Do you guys ever get those irrational worries about how your house looks right before hosting a party? Leading up to Clara’s birthday on Saturday I was thinking random stuff like “I really should touch up some of the caulk in the sunroom before everyone comes over” like anyone would notice. And Sherry said “the patio table could use a fresh coat of paint” was running through her head when we were using a tablecloth anyway. But one thing that never crossed our minds was: “The back door is in pretty rough shape. Maybe we should do something about it before IT BECOMES THE PLACE WHERE KIDS PLAY WITH BUBBLES FOR HOURS.” Oh well.
The good news is that this door (it leads to the garage by the way) could have looked worse. Here’s what we were dealing with last summer before we ditched the broken screen door & replaced the old rusted light (which we’ve since swapped out again, but more on that in moment). Ignore the green tint on those bricks – they need some attention.
The screen door removal accentuated the fact that the cream-colored door didn’t match the white trim on the rest of the house while revealing more creaminess (and dirtiness) from where it had been attached. That along with the cracking and flaking paint, ugly meter box, and our inability to keep the hose tamed made for a pretty unkempt look for Saturday’s guests. At least we had gotten around to mulching and adding some fresh stones pre-party (we don’t have gutters, so the rocks keep dirt and mulch from splattering everywhere during storms).
Luckily no one left the party complaining about how our door ruined the event (I think we successfully distracted everyone with bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles), but twenty photos of kids smiling in front of THAT DOOR were enough to finally spur us into action. First I prepped it by wood filling the holes, scraping off any peeling paint, sanding the rough spots, and giving the door and the windows a good cleaning. Then I applied two coats of Sherwin Williams’ Snowbound (leftover from the rest of the house’s trim). I rolled all of the flat parts and used an angled brush to do the window mullions, which then got scraped clean with a straight razor after everything dried.
While I tackled the door, Sherry painted the meter box a color that’s closer to the bricks. It’s a quick update that we broke out in our first house that only calls for a test pot of outdoor paint (she used Behr Premium Plus Interior/Exterior paint in Burnt Russet) and around twenty minutes for two quick coats.
We also picked up a hose pot from Lowe’s in an attempt to keep that hose in order. We’ve never used one before, but hope we have better luck with it than those winding hose storage boxes that we’ve attempted before.
Oh and the light. We made this swap over the winter but it was so sad and brown outside that we never got around to taking after photos. We liked but didn’t love the lights we installed last November, and some of you wisely pointed out that their design wasted a lot of light that was cast upwards. We soon stumbled upon a matching pair of these lights at our favorite local lighting shop (the Decorating Outlet here in RVA). It and its bigger cousin, which we installed above the garage, each had a cracked pane of glass on the side so they were marked down by 50%. To fix them we replaced the broken pane on the side of each one with the mint-condition pane from the back of each one. Since it sits so close to the house you can’t see that it’s missing back there anyway.
When everything was said and done, the space was definitely looking fresher, although it’s not exactly heart-stoppingly-exciting. We’ll eventually plant some stuff in the mulched bed which should help – and we might grab a bright doormat for a little more color. In the meantime we tossed down a spare black-bordered one that we had in the garage.
There’s so much else going on nearby with the deck that we might be over-thinking the whole “more color” thing. The reason we opted to paint the door white was so that it didn’t call too much attention to itself and just kinda blended in with the rest of the house’s white trim (and matched the white french door in the sunroom).
We don’t have any more parties planned for a while, but we hope to host some low-key family BBQs over the summer like we did last year when things were looking more like this…
Something tells me this year’s gatherings will be a little easier on the eyes.
Oh and while we were on the outdoor updates train, we grabbed this three-tiered plant hanger from Home Depot. It’s by Pennington if that helps you hunt it down – and we hung it next to the kitchen window on the deck. Since we were drilling into brick, we needed to break out the hammer drill with a masonry bit, but it just took two screws and anchors (meant for brick) to secure it.
With all the deer that roam our yard we’d be hard-pressed to have any luck with raised beds in the grass, so we thought this solution was an easy way to add some herbs to a place that we hope won’t be infiltrated (we went with basil, parsley, and lemon balm). We’ve never seen them up on our deck (our theory is that they smell Burger and don’t want any part of that) so we’ll have to see how it goes.
We’d eventually like to build and stain a big wooden planter (most likely one that moves so we can find the best spot on the deck to put it) for larger edibles like tomatoes and peppers – so we’ll have to see if we can get that done before planting season is over.
Is anyone else planting stuff like herbs or tomatoes? Or do you get those weird last minute worries about fixing something totally random (like caulk) before a party? In the end does it feel like nobody notices anyway? Although that baby pool/mower/dead grass/slate collection/table combo that we had going on in the backyard last summer might have been hard to miss.
P.S. We took Teddy’s five week picture yesterday, and he looks twice as big as he did in the first one (this morning he weighed in at 11 pounds!).
Debby says
I do the very same thing. Like OMG I’ve got to clean that broom closet or vacuum baseboards in our bedrooms. Who’s going in there? LOL guess it’s just a way for us to get those little nagging task done
Crystal says
I do have one off-topic question for you if you have a second. :) Have you started using any of your old cloth diapers? We have a bunch (same kind as you) but I’m wondering if they’re too stretched (and some have holes in the cotton) to work for our new baby coming in a couple of months. I think you guys bought new ones to add to your mix and if you’re using them, are you favoring those ones?
Hope you have a nice, long holiday weekend!
YoungHouseLove says
He doesn’t fit into them quite yet but we are hoping to reuse them when he does!
xo
s
Liz || Shopping My Closet says
Such a difference! I like your idea of the tiered pots – will definitely be
stealingborrowing this idea :DLiz @ http://www.shoppingmycloset.com
pendy says
The side of our house has the meter box, cable box, dryer vent, and a box that has to do with the telephone. They were all different colors. Our brick is similar to yours and I painted all of those boxes a charcoal color and now they are nearly invisible. I love everything the two of you do; this is the first miss for me. The red paint stands out against the brick; it’s just brighter than anything else around it. I feel bad disagreeing with your choice. :(
YoungHouseLove says
I love the idea of charcoal too! We’re definitely open to reprinting it darker (we have leftover siding paint the same color as the dryer vent) if this color starts to bug us :)
xo
s
Sarah says
What a fabulous new light fixture! I also love how you guys paint the utility boxes on your houses. It’s the little details that make the difference sometimes.
Sarah says
I had no idea y’all live right up the road from me. Neat!
Sarah
http://fromdogwoodstomagnolias.blogspot.com/
Melanie says
By the time they are in middle school you realize1. No one was looking at your house. AND 2. there is no point in cleaning until after the party (especially with boys). So yes ,you guys were the only ones thinking about grout and paint, but most of us become a little self/house-conscious when people come over.
Lisa says
A hose pot! Why have I never heard of or noticed this?? My first thought was “OMG! I need to go to Lowe’s right now!” Then I read the snake comments, and now I’m thinking that I might not really need a hose pot / snake house. Ha!
Nancy says
How awful am I that I noticed that? Lol.. I was thinking to myself how kids always find those unfinished places when you are about to take 100 pictures!:)Great job fixing up the area!
Julianne says
Nice updates! Your yard has turned into such a beautiful & welcome space. Quite a happy & clean look. Love the idea of the rolling garden. We are contemplating something like this once we settle in our new place. One with a chicken wire lid to keep the critters from eating our stash, too! :0)
jen says
do you like the hose pot better than the windy storage thing? :D we have a storage box for the front yard and were contemplating whether we should get a second one for the backyard as well.. they’re kind of on the price-y end .. this is our first home with our first yard, so this is all very new to us!
YoungHouseLove says
We had a windy one and like the pot better so far just because the other one got tangled/snagged a lot for us.
xo
s
Sara W says
Very fresh & pretty now. …Now that the party is over, of course. (Isn’t that the way it always goes?) Love the new light fixture. I didn’t want to say it, but the first replacement wasn’t so great in my opinion. I can’t believe I’m offering a suggestion to the experts, but I would play around with the colors on the door & the meter box. I like for painted things on the outside to blend with the tones in the brick. That’s just me….
Sara W says
p.s. Teddy is adorbes!
Stephanie L says
That was smart to let the old finish get all bubble-gunky and THEN redo it. That’s my take, anyway. :)
I love the planter and I have a quick question about brick. We have a hideous house numbers plaque mounted on the brick next to our front door (nice wood burning kit, previous owners). I want it OFF. Do we have to fill the holes in the brick after we take it down? If so, with what do we fill them?
YoungHouseLove says
I would fill them with some sort of brick or masonry filler (they sell little tubes for filling cracks at Home Depot that you can just squeeze to apply). Then once it dries I’d try to paint those spots with an exterior paint in a color that’s close to the brick to blend them in.
xo
s
Linda says
this is just one of the things I love about your blog – answers to questions so many of have (like, how the heck do you fill in small holes in brick) but other home improvement places seem to think we all know! Your blog truly gives me courage (and knowledge) to try things around my condo.
Have a great holiday weekend!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Linda!
xo
s
Fiona says
Hullo guys, great job! I remember frantically priming patches of wall in the basement hours before my daughter’s fifth birthday party (last year), hahaha. Crazy.
A question about painting the door: did you just paint it while it was still hanging? We have to sand down, prime and paint our front door and I figured I would have to take it off its hinges. Although I guess the fact that your door leads into your garage instead of your house might make a difference.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes we tend to paint exterior doors on their hinges (sometimes we take the knob off though). We did that for our current front door and our last house’s front door as well. If cutting in around hinges makes you nervous you can tape them off too :)
xo
s
Rhody says
About the hose: After trying pots, hangars, etc., and experiencing that every one of them required hose wrestling, I bought a hose reel –Suncast Plastic 175-ft Cart Hose Reel. Best $30 I ever spent. I have the maximum amount of hose on it and it has Changed My Life. The hose is handy, never wound the wrong way, or crimped or pinched. In the Fall, I unroll the entire length of the hose to drain it, rewind it (using an gloved hand to guide it, and roll it into the garage for the winter. My hose reel is over 10 years old.
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome!
xo
s
Linda says
I got a Suncast a few years back (one of the larger ones) from Ace – I share a hose with three condo neighbors. Worked great for us! I think the design helps with making sure the hose winds smoothly, and I just wheel it into my garage in the winter as well.
And, great update! I enjoy seeing both the big and small changes (and the small changes tend to kick me into gear!). Also good to see that everyone has the sudden urge to re-do everything before a party!
Rhody says
Just saw the post above about not liking the “wind-y” thing. Maybe it was the one you had?
That is one great looking baby!
bethany says
Not sure if you’re aware… but I think someone is taking credit for your photo (I recognized the wedding shadow box and that definitely isnt your name underneath!) http://living.msn.com/home-decor/cleaning-organizing/how-to-organize-everything#3
bethany says
never mind- just saw your quote to the side :)
Monnaie says
Nice home interior designing and decoration!
Jane S says
Somehow I stopped getting your email updates. When I tried to re-subscribe I only get the option of a feed. Can’t I get email updates any more? [email protected]
YoungHouseLove says
We hear something strange happened with yahoo and hotmail and aol (they changed code or something that makes all blog subscriptions get blocked) but if you subscribe from a gmail account it seems to work just fine. Hope it helps!
xo
s
laura says
wow, guys! looks GREAT! such a big change without being a ton of work…
we’re getting ready to tackle smallish a kitchen reno and I was curious – have you guys ever (done or thought about doing) or researched tearing out a bar top (the kind that sits “above” and butted up to a countertop and turning it into one large countertop space instead?
I could supply pictures – but can’t find much online on this topic and would LOVE an opinion. THX!
YoungHouseLove says
I don’t think we’ve tackled that but maybe check thisoldhouse.com or diy.com? Good luck!
xo
s
Julie says
Hi !
I wanted to send you an email, but couldn’t’ find your address… I know that you are busy and you must received tones of email… but, I need your help.
I remember that you’ve share in a post the books that you used to read to Clara to prepare her with the arrival of Teddy.
I’ve checked your archive but can’t find it and I forgot to bookmark your advice. In my memory, they were really good ! So… can you please give me the link to the post, please :-)
Thanks a lot.
I miss your numerous post, but I know that you are in the right path :-) Thanks Young House Love for inspiring love and happiness.
I wish you all the best.
YoungHouseLove says
Here’s that link for ya: http://life.younghouselove.com/2014/01/books-that-make-me-all-sniffly/
xo
s
Judy says
Have you changed something on your blog? I have been receiving your blog posts for several years via e-mail and have not unsubscribed. Noticed today that I haven’t received an e-mail of you blog posts since May 13. Also, when I tried to re-subscribe on the top right side of your page, even though it says “subscribe via feed or e-mail”, the only option possible is via a feed (no e-mail option). IS it still possible to get blog posts via e-mail?
YoungHouseLove says
ANyone with a hotmail and yahoo and aol address seems to be having an issue (they changed some code, so all posts – not just ours – are being blocked). The good news is that gmail sounds like it’s unscathed, if you want to subscribe to that address!
xo
s
Amy says
On Sunday, I called my mom for an impromptu lunch and told her to bring a friend, since I went to Sam’s Club and shopped that morning with a hungry stomach and wanted to share my foodie finds with them, and in the hour before they showed up, I did more cleaning, like a super woman, than I had done all week, and it was awesome! There is nothing like inviting Mom (or family) over to get you into a cleaning fit and to find the super hero type of momentum to tackle all those little, last minute projects in record time. :) And I love that we share these qualities with lots of people here!
Wendy says
I had never thought of painting those ugly silver boxes! What a fantastic idea!!! And that planter is perfect ~ just might have to go shopping :)
Slinky says
My birthday party “prep” involved an 8′ porch pillar on saw horses in the dining room and a mad dash to finish staining and sealing the stairs even though everyone would be out on the patio. So yeah, we have that problem too.
Andrea says
I highly recommend buying a garden tower for your deck. My husband got me one for our driveway since our raised bed in the back wasn’t getting enough light. It’s a little pricey (my Christmas present), but so worth the investment since everything grows really well in a small space and you can even vermicompost. Maybe you could even make your own version.
The current version (2.0)is on sale in terracotta, and I think their next version will feature a water chamber so that you can reuse the water that soaks down.
http://www.gardentowerproject.com/
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the tip Andrea!
xo
s
Samantha says
I like the hanging pots idea, but I really wish you two would do more DIY than just buying things… I know you must be swamped lately with the new bun, but I find your DIY’s inspiring and would love to see more like your other two houses. :)
Margaret says
Is that the Gazillion Hurricane bubble maker? Would you recommend it? I’d like to get one for my daughter’s birthday. Also, if that is the brand you got, did you stick with Gazillion bubbles for the refills? (Or if you didn’t refill, how long did the bubbles last?) Thanks so much!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, it’s a Gazillion Hurricane bubble maker! We’ve been using Bubble Blitz with it for the refills, which seems to work well!
xo
s