We Landscaped our Wilmore House, and I love it! {plus a Weekend ReCap}

Y’all!  I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  And wherever you are, I pray you were able to spend a little time with a few friends and family.  

We had THE BEST time in Kentucky this past weekend!  

It started off with Luke’s graduation from High School.  When we moved to Tennessee last summer, he was able to finish his last few classes online and still graduate with his senior class, since we still own a home in his school’s county.  

It was a festive, unusual, creative “drive-thru” graduation, and one we will never forget!  Corona may have broken this senior class’ school year, but it didn’t break the spirit of the Class of 2020!!

I’m hoping to write a post about that special night soon, to document it for Luke, but for now here is a picture that was shared on twitter by a news photographer and retweeted by the Lexington Herald Leader…

That pictures sums up our free spirited boy, Luke, and his crazy fun graduation!

Saturday and Sunday, we were able to see more family, and get a ton of work done on our Kentucky Reno that we call the “Wilmore House” when we are up there.  It’s located in the tiny little town, Wilmore, right outside of Lexington.  

I love this little house so much!

Do you remember what it looked like when we bought it?…

Can you even believe that’s the same house?!!

Better question is….CAN YOU BELIEVE WE ACTUALLY BOUGHT IT????!!!   hahaha!

This house was an eye sore on the main street in Wilmore, Kentucky, and most people wanted to buy the property to tear it down.  And I don’t really blame them, do you?

Y’all, look at the side of it when we bought it…

Looking back at these pictures blows my mind!  I forgot how bad of shape it was in!  (Wait till I show you the “before” interior pictures in a future post!)

It had foundation issues, which is why most would have torn it down.  But Cy wasn’t scared of that.  He knew he could level the foundation, and the rest of the bones of the house were in good condition. 

And look at this cutie now!  We are SO GLAD we didn’t tear it down!

Cy spent the weekend cleaning up the inside, getting it ready for the HVAC guy to finish up a few things, and for the electric guy to come and approve all the electrical Cy has wired in the house.  We have running water in there, but no electricity yet. 

I worked on the landscaping.  Our friend, Adan, came and helped me on the second day and was WAY faster than me!   

I bought some azalea bushes, some lamb’s ears, some type of yellow-ish green shrubs, and some pink flowers.  

We also planted some flowers and hostas under the tree in front.

We also painted the porch ceiling white and added a black ceiling fan for front porch enjoyment. :) 

We still have to sand and stain the wood porch, and then do a lot of little miscellaneous touch ups, but the exterior is almost finished.  

The front porch has come a looooong way!….

Our friend, Adan, is going to be doing some work on the inside in the coming weeks, mostly finishing up the interior trim work and adding wood planks to the vaulted ceiling in the main room.  

Our goal is to have it ready by late July or August to list on AirBnB. #fingerscrossed

Here is the video I shared on Instagram in case you missed it…
 

Quick question:  Do you think we should add shutters on the front windows?  I was going to leave them plain, but Cy was leaning toward shutters.  I would love your opinion!

And I’ll be sharing more updates about this home in the future. :)

One last picture that I have to share with you is of my sweet great niece, Claire and I.  She turned two on Monday, and we had a blast celebrating her adorable life!!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this sweet girl!

 

Have a blessed day, friends!

xoxo

Traci

46 Comments

  1. I love what you’ve done with the exterior! But I must admit, my first thought was that it would look nice with shutters.

  2. What a year you have had! Congrats to Luke – this will not be a graduation ever forgotten for sure. I’m so happy to see the schools and seniors embracing what could have been a real downer. They def took those lemons and made lemonade :)..
    I’m loving the Wilmore house so much – it’s so cute! anxious to see the inside too!

  3. Looks great! I’m not a fan of shutters unless they are actually working shutters. The window seems a bit narrow for working shutters anyway. That being said, it does look bare on either side of the window. I would have planted a tall bush on either side of the window, but maybe the azaleas will get bigger and do the job. What about some kind of metal wall decorations on either side? Metal stars are very popular here in central Ohio.

    Congratulations to Luke! My youngest daughter graduated from college and I wish she could have some kind of celebration like that.

  4. Yes for shutters BUT I would leave them a natural wood color instead of painting them. Just saw natural shutters added to a house with new siding that was light grey and i wasn’t sure about the natural wood with the grey but it looked really good and i think it will look awesome with white

  5. The refurbishing you’re date is astoundingly we’ll done!
    Couldn’t help but chuckle at the lovely plantings you chose… We planted azaleas about that size years ago and realized now that the blooming has finished, we desperately need to cut their 6’ height by half! And those sweet yellowish green ones, Golden Euonymus – yeah, ours are now nearly 10’ tall and 5’ wide! Guess I’m warning you there’s either LOTS of restrictive trimming or relocation ahead. Good luck!!

  6. I think something at the top of the window would be cute, like the shape of a fan. I don’t know what you call them, but you and Cy probably do.

  7. Oh some pretty wooden hinged shutters would look adorable! I say do it!.😊
    That house looks amazing! Y’all did great on it!.

  8. Congrats to your graduating Senior! One of my grandkids graduated via online graduation. This was a first for me. Nice to be able to pop in and watch, but a tear jerker not being there to see in person. We Skyped and watched her open her graduation gift from us. Still not the same. I think it is wonderful how creative some schools have gotten to honor the Seniors and allow recognition. Your fixer upper looks fantastic. You guys do such good work. All the best and God bless, d

  9. This is a beautiful and amazing transformation! Love it! I also love shutter’s so in my humble opinion, I say “Yes, definitely go with shutter’s,”

  10. Congratulations to Luke!
    Love the cottage! Yes I would put some stained (same color as front door) shutters on it!

  11. I’m so glad that y’all had such an awesome weekend! So much to celebrate! I love the picture of Luke. I suspect this type of graduation may have suited him better than the traditional one. The Wilmore house looks amazing. If you were to put shutters on the windows, what color are you thinking about? Would you make them the same color as the front door? I like the house as is, but shutters could give it that extra umph. I hope your drive home was smooth.

  12. We have a graduate this year too…congratulations to you and Luke!
    I’d totally go with natural wood shutters with a craftsman style. :)

  13. Congratulations to Luke! Wishing him wonderful blessings in all his future endeavors!
    Y’all have done a great job on the house! It looks great! However, I fo think dome sort of shutters are needed.

  14. I think shutters would take away from the simplicity of the exterior. The siding itself makes a beautiful statement. More is not necessarily better. Great Job!

  15. Congratulations to Luke! That was really great of his school district to let him graduate with his class. What are his plans for the future?

    Re: the shutter dilemma. Here’s a kind of outside-the-box idea: you like the clean look of the house without shutters, Cy thinks they would add to the design. What about adding white shutters painted the same color as the siding? It’s a bit of a compromise but I think they would be like the cherry on a sundae and look great with this small house.

  16. I love shutters but after looking at the before pictures of the house….I vote no shutters! I like the clean lines of the house the way it is. Just my humble opinion.

  17. Congrats to Luke and kudos for his old school for figuring out a way that he could graduate with his class! What are his plans for the future?

    Re: the windows. How about putting up shutters but painting them the same white as the house siding? It’s a bit unusual but I think it would look great and I like the idea of the shutter boards running horizontal and the board/batten siding being vertical.

  18. Traci,
    Congratulations to Luke and the Class of 2020!!!
    Now, about the windows… I would go with window boxes! It would keep the simplicity of the exterior while giving them the little something extra it needs.

    1. I agree. I think window boxes would give the house some Character. In the voting poll, I voted for shutters, but they can make a small house look 👀 smaller.

  19. First of all, congratulations Luke!
    I’m leaning toward yes to the shutters. I would make them black to tie in with the cute black bench, ceiling fan and I think the from door is black. Everything looks great! It’s amazing what all y’all can do.

  20. Congratulations Luke! A very memorialable (is that a word) graduation. Re: shutters. Like every response you have received including no shutters. No matter what you do it looks great.

  21. Traci, I LOVE YOUR WILMORE HOUSE!! It looks amazing, and I know that many people will be blessed by staying there in the coming years! Also, I love seeing the pictures from Luke’s “drive-thru” graduation! It’s a beautiful example of how God helps us to celebrate in all circumstances and He gives us joy even in the midst of trying times. May Christ always keep His hand upon you and your family.

  22. Congratulations to Luke! We have a senior this year too. We haven’t had the ceremony yet. Maybe late June.
    Yes to shutters. Too plain this way. Natural wood Craftsman style with black iron hardware on them.

  23. Well done to Luke and all you Hutchersons for an excellent remodel. You guys are amazing. I think natural wood tone shutters would look lovely.

  24. I love the look of the house without the shutters. It looks more contemporary….like a modern farmhouse. The shutters (in my opinion) would make it look traditional. I would love window boxes. Think that’s a great idea. Great job on the house. It looks amazing. Can’t wait to see interior.

    1. Thank you, Lyssa! Yes, I go back and forth on the shutters. Still haven’t decided. #ugh. And I can’t wait to show you the interior as well!
      Thanks for commenting!
      Traci

  25. No to shutters. I think the vertical lines of the siding looks great as it is. Sometimes less is more.

  26. Love the house and i would put the shutters on. What color is the body of the house? The white is beautiful

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