When Jason and I purchased our home back in April of 2008 we originally planned to stay there for a maximum of 5 years, and we truly viewed our house as a starter house and nothing more than that. Well, here we are nearly 5 years later and we have NO plans to go anywhere any time soon. When we first moved into our house I knew that we would have a LOT of changes to make, mainly cosmetic but still necessary if we were going to be truly happy here. Shortly after moving in we began minor renovations in the form of paint and accessories. These updates snowballed into new wood flooring and carpet throughout the house, repainted trim, new trim, a new upstairs bathroom, all new appliances, a garden, etc., etc.... In fact, more than one room in our house has been painted more than once since moving in! Basically, it has been a labor of love to make our house into a home, and I think we are finally, almost, there.
We were fortunate in the fact that our home only needed those types of minor changes to change it from drab to fab. The previous owners had completed some of the major updates the year before selling, which included a brand new kitchen, new siding, a new driveway, and new shingles. We were very happy to not have to worry about those things, as they tend to be the most costly of home projects. All that being said, there was one major improvement that was left undone...the windows!
Our home, which was built in 1978, still had all of its original windows and let me tell ya, they needed to go! They were drafty and ugly. Some of them didn't even open anymore either because the weights were broken or the wood had swollen from years of moisture. And did I mention they were ugly?!?! Now I would like to say that my main motivator in updating our windows was the cost savings that would come along with having more energy efficient windows, but who am I kidding, I wanted pretty windows!
That's where
American Exteriors comes into the picture. Last summer we were approached by a very nice man who was walking around our neighborhood talking to people about updating their windows and siding. We had a very short conversation with this man as we did not have the funds to think about updating windows at that time. So we gave the man our information and sent him on his way wishing that we could have said "yes" to new windows at that time. Now let's fast forward a few months... I received a phone call from another very nice man from American Exteriors who, basically, was calling to tell us about an exciting promotional incentive for homeowners wanting to get new windows. I decided that we should set up a meeting with one of the sales reps to find out more about these windows and see if it was something we could make work. After all, I was sick and tired of paying upwards of $250+ per month for heating and air conditioning. It was time for a change - and it helps that Jason had accidentally broken a window in our living room the night before they called!
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| The infamous broken window thanks to Jason's shoulder...nice, huh? |
Long story short, the salesman came and we said "yes" to new windows. Our salesman, Dan, is the biggest reason for our decision. He was polite, knowledgeable, trustworthy, and patient. Not once did he try to persuade us; in fact, several times he offered to let us think on it for a few days, but Jason and tend to be impulse people. We knew we needed them, the price and financing was right, the timing (see broken window) was right. We were going to get new windows! So, measurements were taken and our custom replacement windows were in production and would be arriving in approximately 30 days.
The day of installation came. I got up early that morning to take Ryder to daycare and get home to remove blinds, take down curtains, and move furniture away from the windows. That morning felt comparable to Christmas morning. I was so excited to be getting our new windows and I couldn't wait for the process to begin. As I waited for the installation crew, I took a few pictures of our lovely 1978 windows, put on some DVR'd episodes of Sex and the City, and made myself a latte. Here are a few pictures of our before windows:
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| outside before |
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| outside of our bedroom before |
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| outside of kitchen before |
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| outside before |
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| living room before |
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| our bedroom before |
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family room before
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| guest room before |
Seriously, I think we won the award for ugliest windows. They just didn't go with the look of our home. And I previously mentioned they barely opened, and don't even get me started on cleaning They were HORRIBLE and nearly impossible to clean. I'm SO glad they're gone... And now, without further ado, here are our new, pretty windows...
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| Ryder's room after |
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| our room after |
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| kitchen after (plus a new sink!) |
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| living room after |
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| family room after |
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| guest room after |
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| outside our room after |
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| outside after |
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| outside after |
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| outside after |
So there you have it. The story of how
American Exteriors took our house from ugly to beautiful. And now we wait for spring to come. I can't wait to see what our house will look like with a plush, green lawn, bright flowers, leaves on the trees, and sunshine in the sky. The future, and our house, is looking promising!
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| Don't the new windows look great? We think so! |
Please feel free to contact me with any questions about our window project and how you can get pretty new windows for your house, too.
