Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Welcome!

First of all, thank you for your interest in our St. George home.  As the title of this blog implies, we absolutely love this house and the surrounding St. George community.  We hope you will explore the property carefully in person, but wanted to share some of the improvements that we have made over the past three years.

French Doors:
When we purchased this home three years ago, the entire property had just been renovated.  We immediately fell in love with the gorgeous kitchen (and think you will too.)  We also loved the spacious back patio, but the only access to the backyard was through the garage.  So our very first project was to replace the kitchen window with high quality french doors.    Here's a photo of the kitchen before:

 And after:

As you can see, french doors dramatically enhanced the accessibility of the backyard, letting us enjoy the great St. George weather and frequently dine outside.  Also, the built-in blinds are fantastic--cleaning is such a cinch.

Sprinkler System and Sod:
The backyard used to be red dirt.  We installed an automatic sprinkler system and drought-resistant sod.  Here's a photo right after the sod was laid.

The sod is now well-established and uses less water than most grasses.  Also, both the back and front sprinkler systems have been fine-tuned to water more evenly.

Window Box:
Two years ago my husband built me a window box for my birthday.  An architect by profession, he took great care with craftsmanship and in designing it to match the style of the home.  Since we can't take it with us, we hope the future owner will love it as well.

Garden Boxes:As long as we're speaking of growing things, the house also includes three garden boxes, should you want them.  The boxes never got planted this season since we were out of town this summer, but there is lots of yummy potential for those with a green thumb.

Other "Green" Improvements
Noticeable primarily through the extra "green" in your wallet after saving on utility bills.

- Solar Tube:
One of my favorite additions, this sunlight lets an amazing amount of light into the kitchen.  During the daytime, we rarely need any additional light in the kitchen.  In fact, the solar tube is so bright that I occasionally find myself trying to flip it off with a switch as I leave the room.

- Attic fan:
This fan has made a huge difference in the overall comfort of our home, particularly upstairs during the hot summer months.  The fan can be flipped on by a switch in the master bedroom or run automatically when the attic reaches a certain temperature.

- Vents:
 We put in extra roof vents to improve the attic airflow even move.

- Additional insulation:
We paid a professional to pump extra insulation into our home.  We also added more insulation to the walls during our closet remodel.

Closet Remodel:
We switched the master bedroom closet into a walk-in closet, adding additional space by moving the wall forward a touch, as well as opening up into a cavity above the stairs to provide lots more storage.
 We think you'll also appreciate the overhead lighting that we ran to the closet space.

Shelving:
We've added extra shelves to maximize storage space as well, including a second, deep shelf above the washer/dryer and shelves in the outside garage storage closet.

Lighting:
When we moved in, the living room was lit by an elegant light fixture/ceiling fan that dims via remote control.  However, the room was often too dim for our tastes, so we installed four can lights that allow you to choose between bright and friendly or dim and romantic, depending on your mood.

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We've made some other minor changes, but that summarizes the major improvements.  We have loved this home and would love to stay, but a new job calls us elsewhere.  Here's a brief summary of a few of the things we'll miss most.

-Location!  Close to heart of St. George, my husband biked to work in less time than I could drive.  Depending on which direction you head, we are also a fifteen minute drive from lovely Snow Canyon State Park or the larger shopping areas of St. George. 
-A large, fenced-in yard.  My kids picked this one, as they love having plenty of space within our property to play, scooter, bike, or pogo stick.
-The north-facing orientation.  This isn't something you would normally think about, but the home's orientation really helps with comfort and energy costs.
-The jetted bathtub.  I'm a sucker for a nice soak in the tub, so I will miss this luxury.  We replaced the heating elements in the water heater, so there is always plenty of hot water.
-A great neighborhood.  Enjoy!
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