February 17, 2012

Git-Er-Done (Almost)

All you bloggers have inspired me to try my hand at a project.  Well to be more specific actually complete a project.

When we moved into our home 8+ years ago the front door and shutters were pale blue/gray, the storm door was, well basically, hideous, and the walkway and stoop were a concrete disaster.   We had every intention of our first project being to paint the shutters black, the door red, replace the dated storm door, have a new brick stoop and walkway built and add a portico.   

After about 3 years and 2 kids in, I got a wild hair while on maternity leave and removed all the shutters and painted them and the front door black.  I was happy with the shutters and not so happy with the black door but we were making progress and that's all that counted at the time. 

About a year and a half after that and now three kids in, we finally hired a bricklayer to come and remove all the concrete mess and build us a beautiful walkway and stoop.

At this point, just to re-cap, we have a black door and shutters, a hideous storm door, a beautiful brick walkway and stoop, and no portico.

I have always wanted a red door.  Maybe it's because red symbolizes "welcome' or maybe it's just because I'm a HUGE St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan.  Unfortunately, there are probably 1000+ different red paints in the world so me finding the exact red that I wanted was, well too much for me to handle.  UNTIL I stumbled across Between Naps On The Porch.  This blogger posted this picture and I knew that was my red  (Benjamin Moore - Heritage Red):


So, I did what we always do in the interest of time, we hired a handyman/painter.   Almost 9 years and 4 kids later, we are now proud owners of a beautiful red front door and matching red screen door, black shutters, and a fabulous brick walkway and stoop.  The portico still eludes us.

Here's where I come in with MY special touch.  I absolutely love Between Naps On The Porch's front door so I decided to recreate her door decoration (in all fairness, I clearly described me in an early blog entry as NOT being creative in any way, shape or form -- besides isn't flattery the best compliment??).   She even told me where she got everything to make her creation.  Of course, I couldn't jump on a plane and go to Marietta, GA so I did the next best thing, off to the local Michaels.  I found the exact daisies and a metal basket that sort of/kind of looks a little like hers.  I had to paint the metal basket but arranging the daises in the basket was dare I say fairly easy.

So after 9+ years, here is my final product (minus the portico -- I have to win the lottery to make that happen).
 
What do you think?  Don't be afraid to be honest.  I need constructive criticism.
   
Photobucket


7 comments:

Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...

Kate, I love it! It turned out beautifully I have been thinking of adding a storm door similar to your screened in door, so I'm so glad you posted yours. It's perfect! Love the floral arrangement, too!

Rose Broadway said...

This is so pretty! You've done a fantastic job. Susan's blog sent me to yours and I'm so happy that happened!

Jen said...

Oh my gosh I am in love with your door!!! the color is perfect! And where did you find that storm door...i have been looking for something like that but have only found the typical metal ones? Thanks for sharing!
Jen @ harrison home

Anonymous said...

Kate, your door "says" WELCOME! Beautiful! and the floral arrangement is lovely! Happy Spring!
PInk Hugs,
Dee

Princess Kate said...

We purchased the screen door at Home Depot. It was a special order and we had to paint it. The receipt just says SKU: 573-146. I hope that helps. We couldn't be more please with the look. We searched everywhere for this door.

Nancy said...

I love the door. I have a question though. It looks like you have trimmed in around the glass with a different color. If so could you tell me what color you used and if you did anything special such as glazing to get that look?
Thanks so much,
Nancy

Princess Kate said...

@ Nancy, I would love to say that it is some creative design we came up with but it's actually the tape used for painting purposes. I have to say people keep commenting on the way it looks so detailed. I'm trying to figure out a way to make that look stay without the tape. If you have any ideas, let me know. Right now, it's just masking tape. But I do love the look.