Our first winter in western Oregon was a real surprise--it rained for almost 8 months. We love to watch the rain and we love the outdoors. Being cooped up, looking out of wet windows is not our idea of fun. Our answer was to cover the existing deck, close in the front porch, and build a covered service porch. Now the rain no longer keeps us from enjoying our wonderful yard.

Not all projects turn out the way we expect them to. We had 2 surprises with color. We wanted the exterior to be cream and white, but the cream shade I chose didn't give enough contrast so most people just see a white house. That's fine with Bob--he wanted all white to begin with.

The deck color was more of a shock. We wanted reddish brown, but it came out way too red. For the back porch we chose a dark brown which we like better. Next year, we'll repaint the deck to match.

This is what we had that first winter. It wasn't any fun.