Home Improvement (minus Tim Allen)

So Brock and I rent a small duplex here in Provo, Utah. We have no plans to stay in Utah long term and thus renting here is perfect for us. We love our little house and even though it isn't actually ours, we've definitely made the most of it. Being renters, home improvement is an interesting thing. There are a million projects I could list that I would LOVE to do around here, however I never want to invest any money here since I know it's not ours. However, this weekend Brock and I completed our first home improvement project!

Ok, so the purpose of this picture is not my adorable husband (he was ready to shovel snow for the first time at our house ha), instead turn your attention to the door at his left. It is the door to our furnace and water heater. It's the first thing I see when I walk in the house, it's visible from the living room, and of course I always have to look at it while I'm cooking or eating. The tenants before us must have glued a white board or bulletin board of some sort to the door. When they left, they just ripped it off and lovingly left the next tenants with their glue remnants. I have complained about this door for the past 8 months, but this weekend we finally did it! Ok so I know this isn't exactly extreme home makeover or anything, but I just don't think anyone can quite understand how much I hated this door. When my dad visited last, he brought up a sander for us. The plan was to sand the door down and then repaint it, and so that is exactly what we did!

We went to Lowe's for the sandpaper and paint and then embarked on our little project. Brock did most of the sanding work. I wanted to be a part of it so he humored me and let me try. I'm not the strongest person ever and my arm got tired fast haha. After he finished sanding I swept it and began the painting process. We were originally going to paint it brown again, but then we decided on white. Since it's not a door we use often we wanted it to blend in with the walls a littler more, so white it was. I did a lot of the painting. In high school, I repainted my whole bedroom so I guess you could say I'm a painting pro. While I painted, Brock worked on some odds and ends with the cars and our bikes. As it dried, I helped Brock with his other projects (I'm lying, I sat in a chair and watched him work...don't judge me.) It was really nice to work outside with Brock. When I was growing up some of my favorite memories were weekend yardwork under the instruction of my dad. I really love being outside and I know this weather won't last long so it was fun to be out there while we can. So back to the door...it dried, we hung it, and it looks fabulous! I'm so incredibly excited about it. Even though it's something so small, you would not believe the difference it makes in our house! The first like 5 times I came through the front door I went on and on about how much I loved it and how much better it looked! In fact, Brock got so annoyed with how many times I said it that he threatened to put it back the way it was. So now I just silently admire it :)

Even though it wasn't some huge thing, it definitely got me excited to own a house someday. I can't wait for the freedom to change things however I want whenever I want. But for the time being, our little duplex-complete with a nice new door- is just fine.