Monday, April 30, 2012

First Impressions...

Even though very few people enter our house through our "official" front door (due to the side, mudroom door closest to the driveway), your "Front Door" is the first impression to your house (or so I've read and heard!)  If my numbers would've been drawn in that Mega Millions Lottery last month (darn you lottery-give me back my $10!), I would go out and buy a beautiful new front door...or a new house with a new front door haha, but that's beside the point.  Since I don't have a wad of cash buried in the backyard, I decided to make our current front door my own.  Notice how I did not say "our own" since Dan would have NEVER suggested we paint the door....well, purple to be broad...it's actually "Delicious Plum" and I will stand by that name!  Anyways, here goes our next adventure!

Here is the official "before photo" of the front door.  As you can see, it's original to the house I believe.  I'm pretty sure I've seen a similar door on The Brady Bunch but, hey, I like vintage so it's all good!  


But I'm not a huge fan of black so the color selection process ensued...

 
Deb, Dan's mom, came to visit us while these colors were still taped to the door so she helped me look at them in all different lights and decide on the perfect one!  Since I linger on decisions like this for way too long historically, I was very grateful that she nudged me to Home Depot to buy the paint!  My mom picked the same swatch as her favorite too!  Delicious Plum by Glidden it was!  

First, I had to do the not-so-fun parts: sanding and taping.  Since I wanted to do this outside in the front yard so everyone driving or walking by could see what I was doing so I could get a tan and sand wouldn't be all in the house, Dan had to take the door off.  This thing was heavy!!  Who knew!  He looks SO happy :)


After quickly running up to Ace Hardware to buy the right sander, I started in on the bad boy.  I needed to get a sander that stripped paint because I had a feeling the black thought it was on there for good.  Maddison was in town and staying with us this weekend so she took our picture :) Yes, I'm wearing socks with sandals, gross.

And here it is after sanding:

After wiping it down, I started to prime it.  Sorry, I don't have a photo of this for whatever reason but it needed 2 coats that's for sure!  Let's just say I was outside working on this project long enough to hear "Rumor Has It" 50 times on the radio...

After it was close to dry, Dan and I moved the door into the wedding/craft room so I could start painting it purple the next day.  Sorry, "Delicious Plum" (you must say it while holding up your pinky while drinking a fancy cup of tea in a British accent...or at least that's what I do!)

There were many oohs and aahs when I opened the can (Maddison was still in town, Dan faked it).  I thought it was so pretty and perfect!!

I had never used Glidden paint before but it was good.  After it was all said and done, I primed the door twice and put on 2 coats of the Delicious Plum.  Secretly, we did not have a front door on our house for 2-3 days.  Dan hung a sheet behind the storm door and that was that!  You know us risky folks out livin' on the wrong side of the tracks!  Have I been drinking?

Anyways, here she is with the first coat on:


And the final product!


Here's a reminder of the before and after (do you see anyone in the windows??)

Yay for pretty doors!  Come on in!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Laundry Room Saga

Remember my post about our "laundry room" (if you could even call it that) last summer?  Well, the project finally began!  We decided to paint the entire inside of the unfinished room just to help clean it up and make it brighter.  Here is a reminder photo of what it used to look like:


That's right....dark, gloomy, and dirty.  That's what bothered me the most.  Not to mention, very old, loud and shaky appliances!  Hey!  They worked for us for an entire year and brought us many laughs :)  Here is another view of the laundry room from the basement living room:


It seemed hopeless...but we talked to our handy man Shawn who we decided would spray paint the entire room - rafters, walls, pipes, everything.  He also painted the concrete floor.  Great!  Well, this meant A LOT of cleaning duties for us.  We spent almost 3 days cleaning the room.  We vacuumed the ceiling, the walls, and the floor over and over again.  (I can be a little OCD with the Shop Vac)  Then I scrubbed the concrete floor and concrete walls almost 5 times!  I used vinegar and water with a tough bristle brush.  I swear, no one had touched this area of the house for 60 years!  I could NOT believe it.  I mean, I found 2 towels stuffed in the rafters that had been thrown down the old laundry shoot who knows how many years ago!  Also, while vacuuming, I found a very large collection of rocks and stones under the water heater...huh?  

After everything was painted, we got our new appliances delivered and the old ones hauled away!  We also replaced the rusty old drain cover with a crisp new white one and replaced the dryer tube with an "up to fire code" aluminum one.  Dan also hosed down and sanitized the utility sink so it's all sparkly clean now!  It was a dream!  Here is the finished room!


Here is a reminder of the before:

 

Before and After:

 

It feels so clean and new and Dan's mom helped me pick out the rug and lantern light shade!  YAY for laundry!