Just Porchin' Around

It is officially summer for this teacher! And I am super glad! It has been a whirlwind year of testing, Speech & Debate coaching, planning, and a lot of changes. But it is over. Next year will be easier. I plan on doing some decorating and updates to my classroom next week, so I shall have to post about that here soon. Speaking of changes... I finally bought a new computer! The first new one I have owned since 2007. It is a refurbished MacBook Pro and I love it! 

Plus I love my Little Mermaid sticker that I bought for it, check out all the different options on Etsy.com, I found mine {here} and it was an easy fun way to accessorize my computer. I also put a clear case over it that I bought from Amazon. com to keep it safe. 

I've also made progress on the porch! Remember last week when I showed you the new (safer) decking?

Well, I had a four day weekend and decided to take that time to stain it! I used the color Gunstock by Minwax. I did it all with a brush. It was ridiculous to try and use the pad and the handle thing from Lowe's. It soaked up so much of the stain that I used 5 times as much on three planks as necessary. Ugh. It only took me a few short hours to complete and do the steps at the same time. 

Though I confess... I did accidentally forget to unlock the back door, it was cool. I hung out in my yard for like awhile.

Here's the after!

I totally love it! I think it gives the house more character and pop, plus it looks way fresher. Which is always a plus. Of course... once you finish one thing there are still more things to do.

Here's a few images of things that remain on the the To-Do list:

Summer Porchin' Re-do List:

• Install new decking  $650.00
• Stain new decking $20.00
• Spray paint lawn furniture
• New accessories for tables
• Plant flowers
• Touch up front door
• Install dead bolt
• Paint roof
• Repair wood damage
• Hang lights beneath awning
• Paint trim and sides of deck

Hopefully I can manage to get a few of those things done before the summer really gets going. It would be great to have friends over to hang out and grill, and just have a good time. Until all that is done though... here's one last look at the cozy porch!

Most MIA Blogger, Evs. But hey! Porch.

  Oh, goodness. It has been such a longggg time since I posted! Over five months! I feel like all of my posts start that way so, well. I will apologize now for being missing in action. It's been a whirlwind year in my life, we've had a death in the family that was very hard, teacher life has been dramatically more challenging this year than last year, which still seems crazy to me, and I think overall I just got into a creative slump with my house.

This month is the 7th anniversary of living in my house, which I hope to celebrate with a blog post.  But I suppose we'll see if that really happens! Let's hope. haha.

Anyway. One of the big things that has happened around here lately is that we got a new front deck! When I was in college we collapsed it during a party (oops) and made some repairs then, but since the gutters were so terrible before we replaced them, it expedited the rot occurring on the deck.

Here's some before action:

This is one of those embarassing moments where the deck is actually well, worse, than it appears in the photo. The wood was sort of start to move away from the white frame and supports beneath it... a little sketchy.

I went ahead and hired this job out to make sure that it was done correctly and looks good. Here it is:

Even in progress it looks safer and better!

Plus, our new step is actually to the size of a human foot. Which is great and results in less people falling to their doom.

The new deck with labor and materials was $650 big ones, but it looks great and will help with keeping the resale value of this little joint. 

I have purchased some stain for the entire deck and I haven't decided if I should stain the side steps that are still wood, or if I should paint them white. Any opinions out there? 

Here is the hopeful color of the new deck after I stain it:

(it came from Pinterest, but I can't find a direct link. Sorry. :( )

Obviously that house is quite a bit nicer than mine, but that's alright. I still like the way that wood tone looks with the white beams. 

Next steps to the TrailerPerf summer porch?

• Stain the entire deck and step
• Stain back steps to match (oops)
• Redecorate!
• Spray paint outdoor furniture
• Accessorize!

Here's to a summer that is less crazy and strange then the school year!

It's a Gutter Job

This last whole month has been filled with posts about the exterior of my humble abode! So here is another one for you as well. Last year all the gutters on the front of my house basically crumbled and fell off the house, or were knocked down from a falling limb or something equally dramatic. Here's a before of the entire front of the house, without gutters:

Here is also the back of the house, which from what I can tell, has never had any gutters at all.

It only took one short afternoon for the guys to come out and do my gutters. I did choose to hire them, especially with my Dad being so far away in New Mexico, I am quite sure this is one of those things you could DIY with the right means, but I don't think its for everyone.

Here's a beautiful view of the finished product:

It definitely gives the house a wonderful finished look and helps navigate the excess water from storms and other precipitation. The total cost was $678 on this bad boy.

The company that did it was called Guttermeister, click on their name if you're local and want to get in touch. I would definitely recommend them!

My house is feeling so grown up! New door, gutters, painted porch, new steps. I love it!

Oh Porch, How Cheerful of You!

I love the updates that I showed you last week, so I figured I should continue that trend into the front of the house. This post is a bit picture heavy but that's because the  front of my yard is a lot larger and I like to focus on the curb appeal, I will let them speak for themselves. The first five are the "before" pictures this year, and the rest are after the new paint job and accessorizing:

Sebastian had to stay inside because he was barky, he still tried to keep an eye on things.

Ready for the after? Here you go!

To- Do List Items Finished:

• Repaint peeling paint 
• Clean the steps
• Replace old ramp with new steps
• Plant flowers
• Repaint from doors and posts
• Accessorize
• Organize seating for max functionality

Product List:

• Large lattice rug, clearance $7.48 at Target
• "Welcome" mat, Target
• Lanterns, Homegoods and IKEA
• Pillows, handmade by mama
• Assorted flowers, local Bookcliff Gardens shop
• Brown furniture, free from friend spray painted with "Espresso" Rustoleum 
• Compass art, clearance $14.38 at Target
• Blue lawn chairs, free from mama, she found them in the trash. 

What do you think of the front porch? I'm totally digging the new rug! Especially since it was dramatically cheaper than replacing all the carpeting on the front, though that does definitely still need to be done. Maybe next year. 

Outdoor Happiness

When back in the day when I first bought my house the back "yard" was a very sad and terrible looking space. Since the dryer sat in front of the door just enough that you couldn't use it, I didn't give much attention to it. I would just cringe and pretend it wasn't there when I saw it. Here's an original angle:

A wondrous "before" shot of the door of doom:

The weird cheap light fixture that has never worked in my recollection:

Overall, I wouldn't describe it as a pleasant area. The cheap lighting, the scary door, the cheap tiny piece of gutter above the door, broken steps, and peeling paint. So this year I decided it was time to step up the game on the entire exterior. Last summer I replaced the light on the front of the house:

The lovely gentle that gave me the light for the front, also gave me another for the back! So after one year of having it around the house, I decided to finally install it:

The new stark white door looks so incredible and keeps the house so much cooler. I love it! But it did make the peeling paint look that much more terrible...

Here's a full range view, ignore the lumber and debris, that should be gone soon!

Every year I repaint the front porch, so it totally makes sense that I should repaint the back porch. Finally. After six years. I used the same paint from the front porch to keep costs down and make it look cohesive.

Ah fresh paint how much I love you! Here's another view from the same angle with the light and paint. The new steps also look fantastic! There are still a few things to do, for instance; clean up the rubbish, paint the new step runners, and fix the mulch and rock leading up to the steps. 

 

I feel like it looks a thousand times better! It makes the back of the house much more in line with the rest of the house. Plus it helps increase the resale potential, if I ever get to that point of course. Maybe next year I can build a wood fence along the chain link to create more separation and visual appeasement from the neighbor's yard. Hopefully before the summer is out I can get you a full updated image of the space with accessories and everything! I hope you like it as much as I!

Team Should-Finally-Fix-That

It has been so long since I posted! The end of the year is such a busy crazy time for a teacher, especially a first year! But now it is officially summer (6 weeks of paid vacation!) and I have finally the time and energy to get things done. So I have made a simple list of things that have to get done. Mostly things I've put off for about five years. No rush right?

First things first: I need paint this outdated light fixture and make the light actually work. It has worked since 2009, whoops.

2. I started this project last summer. I think I should probably go ahead and like... I dunno... finish painting the beam...

3. My bedroom needs to have all the trim updated and painted out. It looks so tacky being the outdated 80s faux wood.

4. On that same note... I should probably install the trim I bought for the door in March.

5. Oh and this other randomly not updated light fixture in the master bath. Should do that too.

6. I exploded a bottle of nail polish on my wall... my favorite new color. :( I need to repaint the wall and the trim. 

7. Within the next couple weeks I am going to replace these doors just like I did with the master bedroom, that is going to be fabulous! Fully updated trim and doors! Amazing! Fully updated and no more ugly wood!

8. I am also thinking about replacing this door to make it coordinate with the others in the house, though it is in the best shape of all, so it might be one I can postpone for a bit.

9. New backdoor! That is actually happening this week! Finally. It is going to be great to have a secondary entrance that is fully functional and safe. 

10. Though it is hard to see... I am also getting new gutters this week! Super expensive... but it will be nice to have a fully functional system on the house. Then I can actually repaint the porch and beams without losing all progress from rain the next day. 

Operation Get-er-Done has officially begun! Here's to an excellent summer. :)