And then there was light!

 My dad is awesome. He took down the filthy, dented, ugly storm door, and put up a prettier porch light.

 This is one of Mom and Dad's finds from their thrifting/antiquing jaunts. They always had pretty light fixtures even though moved often. They just took their favorite fixtures down and put the orginals back up before selling the houses, and I figure I will do the same in my rental. I'll store whatever fixtures I take down the basment, and put them back up if I ever move.

 Taking that storm door down lets the pretty wooden door show. If I put a screen door up this summer, it will be a Victorian style that fits the house.

Before............................and..........................After

Quite a difference made by just removing something!

It's getting better!

 Click any picture to see it bigger!

What a difference a week can make! They shored up the porch and took the old columns off. They just used 4x4s to replace them, but I went ahead and bought a bit of lumber so that Jerry could wrap 1x around them to beef them up a bit...it makes the posts more the width the old columns were. He says I have to let the wood breathe for a few months before we paint the new wood white because it's treated lumber. I like the railing, and I'm sure I'll be less likely to step off the edge!

 Another angle. The house has a new roof, for which I'm very thankful.

The porch roof is really peeling. The landlord says he is going to cover it in white vinyl. That's ok with me...it will neaten things up considerably. I like the old beaded board, but it's very warped from when the roof was leaking.

Look at that dirty siding! Joe and Mike took the power washer over so I could use it to clean it up, but wouldn't you know it...it would not run. So I scrubbed the front by hand. It still does not look super, but it definitely feels cleaner and I can go ahead and put the glider on the porch this weekend.

 This is my little kitchen. It's tiny, but will get the job done and there is room for a little table.

This is some old vinyl wallpaper that I have used so many times on different projects. I figured it's vinyl, I can wipe it clean, why not use it for shelf paper. It's bright, but I think I like it! And hey, it was free!

I had enough to do all the bottom cabinets and drawers. I think I have another roll somewhere, so maybe I can do the top too. Not sure about those cabinets being brown inside. I usually paint them white inside so it's lighter and I can see better. But I'll try it...maybe it will be fine.