Endless home renos

This first photo is how our house looked just before we bought it back in Jan 2005. It was built in 1980 and very little work seems to have been done since then! It's a great neighbourhood, but there are still so many things we would love to change. Unfortunately, finances are such that anything other than painting and needed repairs aren't likely to be getting done any time soon. To make me feel better, I like to remember everything we've done to it in the past nearly-4 years. I took lots of before and after shots, but had nowhere to post them, so maybe I'll start here.
One of the first projects we took on was taking part in the Home Smart program through BC Hydro and Teresen Gas. We had our home's energy efficiency tested, then certain upgrades were recommended. We replaced all of the old aluminum framed windows and patio doors with double vinyl, and replaced the exterior doors, added weather stripping, caulked around the fireplaces, doubled the insulation in the attic and crawlspace, bought a new higher-efficiency furnace and installed bathroom fans. The new windows and doors made a huge difference in the look of the house, inside and out- and are much better for security (anti-shatter glass, UV protection, etc)
The second photo was taken after this work was done. We also bought wood blinds for the big front windows and took out some of the big plantings in the front garden. The last photo I took today. We had the exterior painted last summer and we are so happy with the colour change. It's called Tuscan Hillside. (I like paint chip colour names and I usually remember them!) Our neighbours said it looks like a new house! We also had the gutter downspouts replaced which doesn't show here, but looks so much better. The old ones were peeling and falling apart.

You can see our little Pink Dogwood tree near the end of the driveway. This was a wedding gift from my mom that we planted Summer 2005. I hope to see it grow tall and covered with blossoms one day. For now, it gets about 20 flowers in the spring.