Ghetto Door
Let's just say I don't live in the nicest of communities...compared to where I last lived in LA and where my first apt in Duluth was 4 years ago - it's heaven, but even so it's not great.
The odd couch remained(s?) in our neighbors yard (2 houses down) through 3 seasons (snow, rain and sorching heat); no one puts weed killer on their lawn so trying to keep a lawn weed free is nearly impossible (and I admit we don't use chems either but at least we pull our weeds); junky cars sit in front of houses, maintenance on some is sorely needed; fireworks go off at ungodly hours for a month before and a month after the 4th of July; windows get smashed in, our grill got stolen, you get the idea.
That being said I adore my little house. It's adorable (IMHO) and I have a big yard and it suits us just fine for now. We have 2-bathrooms (unheard of for a house built in 1896) and closets in every room (another anomoly)and a 2-car garage.
We have an enclosed front porch with those little square windows - you know the ones - a million of them. Last year we completed our front porch interior makeover and now the outside is needing the same. The paint is flaking and chipping and I'd like the entrance of the house to be welcoming instead of scary.
So in June I decided that would be my next project. I started scraping the front door. It was in a sad state. Scraping paint is always much more fun when you start as opposed to when you want to be done. So I worked on it for a few days and then it got blistering hot out and I abandoned this project.
Every time I enter that door I am embarrassed....wood showing through-half-scraped looking like crap front door. WELCOME! To my Crappy House! Come in for some Cat Pee Smell (no, not really) and Dust Bunnies! Ugh. Even my FMIL made a comment about "that door" (which isn't too surprising, really) and well, I started to feel like crap about it.
So, my folks are coming up this weekend and the door has to be welcoming to them because the weeds in the yard certainly aren't and the disarray in the basement certainly isn't and I want to not appear a total failure to them....so...last night I finished scraping, sanding and priming my front door.
It's all pretty and clean and shiny and white (for now) and that makes me very happy. I should've taken pictures but I didn't. So use your imagination. Tonight I will *hopefully* get the coat of "Evening Gown" (dark navy-ish blue)on it so that when my parents arrive I can pretend that this was done months ago.
Of course I won't have time to tackle the rest of the porch windows but this at least is a start.
**I don't want to offend anyone by calling my door "ghetto" - it's sort of a running joke by my friends that that's where I live.
The odd couch remained(s?) in our neighbors yard (2 houses down) through 3 seasons (snow, rain and sorching heat); no one puts weed killer on their lawn so trying to keep a lawn weed free is nearly impossible (and I admit we don't use chems either but at least we pull our weeds); junky cars sit in front of houses, maintenance on some is sorely needed; fireworks go off at ungodly hours for a month before and a month after the 4th of July; windows get smashed in, our grill got stolen, you get the idea.
That being said I adore my little house. It's adorable (IMHO) and I have a big yard and it suits us just fine for now. We have 2-bathrooms (unheard of for a house built in 1896) and closets in every room (another anomoly)and a 2-car garage.
We have an enclosed front porch with those little square windows - you know the ones - a million of them. Last year we completed our front porch interior makeover and now the outside is needing the same. The paint is flaking and chipping and I'd like the entrance of the house to be welcoming instead of scary.
So in June I decided that would be my next project. I started scraping the front door. It was in a sad state. Scraping paint is always much more fun when you start as opposed to when you want to be done. So I worked on it for a few days and then it got blistering hot out and I abandoned this project.
Every time I enter that door I am embarrassed....wood showing through-half-scraped looking like crap front door. WELCOME! To my Crappy House! Come in for some Cat Pee Smell (no, not really) and Dust Bunnies! Ugh. Even my FMIL made a comment about "that door" (which isn't too surprising, really) and well, I started to feel like crap about it.
So, my folks are coming up this weekend and the door has to be welcoming to them because the weeds in the yard certainly aren't and the disarray in the basement certainly isn't and I want to not appear a total failure to them....so...last night I finished scraping, sanding and priming my front door.
It's all pretty and clean and shiny and white (for now) and that makes me very happy. I should've taken pictures but I didn't. So use your imagination. Tonight I will *hopefully* get the coat of "Evening Gown" (dark navy-ish blue)on it so that when my parents arrive I can pretend that this was done months ago.
Of course I won't have time to tackle the rest of the porch windows but this at least is a start.
**I don't want to offend anyone by calling my door "ghetto" - it's sort of a running joke by my friends that that's where I live.
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