us appreciate the design choices made and informs our future renovation plans, especially concerning outdoor aesthetics and functionality.
The Illusion of Size: How Our New Home Stands Out
We’re accustomed to living in a pretty low-lying house, one that almost seemed to blend seamlessly with the surrounding woods, maintaining a humble presence from the street. Our second house, for instance, had a significant 1,000 square foot addition cleverly hidden off the back, preserving its modest front profile. The new house, however, takes a completely different approach. It features a prominent second floor that is in plain sight from the street, immediately making it look much larger and causing it to stand out considerably more from the curb. This architectural choice gives the house a grander, more imposing presence, changing the dynamic of its relationship with the street and the neighborhood. It’s a statement house, and while it adds to its impressive curb appeal, it also means a different kind of design challenge when it comes to integrating landscaping and creating a welcoming approach that matches its scale.
The Double Garage Advantage: A Full-Circle Moment
One particularly satisfying and almost “full-circle” moment for us has been the acquisition of a double garage with this new property. We had the convenience of a double garage at our very first house, and then transitioned to a carport at our last house. While the carport served its purpose, returning to a fully enclosed, two-car garage feels like a significant upgrade, offering both enhanced security and invaluable storage space. It’s not just about parking vehicles; it’s about reclaiming dedicated functional areas. Having a double garage means John’s workshop, a crucial space for all our DIY projects and home improvements, can be conveniently located right off the main house. This setup is infinitely more practical than our previous situation, which involved walking around the back of our second house and descending exterior stairs into a separate entry basement. This integrated workshop space streamlines our project workflow, making it easier to tackle tasks and maintain an organized, creative hub right at home.
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Beyond the Tour: Engaging with Our Home Community
As we wrap up this extensive outdoor tour and delve into the specifics of our new home’s exterior, we want to invite you to continue the conversation. We’re always eager to connect with fellow home enthusiasts, share ideas, and learn from your experiences. That’s why we’re trying out a new little bonus feature on our Friday posts, by ending with a curated selection of four fun projects, chats, or questions that are currently generating buzz over on our Forums. It’s the perfect opportunity to dive into a community discussion, get inspired, or simply unwind with some engaging home-related content – just in case you don’t want to go back to work just yet, or are looking for some weekend project motivation!
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Our forums are a vibrant hub of creativity and practical advice, covering everything from design dilemmas to successful DIY transformations. Take a moment to explore these popular threads:
| by MayRicherFullerBe | by Tina | by hannaschelling | by lcraig1027 |
We’re so glad you joined us for this tour and discussion. Don’t forget to check back for more updates on our new home’s transformation, inside and out!