Another Garage Update + a Lesson in Celebrating the Small Wins

When I first started brainstorming ideas for this post, the first thought that popped into my mind was, “Well, we haven’t come too far since the last update and our to-do list is still a million miles long.”

And then I walked outside and started photographing the garage; really seeing every little project and update.

Before I started editing the photos, I went back into the blog archives to see the last update we shared – it was on August 17 and we talked all about the weekend of putting up walls and sheathing. Below is where we left off and you can catch up on that post here.

When I then started editing the photos for today’s update, I was even more surprised at how much we actually have done. And a little frustrated at myself for automatically thinking about the negative.

We’re nearing the three year ‘house hunting’ anniversary (mid-December is when we first saw this place way back in 2015) and every time I look at the pictures from when we moved in, I am brought back down to earth and motivated in a whole new way. This little house of ours has changed so. much.

As we cross another project off the list, whether it’s putting up the roof or hanging the rest of the sheathing, our automatic response is to immediately move on to the next thing. Most of the time, Brett and I will be talking through next projects while we’re currently working on something.

In fact, we’ve been so caught up in the next steps that I couldn’t even remember what this garage looked like the last time we shared it with you – AND my immediate thought was, “It’s going to look the same; there’s not enough of a change to share with everyone.”

But the reality is, we have done a lot and it’s a reminder to myself that the small wins need to be celebrated and remembered.

So, let’s dive into the updates!

We finished hanging the sheathing and put up the house wrap.

We took a weekend and installed the roof (it may or may not have been our one-year anniversary weekend… keepin’ the romance alive around here :-P).

Once we got the roof up, Brett went around and did a few touch-ups before calling the inspector. He stopped by early-September and thankfully, we passed! Up next is the electrical permit and inspection.

Towards the end of September we picked up two service doors and got those installed fairly quickly.

The garage doors were delivered the last week in September and we were able to get the single car door put up. It’s not fully functioning quite yet (there’s the whole lack of electricity thing) but it’s up and looks ah-mazing.

Brett installed the soffits on one side of the house and put up a little decorative fascia on the roof sides facing the road. We’re debating about whether or not to add a wood gable to each garage peak – stay tuned on that one.

This next weekend, we’re hoping to get the double garage door installed.

Similar to the single car, it’ll be up and secured but not fully functioning. As you can see below, we have the bottom half of the tracks installed, which is what the door is secured to. If all goes well, we might be able to get the upper tracks installed this weekend/early next week. Fingers crossed on that one!

I did mention this in last Sunday’s newsletter (if you aren’t signed up, click here to subscribe to our weekly updates!) we picked out the siding and trim color. We decided on the stone but when we went to order last night, it said ‘sold out in stores’ and ‘not available online’ so we’ll see if that’ll still work out. Here’s an inspiration picture of the siding and trim color:

Hopefully the next time we share pictures, you’ll be able to see the siding and stone installed, the garage doors installed and the window in. That way the space is enclosed and we’ll be able to park inside before the snow comes!

If you’re wanting more real-life updates, follow us on Instagram. We share in-progress, real-time videos of all the garage updates!

All our best,