It was just over two years ago that our son, Logan, bought his first home during COVID and the crazy housing boom. Since then he’s been making small upgrades here and there including a brand new bathroom, reconfigured the kitchen cabinets to add a dishwasher, new concrete counters and, most recently, a new sidewalk, front door and landscaping. The photo below was the listing photo.

The next photo was his first day as a new home owner. The landscaping didn’t look terrible. But what you can’t see is that the sellers just put weed mat on top of the existing random plants in the flower bed and added a couple of bushes and mulch on top of that. It needed to all come out and be redone. The concrete sloped toward the house which caused water to pool at the strange front half step. The stepping stones were slick and not level. Overall, not terrible but needed some fixing up.

This spring he ripped out the front flower beds and I helped him install new hardy, low-maintenance perennials.

Fresh mulch makes everything look better.

He added simple black edging to complete the front landscaping.

You might also notice the cedar touches and handrail he added to the front porch to help tie in the new cedar fence. Remember when I said if you happen to know someone that works in construction, you’re sitting on a goldmine of potentially free items that can be repurposed around the home? The metal rail was scrap from a job site he was on. He spray painted it black and turned it into a handrail.

Next he tore out the existing concrete, fixed the grade so there is only one step and poured a new sidewalk. It’s worth scrolling back up and looking at the before photo because the new sidewalk looks so much better.

Finally, he replaced the old door with a more modern craftsman and added a new storm door.

Another peek at the old door.

And here is what the front of the house looks like now. So cute!

He did well keeping the new landscaping alive.

Home sweet first home. I think I better get him a doormat for Christmas.