Spicklin’ & Spacklin”

Some of you may recall that last year I painted the garage door blue.  Unfortunately, peeling paint from the 1940s is no longer en vogue now that 2013 has rolled around, so with a little help from our neighbor (yup—the same one who shovels our snow on bristly winter mornings) and some great napping on the part of Mr. Liam (yes, he plays a very important role in the projects that linger get done around this place), we were able to get ‘er done!

It’s always helpful to look back at what once was…

in order to fully appreciate what now is. 

Before we could paint though, we had to prep, which is always the most arduous step in the process.  For us, that meant removing as much peeling paint as possible through first power washing and then chipping away at the remaining paint. 

Ooooh, the midpoint of the project—when your motivation wanes and the end seems…endless!  As I like to say, it always seems to get worse before it gets better in the wonderful world of DIY.

We also had to match paint samples to the stucco color of our house.  This was trickier than I thought it would be, because the stucco is textured, making it harder to pinpoint the right shade, and although I’m happy with the color we chose, it’s lighter than I expected it to be.  Too bad that YHL didn’t write this post until after we had already painted, or I might have gone a shade darker. 

Overall though, it’s so much better!

Something Old, Something Blue

Every time I glance at our backyard, the peeling paint of the garage rears its ugly head and glares back at me.  Check out this photo from when we first  bought the house.

While we’ve trimmed the tree and cleaned up the junk in the yard, the garage itself looks much the same.  I’ve tried to ignore it.  I mean, it took living here for well over two years before I finally cleaned the dirt and bird poop off the window of the garage door! 

And then I sold something on Craigslist.

The buyer needed to get into our garage to see the item…and I was totally mortified.  That’s when I snapped and decided a little facelift was in order.  Since school was starting and a baby was growing, this normally quick project took almost a month to complete with all the prep work, priming, and painting between Liam’s naps.  But she’s finally done—yay! 

I’d really love to paint the entire garage, but to be perfectly honest (hmmm…that rings of Eugene from good old Adventures in Odyssey—anyone?), that’s just a little more bite than I can chew right now.  So I tackled the next best thing—the door.  I have a slight obsession with old doors.  They have all these great features, but sometimes they are so old that their lovely attributes get lost beneath the wrinkles.  Thank goodness for power sanders and paint!  While it took some serious elbow grease to get beyond the grime of this door, it was worth it. 

Before…

After…

She’s definitely a far cry from perfect, but she’s cleaner and brighter, giving the entire garage a much needed lift.  In addition to painting her blue to match our front door, we spray painted the hardware oil-rubbed bronze

and replaced several of the wood slats on the inside of the door.  See how they’re all rotted out? 

We scraped them clean with a chisel and then picked up some thin plywood from Home Depot (I think it was 1/4 inch).  We had them make some cuts in the store and then finished off the rest of them at home with a circular saw, since HD won’t make rip cuts.  Then we used wood glue to lock them in place, finishing off the edges with caulk.  After a coat of Zinsser’s oil-based primer and two coats of paint, we had a new-to-us door on our hands. 

Maybe someday we’ll replace our garage door with something new—or maybe we’ll snag a good replacement at the Restore.  Until then, it feels good to have restored a bit of life into our garage without spending much moolah.  In fact, I think we only bought the wood and the glue, as we had everything else on hand.  It works for us.

Our Narnia Lamp Post

You’ve heard me mention it before.  We have a Narniaesque lamp post that just begs for Mr. Tumnus to pop over for a chat.  Where is a good faun when you need one these days?  Alas, I doubt he’ll be popping by anytime soon, but just in case the situation ever arises, I thought it high time our little lamp post got a good sprucing up. 

My original cry of “take it out take it out take it out” never came to pass, because when Matt and my dad checked out the wiring, they found that it connects to our detached garage wiring—meaning if we dug up the post and buried the wires, it would eliminate our garage electricity.  So no go.  While I strongly disliked the witch hat effect from day one, I got really fed up when it became a headless lamp post due to an overly ambitious game of bocce ball.  Witches, headless horsemen lamp posts, mystical fauns…things were getting creepy! 

Thankfully, Matt was able to order a new topper for our post through Lowe’s.  (Why this took us months to do, I’m not sure…)  Still, I felt like the matte black paint job could use an update, as several parts of the post were beginning to rust or flake.  After doing a smidge of research online (can googling really be called research?), I did a light sanding of the post using 80 and then 120 grit paper, wiped it down with a degreasing agent (laundry detergent works well, and it’s already on hand), spray primed, and then spray painted using Rustoleum’s oil rubbed bronze.  By the way, consider this a plug for Rustoleum!  I am disappointed every time I use another brand of spray paint, but Rustoleum has yet to let me down.  I highly recommend it!  Home Depot carries the best selection of colors and seems to beat all other prices. 

Here’s our post looking all country church in its white primer…

And while it was difficult to capture the true color, here she is in her chic coat of oil rubbed bronze—ready for a night on the town backyard.

I’m very pleased with the final result and feel like it really gave our backyard a boost.  And I love that it only took a few cans of spray paint, so we didn’t shell out too much cash for a post that I have a less than stellar relationship with…but if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right? 

Thus ends the tale of our lamp post.  For the record, I think this was the first DIY project I’ve tackled since Liam’s birth.  It feels good, but it definitely took some planning, as I had to work on it during his naps.  Let’s just say that I’m learning to complete tasks in smaller chunks.  I’ve found that setting small daily goals for myself is a great way to accomplish things without overwhelming myself.  I feel productive and enjoy the creative outlet, but it leaves ample time in my day to hang with Liam. 

For those of you still reading who want more than lamp posts for eye candy, here ya go.  *WARNING—PHOTO OVERLOAD!  I had a hard time choosing…clearly this is my first child…*

We started using cloth diapers last week and it’s going well so far!  Call me biased, but aren’t those colorful diaper covers cute?  Hmmm…might be worth writing a post about cloth dipes someday.  If you’re interested in learning more about cloth dipes, leave me a comment.  Cheers!

Exterior Upgrades

Since moving into our 1947 home nearly 2 1/2 years ago, most of our time has been spent updating the interior.  While we did update the exterior stucco last fall, the yard has been…quite another story.  It’s by no means finished, especially the back, but we made some huge strides when my mom visited a few weeks ago. 

Before…



In progress…





After…



We realized that in order to make progress in the front yard, we really needed to be ruthless.  As in, we had to eliminate much of what was growing in the huge front beds—because there was a LOT growing, but unfortunately, it lacked continuity and instead was a mass of confusion. 

After digging and cutting away, we planted several common boxwoods, along with some feathered grasses for height.  With some help from my dad, we added mulch.  In addition to the beds, we added sod to a bare patch in the front lawn.  As it turns out, that spot has always competed with our maple tree, plus we realized that our sprinkler system was skipping over that section, so it wasn’t receiving adequate water.  Dad and Matt adjusted the sprinklers, which allowed Matt to take a much needed break from watering it manually.  The sod seems to be taking great, and it looks fairly integrated with the rest of our lawn.  Let’s hope we can keep it alive!

The best part though, is that we added an Adirondack chair to the front stoop, so now we have a place to soak in the sun while sipping mimosas. 



Well, at least that’s my morning fantasy.  Haha.  Hasn’t happened yet… Mom also insisted on buying us some potted flowers, which add a nice bit of cheer and color.  Thanks, Mom! 

Now, if only I had a great DIY solution for those blasted railings.  I need to do some research on how to either replace or temporarily fix them.  While much of my frustration lies in their appearance, they’re also a liability.  Our 89 year old neighbor came over yesterday, and when she climbed our stairs, I feared she would fall as she clung to those rickety rails!  Yipes!  Note to any and all visitors: DO NOT USE THE BRAHAM’S RAILINGS!  THEY ARE A HAZARD AND NOT A HELP. 

Has anyone else been enjoying the great weather and working outside?  As a brown thumb, I’m always intimidated by the prospect of working outside, so I really appreciate all the work my hubbie and parents put in while I hung out with Liam.  Speaking of the little guy, here are few recent photos.  How about those smooshy lips, eh?  Enjoy!