Everybody loves a makeover, right? I know I do. That’s why I finally got around to doing before/after photos of our studio and house.
When Joel and I first saw the house in late 2012, we immediately saw the potential despite it’s drab appearance. That, and the 1000 sq. ft heated workshop were a definite selling point. But it needed sprucing up. The house and workshop were in great condition so the only changes necessary were mostly cosmetic.
Here are before/after photos of the outside. Wait until you see the inside…another day though (because it’s pretty messy right now) 😉 The moral of this story is: it’s amazing what a coat of paint can do!
The main thing we did here to the studio was finish off the bottom part of the building, which had a layer of yellow foam insulation showing. This is called “parging”, when you add a layer of concrete over the bottom foundation. We also added a coat of black paint to the barn doors, added a couple colourful pencils in front of the doors (to advertise what we do from a distance). We also levelled the yard, re-seeded it with grass and made two flower beds in front of the windows.
The house needed sprucing up. We improved its appearance with a few coats of paint: first we painted the rust-coloured shutters a fire engine red, really making them pop. We also painted the front porch black, which contrasted nicely with the red shutters. This year we finally got around to digging up the entire front garden and replanting it with low-maintenance perennials.
The front porch was untreated wood when we bought the house. We painted it black to contrast nicely with the new fire engine red shutters and added some pretty flower pots.
The studio is behind the house, as you can see. The side porch was untreated wood when we bought the house so we needed to spruce it up to look prettier for when clients walk past it to the studio. Again, pretty simple makeover: a coat of black paint for the porch, fire-engine red shutters and pretty potted plants.
And finally, one of the first things we did when we moved in was to order a lovely sign to put at the front of the house. I love this sign.
Papillon Press 