Even an outbuilding should be pretty, right?

 

 

Back in April I showed you two Pinterest pictures that I'd given RH when he started building his new carport and workshop. If it was going to take up so much visual space viewed from my kitchen window then it needed to be pretty, and I taped the picture below up on a kitchen cupboard to show him the kind of scalloped trim I wanted put on the front.

 

 And he and his brother did it! Doesn't it make a big difference?

The second Pinterest picture I showed him was to remind him that I wanted wide trim on the windows and doors and a big green enamel barn light fixture.

We found the green barn light at Overstock and RH was careful to put wide trim on all the doors and windows. 

Nancy from Joyful Cottage told me that the Swedish Red that I wanted for the paint was actually Falu Red and expensive but that Benjamin Moore's Heritage Red was a good match. 

We had it all professionally painted. RH loves building projects but hates painting. We chose Benjamin Moore's Heritage Red and Simply White for the trim, and Behr's Eastern Bamboo for the doors. The roof is Timberline green dimensional shingles. The building is made of Hardie board. [The neighbor behind the building is the one who shares all his garden bounty with us in the summer.]

Inside the workshop the walls have been insulated and installed but when a friend gets time in his schedule he'll help RH drywall the ceiling. 

And there are cabinets and worktables to be built but eventually it will become a true workshop. Work goes slow but it is getting done. And we have space in it for a second fridge!

This next picture shows part of the old small three-bay barn that is the only storage RH has here as there was no garage or basement. The two outer bays really need to be torn down but we want to save the taller middle part. 

There's enough work to be done for a long time but at least now we have a covered place to park our vehicles and a guy place to escape from the house for all his projects.

 

One reason I was drawn to Swedish Red houses is that under the vinyl siding of our 1935 cottage is red clapboard! Wouldn't restoring that be a good project for RH to tackle next? 

I hear him saying "What?" I don't think it's going to happen but at least my wish came true, the one where I asked him--"If we have to have a building stuck out behind the garden can't it at least be pretty?"

 If I told you how old RH is he would kill me but take my word for it, that this man and his older brother have built this still amazes me. He does not know the meaning of retirement. In short, he is a keeper!

Everyone who left a comment on my previous post was so sweet that I realized how much I missed them and decided to try to keep comments open here. I'll do my best not to get behind and drop out again. I mean, you simply are the nicest people, whether you ever comment or not. Thank you!