When we bought this house it was a neglected contractor's Rambler, built in 1959. It needed insulation, new wiring, new plumbing, new windows, and, in the case of the garage, exterior walls and framing that needed to be rebuilt. The thought of living in such a house was depressing and, doing the work ourselves, it took years before we could even get to the more artistic improvements. The lession I take from this experience, however, is that even a very ugly and cheaply built house can be made better with a little color and art and a lot of work.

Our Artistic house: The Exterior

Above the entrance door and only visible up close, is a small mural showing regional birds. The birds were chosen by my son, an avid bird watcher from age 5. Want to know more about birds? Attend the Puget Sound Bird Fest in Edmonds (http://www.pugetsoundbirdfest.com).

The downside of energy efficient windows is reduced ability to hear bird song.

Okay, still an ugly Rambler, but much better than before. The windows were resized to allow in more light than the original long horizontal windows. The trim, brick walkway, railing, and Cedar garage doors (now a small paint studio), and window boxes were added.

Adding ornament to a Rambler usually makes things worse, but a few very small details seem to help a bit.