Crowning glory

I had a bit of a rant a little while back. Lots of excuses, not so much decor. Got a few e-mails asking for pics of our paint project and the new soffit I had built (with my two own little hands), so I thought I would oblige. My home is not big or dramatic, it is about eighteen hundred square feet and although I will probably never feel completely satisfied with the way it looks, I finally feel like it has some pretty good dressing (on the outside anyway).



The railing was actually one my first ever building projects. It isn't by any means perfect but I am probably the only one who sees the little flaws. At least that's what I am going with.

This is the crowning glory of the outside project, the soffit. I decided to go with a tongue and grove cedar and frame it with high grade 1x6 cedar that when stained, created a two tone effect. The finishing touch, a white vinyl molding that creates a dramatic contrast against the dark stained cedar. I had one little obstacle to contend with though, we had an outlet wired in the corner of the old ceiling for easy access to electricity when we strung up our Christmas lights. I thought about dropping the box down and having it on the outside of the soffit, but I really didn't want the outlet to be in full view. My solution was to make blocks that would drop down a little lower in the corners, attach magnets to the underside of the block where the outlet was so that when we want to plug in our Christmas lights, all we have to do is pop out the block in that corner. What I really loved about this solution was that it became a small detail that made a big statement to the end result.

Couldn't resist throwing in this pic. Meet Bailey, my next door neighbor's pup. We love her to pieces.

Stay tuned. Up next.......a glimpse into my new clients kitchen project. Oh, and thanks guys for your input on the lighting for my powder room. So far #6 seems to be a clear favorite.