The finishing touches were completed last week for the project we started last fall to re-pour a portion of our driveway and add a front porch and expanded entry way under the old porte cochere roof.

Most of the construction had been completed by the end of January, but we had a short punch list that the contractor was waiting for warmer weather to finish.  This primarily included putting on the last coat of exterior paint, darkening the stain on the front door and fixing a couple of trim pieces on the front porch.  The carpentry work for the trim pieces was completed a couple of weeks ago and the painters finally came back last Thursday to finish up the remaining work on the paint and stain.

Here are some pictures of the completed exterior:

The Finished Front Porch

The New Driveway & Front Porch Area

With the weather warming up, we’re starting to think about the next phase of the project, which will be to landscape up by the house, and clean up the area in the middle of the driveway.  For now, though, it feels so good to say we’re (finally) done with construction!

Work on our entry way addition has sure taken longer than we originally thought … the plan was to complete the work sometime around Thanksgiving, but (as always) there were several delays that stretched things out longer than anticipated.  As of last weekend, though, the only things remaining are a couple of touch-ups to the interior paint … and the last coat of exterior paint, although that will likely have to wait a couple of months for the weather to cooperate first.

I still need to get some pictures of the outside work, but I thought I’d share a few of the inside ones first.

Just as a reminder of what we had before, here are a couple of pictures of the small and out-dated entry way and connected powder room before the renovations started:

The Entry Way "Before" Picture

The Powder Room "Before" Picture

And here’s a picture of the entry way area taken from the same spot now that construction is complete.

The New Entry Way

We added about 6′ on to the front of the house, which gives room for a coat closet (on the left), a proper front door with side lights, and access to the kitchen (on the right) that doesn’t involve taking a short cut through the powder room like before.

Doors to the Coat Closet

We were really happy with the way the new coat closet doors turned out.  We had been a little concerned when we started the project that we would have trouble matching the style and stain color of the existing doors in the house, but the contractor & painter did a great job on both fronts … they go perfectly with the originals.

Inside the Coat Closet

Inside the coat closet, we asked for a stained hat shelf and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.  We’ll probably keep looking for a closet rod and a couple of shelf brackets that have a more vintage feel than the ones there now, but we’re excited to finally have some closet space on the first floor and a good spot to keep coats!

French Door to the Kitchen

The french door in this picture goes to the kitchen, with a new pantry closet just through the door on the left and access to the basement stairs on the right.  We love the way the door looks – the only problem is that seeing the kitchen from the new entry way is making us start to think more seriously about our next remodeling project (updating the kitchen).

View of the New Entry Way From the Kitchen

The powder room connected to the entry way also got a face lift as part of this project.  The walls were filled in where a window and a second door (making it a pass-through to the kitchen) used to be.  We weren’t really intending to do a bathroom remodel, but by the time the walls were patched and the floor tiled to match the entry way, there were a couple of things (faucet, light fixtures, etc.) that just didn’t seem to fit, so we decided this might be a good time to make those updates also.

Updated Powder Room

The new light fixtures are a match to the sconce that we picked for the entry way area and we really like how they tie the two spaces together.  I also like the height they give the room considering that the ceiling slopes down under the staircase to second floor.  I’m also really liking the new faucet, which we think has a bit of a vintage feel.

Updated Faucet

Replacing the faucet (and drain) on a pedestal sink turned out to be a larger adventure requiring a lot more patience than we anticipated, but the end result was well worth it get the last bit of polished gold out of the bathroom and replace it with a fresher look.

We are so excited to have the main floor bathroom back and to finally be able to start using the new entry way space!  We were beginning to feel like this day would never come!

I’ve definitely not done as good of a job of keeping up with the blog posts as work finishes up on our entry way addition … when we first started the project to expand the entry way area, I had great plans to post updates on the blog every day and take tons of pictures, but that just hasn’t happened … so here’s an update of the progress in the last month or so.

Since my last post just before Christmas, the interior doors that were holding up so much of the progress have finally shown up, they’ve been installed, and the trim work has been finished.  All of this was completed a week or 10 days ago and the painters are now in staining the doors and putting the finishing touches on the walls & trim.

Here’s a photo of the new closet doors that took so long since they were custom made to match the existing doors in the house.  Although not exactly identical (the profile on the embossed panels is a little different and the solid part on the bottom is bigger than most of the other doors), I don’t think anyone will recognize them as not being an exact match to the original doors … especially after they’re stained to match.

Custom Coat Closet Doors

The super narrow door for the new pantry has also been installed.  I’m so excited to almost have a pantry and not have to keep all of our food in kitchen cabinets any more!

New Pantry Door

Here’s a photo of the new entry way with a couple of doors installed.  The french door leaning against the wall goes between the entry way and the hall to the kitchen.

The New French Door Before it was Installed

And here’s a photo of all of the trim yet to be cut and installed.  I was amazed at what a large pile of trim showed up for such a small room … yet all of it seemed to be needed.  For quite a while, though, the powder room was used for the trim pile.

A Powder Room Full of Trim Yet to be Installed

The electrician has also been back in the last few weeks to finish up the installation of the light fixtures both inside and out and to install the new doorbell.  We’re so happy with the way all of the fixtures look, but the sconce in the entry way is by far our favorite.  We  liked the way it turned out so well that we ordered a couple of the single light version to install in the connected powder room.

Wall Sconce

The outdoor light fixtures and the new doorbell have also been installed.  We’re pretty excited to finally have a doorbell – the house didn’t have any when we moved in … and the battery powered ones just didn’t seem to work consistently.  It’ll be nice to have a real wired one now.

Front Porch & Exterior Lights

New Doorbell Button

As we get closer to the completion of the project, it’s been really exciting to see the finish work come together.  I’m amazed by what a difference all of the trim work and paint and fixtures have made in helping the space to feel polished and finished.  We’re expecting only a day or so of work left on the inside to touch up the rest of the interior paint and (due to the weather) the painters will come back in the spring to finish the last coat of paint on the outside and to darken up the stain on the front door some.  I will plan to post more pictures of the finished space soon!