Two Years, and 9,000 Gallons of Paint Later . . . .

When we bought That Old House in 2008,
she was yellow, with white trim,
a green front door, and green shutters.

On a snowy afternoon shortly before Christmas 2009, my daughters and I decorated

the front door with white pine roping, little white lights, and yards & yards of wired red ribbon.

Tarting up the front door went a long way in disguising the worn and chipped paint on the house,

the scarred pillars, the scuffed porch deck and steps, the general shabbiness of the house's exterior . . . 

but

what did an even better job of disguising all those uglies was the paint job That Old House

got in June 2011, when she was given a whole new wardrobe:  all white, with shutters and front door

trim so darkly green that the color looks black, and a brilliant yellow front door.

This year's front door roping went up against the now-dark transom and sidelights,

and even though we forgot the red ribbons this time (I save them from year to year),

it was enough bling against the pristine white and the austere near-black.

Oops.  A bit of roping flopping off the porch railing.
What messy people must live here.

December 2009: our front door.

December 2011: our front door.

 Now normally, I am not one for change.

I like things to stay as they are.

But I am OK with this metamorphosis.

White and very dark green are the original colors of That Old House,

found beneath many coats of paint during the scraping last June.

So I guess we didn't really change much, after all.  -- Cass

At Between Naps On The Porch, it is Metamorphosis Monday!  Click here to visit.

No commentsRead more

Deck the Door

Like the rest of this year, the Holiday Season is moving along! As usual, I have great big crafting plans...that I almost never find the time to do! I found some fun inspirational ways to deck out the front door...and maybe this will be the year?

Now this won't take long...the tutorial is here

Source

I love being square....the tutorial is here

Source

This is super fun whimsy

Source

There isn't a tutorial for that package topiary....but the Two Junk Chix ladies rocked it when they made this

This wreath has been pinned and repinned on pinterest an impressive amount...and the tutorial is here.


I think this is my favorite

Source

...and the tutorial for this one is here. How are you decking your halls?

No commentsRead more

Self-Watering Containers

Several years ago, I purchased this

a square, black, polyurethane container for my front porch. Like most of my decisions for my home, the size and shape were perfect......the fact that it was self-watering was a plus!

Obviously, something went wrong

One very dead plant. After much clicking around and several tutorials later, I realized a needed a wick so that the water could travel up to the plant. This was not in the directions provided by the container company.

So, I went to the hardware store and purchased this

Polyester rope and clear plastic tubing. The tubing was not part of any tutorials that I found....I am adding it for "insurance". Here is what I did

1) Dump everything out on a tarp/sheet

 

 2) Make sure the holes are large enough to drop the rope and tubing down into the reserve of water

3) Add tubing and/or rope into the holes making sure to leave a long enough tail so that it will reach the plant(s)

 once the tubing is inserted, slide a piece of rope through to act as the wick

4) Put back the fabric paper (this keeps the holes from getting clogged by dirt) and add back some of the soil mix.

5) Place the plant at the proper height making sure the wick comes in contact with the root-ball

 

6) Add remaining soil and additional plants if desired

Hopefully, that will fix the problem!

No commentsRead more

Let's Take This Outside

Now that the weather is nice, I turned to Martha for some outdoor illuminating ideas

 

 

 

 

 

I have a lot planned for Summer...can't wait to see what people will post!

Happy End-of-the-School-Year!

No commentsRead more

A Father's Day Remembrance, and a Front Door (Partially) Revealed!

Sunday was my first Father's Day without my Dad.

Our Pop left us on February 2nd of this year, and none of us is used to that fact yet;

we all just kind of assumed he'd be around, well, forever.

He could do just about anything, so why not that?

 I found this picture with some of my Mom's things.

I think it dates post-World War Two, when Dad was out of the Navy,

and busy fixing up the little fixer-upper cottage they bought for their first real home.

Maybe my siblings know better where and when it was taken?

**********************************

He was a great Dad.

Our family turned out just one year ago, in full force, for Pop's 90th birthday celebration.

Here he is, part of 4 generations of Herbs -- him, his son, his grandson, and great-grandson.

His smile never changed.

The last time I saw it was in the hospital emergency room, before he was admitted.

He was having trouble talking, but he gifted me with one of those beautiful smiles.

I will keep it forever, as one of what my Mom called "heart pictures."

************************************************************

Meanwhile, the Dad in That Old House, also known as Howard, spent part of Sunday

catching a quick snooze on the sofa; he thinks I don't know this, but I do.

We had a jillion things to do, but on Father's Day every Daddy deserves a break. 

Howard at the beach house, helping with THOSE fix-ups!

Howard, too, is a great Dad.

He has been endlessly patient about the wedding plans,

and all of my crazy house fix-up schemes, and plans for entertaining.

When I told him we were not only going to have an After Party here following the reception

on Saturday, but also a day-long Open House on Sunday so we could see out of town guests one more time,

he just shook his head and said, "You're out of control."  But he was smiling.  Really, he was.

***********************************************

What makes me smile is the transformation of That Old House from yellow with green shutters to

white with green-so-dark-it-looks-black shutters.  The shutters (those that could be salvaged)

are not yet back on the house, but the door surround is painted.

Yes, it IS green; check it in sunlight and you'll see it's not black.

Mmm. . . I do love the look and smell of glossy oil paint.

The front door itself is still in its old clothes.

Cracked icky old green.

By Tuesday, all the painting will be done, and I can show you what color that front door will be.
The porch floor isn't painted yet -- can't be done till the other porch work is finished!

The storm door is propped open for the long slow dry of the alkyd paint.

You will like the front door color.

Probably.

But tell me, if you were invited through this front door, what color would you want it to be?

Please excuse the package leaning on the front stairs.  Packages are coming daily; there's a wedding in the offing!

***********************************************

And one more time, because I am sentimental on days like Father's Day,

I am posting a collage I did 2 years ago, of my Dad, Howard's Dad, and Howard.

Not many pictures of Howard's Dad, Milton.  That's what he gets for living in Florida!  (Hi, Zaide!)

Great dads, all of them!

I hope your Father's Day was wonderful, and I send the very best wishes to all the great Dads

of this world -- past, present, and future!  -- Cass

Link Parties!

Metamorphosis Monday, sponsored by Between Naps On The Porch. Click here!

(Thank you Susan!)

Mosaic Monday, brought to us by Little Red House.  Click here!

(Thank you, Mary!)

 

No commentsRead more

Front Porch Finished!

A while back, I was planning on a Front Porch Make-over. Here is one of the "before" shots

I was thinking of white cushions that I spoke about here. Well, truth be told....the white did not work out for me. The first set of cushions I made were too small. Tip, outdoor foam does not react the same as pillow forms (I like to sew my pillows an inch smaller all the way around, so they have that "poooff"). When I went to buy more outdoor fabric, white was gone. So, here is the "after"

A "Happy Accident", they are turquoise.

I also told you about my outdoor rug I bought on-line. If you remember, it arrived like this. So, to get it to lay flat, I did this

put it on a hot driveway, and before long, it looked like this

nice and FLAT! Here are a few more pictures of my porch

and my window boxes

onto the next........

No commentsRead more

Making color choices from a computer

Look what came today

 

That was fast, and I love it! It does remind me that you can never trust color on the computer. As I have mentioned before, I love on-line shopping, but when it comes to specific color.....it's always a surprise.

Here is the on-line image of this rug

I think the brighter one will look great on my front porch. Which one do you prefer?

No commentsRead more