As is the tradition, each year we like to take a video camera and walk around the house to capture what’s been done outside (and what’s still desperately waiting to be tackled – which is almost everything at our new house). You can see last year’s here, and the one from 2011 here. And by “we take a video camera” I mean “John takes a video camera” because I’ve been banned from holding any sort of recording device since I tend to Blair Witch everyone (yup, it’s a verb when I do it).
Enough jibber jabber. Let’s walk around the house together:
Hopefully that little video answers the “what’s going on outside?” questions from you guys and gives you a better lay of the land. As for our outdoor plans, there are a bunch of them listed here (they’re not at all fleshed out, but we’ll research/plan/think through each one as we get to it).
And since a not-actually-to-scale lot sketch has also become a tradition of ours, here’s one of those for our new house:
The funny thing about our new house is definitely how the lot is oriented (since we’re on the end of a cul-de-sac, we describe our land sort of like a baseball diamond) but it’s also pretty amusing to us that all three of our houses have had really similar lot sizes. They’ve all been “almost an acre” – but our first lot was long and skinny…
… while the second one was sort of square-ish (this one’s really not to scale since the house looks as big as a Target shopping center).
The other funny comparison for us is digesting that our last house and this house were almost exactly the same square footage (they’re within 60 square feet of each other) yet the lot just looks so different from the outside. We’re used to having a pretty low-lying house that almost blends in with the woods. But instead of an 1,000 square foot addition that’s hiding off the back of the house (which was the way our second house was set up), the new house has a second floor that’s in plain sight from the street, which makes it look a lot bigger and stand out a lot more from the curb.
One other sort of cool, full-circle moment was gaining a double garage. We had one at our first house, and of course had the carport in our last house, but it’s really nice to go back to a two car garage – just so that John’s workshop can be right off of the house (instead of walking around the back of our second house and down the exterior stairs into a separate entry basement).
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Psst- We’re trying out a new little bonus feature on Friday posts by ending with four fun projects, chats, or questions going on over on the Forums. You know, just in case you don’t want to go back to work just yet…
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| by MayRicherFullerBe | by Tina | by hannaschelling | by lcraig1027 |
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Cute sketches. I’ve been working on one for our flower garden so I can label everything but its hard work! Do you actual measure for your drawings or go off real estate listings?
It’s all just a not-to-scale guess – so we literally just sketch it on a piece of paper and then add color in photoshop.
xo,
s
You have such beautiful piece of property!
How I have missed the “Young House Love theme song!” Can’t wait to see what projects you guys do outside! Have a great weekend!
Just an FYI – I just recently sold about 50+ pieces of slate on Craigslist and it sold within 30 minutes and it was picked up that early evening. Good luck if you decided to sell it! I can’t wait to watch your yard transform over time. The painting inside has made a tremendous difference!
The only thing I was thinking during the video tour was with all of those trees Clara totally needs a cool treehouse!
We have a one car garage right now with a nice roofed carport attached to it but it’s detached from the house. One day we’d love to tear it down and build a big 2 1/2 car garage with a space above it for my husband’s music needs.
How will you shovel/clear that driveway in the winter? :o
Fortunately we don’t get too much snow in our area, so in the 7 years we’ve lived here I’ve only had to shovel a driveway once.
-John
I would love all that space around my house. What a gorgeous spot for Clara (and others?) to grow up. :)
Oh my goodness, y’all just absolutely made my day when I saw you included my kitchen cart makeover on your forum foursome this week! I think I just freaked out (but not too much, since I’m at work!). Thanks SO much! It’s one of my favorite projects to date!
Thanks for sharing it – it’s awesome!
-John
I want to tell you this to make your lives easier, not to tell you how to do your job or anything- but those small weedy trees at 1:30 seem to be ailanthus altissima. Crush a leaf a smell it and if it’s like a foul, peanutty smell, then they are. You ought to remove them now while they’re small. They have a tap root that goes really far down and if you don’t get it out then they’ll just resprout from it. Your property is so beautiful and has so much potential! Can’t wait to see what you do!
Thanks for the tip Bonnie!
-John
I love your new house! I’ve been growing up in RVA since I was little and am beyond ecstatic that you two have decided to stay here and help make the city even more beautiful. My husband and I hope to one day buy a house to fix up and make our own as well, but for now I have been loving living vicariously through you guys and can’t wait to see what other projects are in store.
PS I bet this house will be a knockout come December covered with Christmas decorations
I love your property! You guys have lots of privacy and your street is so quiet. So, so nice!
i so enjoy the “not-quite-to-scale” drawings! i’m a visual person and CAN NOT picture things like this without seeing it sketched out. :) one question i have regarding the workshop in the garage is, do you not expect to have a second car? wouldn’t that shake up the workshop area? and where do you store other typical “garage-y” things? (folding chairs, outdoor toys that don’t say out in the weather, paint, etc? (maybe those are not really typical?) it just seems if one side is for the car and one side is a workshop, there is not room left for the “other” stuff.
thanks for the insight! we are looking to do a garage/carport/workshop over-haul……i’m tired just THINKING of it.
The workshop side will probably incorporate storage into it, just like my last basement workshop did. But we’re also contemplating a shed at some point. And that hypothetical second car might just have to survive outside.
-John
Thank you for the video tour of your yard. I didn’t realize the shape of your backyard in particular until watching the video. It makes sense since given the cul-de-sac location. You sure do have a lot of potential for pretty, private outdoor spaces for playing with Clara and Burger, as well as entertaining. Can’t wait to see how you make this home your own. What you’ve done so far is really lovely, especially the portico. Hurrah for the blue door! Will you seed the lawn and do outdoor work this fall or is that a down-the-line project?
We’re hoping to get started on some of it this fall!
-John
I love those sketches! They look like the animation from Doug and remind me of that one episode where Doug was totally a hipster and everyone started to dress like him. But forgot he had that style originally. So he just kept escalating his outfits more and more till his sister smacked some sense into him.
And on that note, probably time for more coffee.
I get overwhelmed with planning what to do outside. Do you guys talk to landscapers or planners at the garden center? I know they offer those services at my local nursery but I’ve never taken advantage of them.
We hired a landscape expert a few years ago at our last house with a groupon and learned so much!
xo,
s
We haven’t relied much on those nursery services beyond specific plant purchases, but we’ve talked about maybe doing it this time. We did use a groupon for a landscape designer consultation on the last house which was helpful in getting us out of a rut quickly.
-John
Looks like you have a wonderful, private lot! So much potential.
Hey, totally off topic, but I’ve noticed you’ve stopped doing the monthly summary posts. Any particular reason? I liked them :)
Thanks! You’re so sweet. I think we have so many things we can’t wait to tackle and blog about so they’ve fallen by the wayside since we moved. Hopefully we can bring them back sometime!
xo,
s
No liriope? ;)
Ha! There’s some in the back but certainly nothing compared to before!
-John
The improvements to the exterior of your house and the crazy tree mess that was up front have made such a difference in curb appeal! Your neighbors must be so happy to have you guys! Still crushing on your blue door!
I really love what you two have done so far! What is the story behind this house? Was it vacant for some time? (I’m trying to give the previous owners the benefit of a doubt that they just let it run down.) It’s such a beautiful home, and I can’t wait to see what else y’all come up with.
Yes it was vacant for almost a year before we bought it. But the second we saw it, it was love!
xo,
s
Love it
!
I love that Clara gets to grow up with a nice, big lot. That is one thing I loved about my parent’s house when I lived there, and I hope I can provide the same for my kids! The shape of the new house’s lot actually seems like it would be the best. It’s kind of nestled in there. I like it!
Hey Young House Love! It’s ‘old house love’ here, again. It’s funny . . . since we moved I’ve been posting more about the house, in between paint stuff, wondering how the posts would be received. I just posted pics of the outdoors (didn’t think to do a video :p) and, amazingly, readers loved it. Who knew? Well, I guess you guys did. While I’m not scraping wallpaper and painting blue trim – thankyouLord – I have enough bloggy content for a year or a thousand.
I guess I’m saying, thanks for the inspiration :)
Very fun! What’s the black cord running through the backyard??
Just the hose we’ve been using to water the maple tree.
-Johm
Sorry guys I just swoon over beautiful yards and landscaping over decor.(is that so wrong? Love playing in the dirt) which is why I love the tour and drawings. Ever consider adding a water feature?
That would be fun!
xo,
a
That would be fun!
xo,
s
That could be fun!
xo,
s
John’s video skills are pretty great. I totally would have been all Blair Witch had I tried to make a walking video too. Your deck looks much like ours did 2 days ago pre-power washing. I am off to Home Depot today to get all the goodies needed to get our deck back into tip top looking shape! Best of luck on the outdoor projects!
Could you indicate which direction is north on the sketches so we can all get things straight in our heads?
Sorry ’bout that. Our first house faced NE, our second faced North and this current one faces West.
-John
What a great idea to create a map of the yard. I’m sure it helps to get a better idea of what could be done to the various areas before tackling any job. I will sure be using this at the next house. Thanks for sharing! :0)
How are you liking life with stairs? It was a big adjustment for us (me!). Felt like every time I got downstairs, I’d have to run back up and grab something. I love that your laundry is upstairs.
We’re trying to put things that have to go up or down near the stairs to remind us, but it’s not a foolproof method yet. Burger and Clara seem to love it, and I think John and I love the novelty if it still. Like “look! We have a second floor!”
xo,
s
Nice video! I’m not allowed to freehand hold the video camera anymore as Captain Shaky Hands can’t hold a picture still to save her life.
Was especially nice as a reminder that two people can only work on so much at a time and that something has to get pushed to the back burner while DIY beautification is going on elsewhere. There’s great potential in the yard!
One question that popped into my head during the video, the sun room is that on it’s own foundation? or is it build on top of the deck, with that as the foundation? Just wondering for no reason at all other than curiosity.
It’s on it’s own foundation. There’s actually a brick staircase under the deck from when there wasn’t a deck at all.
-John
Nice. LOVE the white crepe myrtles =)
I’m in love w all those trees. I’m in Texas and large trees are a luxury in this part of the country. beautiful lot
Hey guys, I’ve noticed that you’ve never had a vegetable garden at any of your houses. Is that something you might want to incorporate someday? I ask because it was one of my favorite things growing up , my Mom would send me to the garden before dinner in the Summer to pick out veggies. My husband and I prioritized having a garden at our house and think it would an awesome hands on learning experience for Clara.
We had a small one at our first house but never did much with it. We’re not sure one would do very well with all of the deer at this house. But maybe down the road…
-John
Ooo! Cheers for this. I was always scratching my head looking at the original pre-tree clearance photo of the front yard versus the ‘Our Current Home’ shot. With the slightly different angle and missing trees I could *not* get a feel for the front yard length from the road. Was it 10 yards or 100? It all makes sense now! Can’t wait to see the deck getting some love soon!
I love the sketches! Such a fun post!
So much potential! Can’t wait to see what you do :) Are you still thinking of paving the driveway? We’re actually thinking of de-paving ours. We live on a hill and when it rains run off just gushes down the hill towards a creek that eventually makes its way to the Potomac, so we’re thinking of ways to make our property more permeable. Since you’ve had both a concrete and gravel driveway, what are the pros/cons of each, in your opinion? Our driveway is pretty steep, so I wonder if gravel is the best idea… Maybe pavers someday.
I’m not a big fan of maintenance on gravel – especially given the size of ours. Clearing leaves and picking weeds can be quite time consuming. Weeds were also an issue with our paver driveway. I also like the idea of asphalt because it’ll make games like basketball and drawing chalk easier.
-John
Ooo! Cheers for this. I was always scratching my head looking at the original pre-tree clearance photo of the front yard versus the ‘Our Current Home’ shot. With the slightly different angle and missing trees I could *not* get a feel for the front yard length from the road. Was it 10 yards or 100? It all makes sense now! Can’t wait to see the deck getting some love soon.
What a nice flat lot. My husband always wanted that for our kids growing up! Just wondering if you ever considered removing those black window screens from the front windows? They’re hiding all of the pretty, freshly painted white window panes. As an added bonus even more light comes inside with the screens gone! Perhaps they are storm windows and not screens? Our home is very similar — the screens came off immediately — they were so old and nasty. If we EVER have a “nice enough to open a window” day here in NC (what’s up with so much rain?….) we just pop in one of those slide to fit screens from Lowe’s! Grass question: zoysia or fescue?
We might. Hadn’t really thought about it much yet. The grass seems to be a mix of both – zoysia in the front and fescue in the side and back. Oh, and lots of crabgrass. :)
-John
Wow, that yard was really unloved by the previous owners. Give you guys a year or two and it’ll whip into shape. You do need some liriope for memories (I saw a previous comment that you have a little back in there).
Um…. Can I please have my wedding in your driveway!?
Yes!
xo,
s
Your side yard = Perfect spot for a small backyard chicken coop!
That’s my next/current project. It will be great for healthy eggs, lots of wonderful compost, and a fun way for our son to learn more about where food comes from.
If only our county allowed them… :(
-John
Love you own private little woods! As always thanks for sharing.
On a side note my friend and I saw your book in a bookend picture at Anthropologie and we’re silly excited:
http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/home-room/27210285.jsp
Isn’t that crazy?!
xo
s
I’ve been meaning to say I’ve really been digging the new Friday post bonus feature.
Thanks Kate! Glad you like it!
-John
So much potential here, what a beautiful yard! Like everything else, can’t wait to see what you do!
Oh please say you have gizoogled yourselves! (gizoogle.com)
http://gizoogle.net/index.php?search=younghouselove&se=Search
HAPPY FRIDAY!
We have. And it rocked our socks. This is another good one: http://hsmaker.com/harlemshake.asp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.younghouselove.com%2F
-John
Nice video! It can’t be easy to walk and talk and hold the camera so steady all at the same time. Is there fence (either neighbor’s or yours) all around the sides and back of your property? It would be fun to see a video from walking the perimeter of your yard, too.
One of the neighbors has a fence, but mostly it’s just trees separating us.
-John
I am loving your back sunroom and deck! I have a friend who has one similar and had a retractable glass enclosure installed, so when the weather is nice you can open all the “walls” up! It’s great for entertaining!
Wow, I love how big your lot is and how much nature there is all around you. I like that you can hear it in the video.
Btw, I thought I would share, I had a dream about you guys last night! I know, super weird. I got to come to your house and hang out with you (presumably i won a contest?) and I was so excited to see your house. But when I got there it was right after Clara’s nap and she was super chatty so we spent like 30 minutes just laughing at the things she said LOL. Then you were about to show me the house when I woke up:(
Seriously, randomest dream ever!
It is pretty accurate that she’s chatty after a nap! So you subconscious is on point to some degree! :)
-John
The entire property is LOVELY…thank you for the tour :)
(I was distracted, tho…once I laid eyes on those two glorious garage doors, all I could picture was J-Boom, a maniacal look of glee in his eyes, joyfully pressing his trusty new REMOTE :)
xox
Oooh. So lovely. My front yard is even worse – a collection of weeds, moss, and brown patches. I hope you put up posts in the future about planting grass seed. I tried to do this in April but it didn’t work. I hear the fall is the time for grass seed in the Mid-Atlantic (I live in the DMV). Have a great weekend!
Oh yes, we can’t wait to tackle grass this fall!
xo,
s