Weekend Project: repainted porch furniture

Last weekend I was given a set of porch furniture. It used to be Steven’s aunt’s at her bed and breakfast in Natchitoches ten years ago, then my mother in law had it a while, then it was passed to me. At first I thought it was wicker, but upon closer inspection (and trying to pick it up!), I saw that it is some sort of nylon that looks like wicker.

I looked some sets up online and they range in price from $600-$1,000 new. Wow….

10 cans of high gloss primer and spray paint and…voila!

I bought the bird seat cushions and pillows from Pier1 and the Khaki sofa seat cushion. I bleached the burgundy/green pattern from the original seat back cushions so they would match better.

I made the blue pillows from fabric I had. The stripes are dress front pin tuck things. Not sure what their proper name is. I bought a box full at a flea market for $2 with the intent to make pillows.

The polka dot pillow is old, old. I had it in a container in the attic. It matched (somewhat), so it got tossed on the porch.

I spent $150 on pillows (they were on sale and I asked for a discount on a couple that were a little dirty. They gave them to me for 45% off) and new seat cushions. I reused the original seat back cushions and made pillows. Cost: $0. The spray paint/primer cost $38. Total: $188. Not too bad for saving $600-1,000 for a new set.

Spiffing things up

I think I am just going to turn this into a picture blog…hahaha.  I have lots of pictures to share, but nothing cute to say.  The last three months we have spiffed up a few rooms including updating Alex’s room. Taking him from toddler to little boy room. I also brought down an iron bed we had in the attic for Lillian. For some unknown reason, she has always hated her little twin size platform bed.  I got it because it was low to the ground and she could get in and out of it easily. Anyway, she loves her new full size “big girl bed”.

I updated the front porch by putting new plants in the boxes and making spring wreaths. I am not a pastel gal, so I used turquoise and brown/burlap (Thanks Steven for the suggestion!). I also made a wreath for the back porch.

Back Porch

I bought some gerbera daisies and impatiens a couple weeks back, but I didn’t pay attention to the weather and the late frost got them, so I had to toss them out and buy more.  I went to Fads and Frames and bought some gorgeous ferns! Fads and Frames, hands down, has the best plants in town. I also bought more daisies.  In the next few weeks, when it warms up enough, I am going to landscape the rest of the front yard. I can’t wait!

I went to Ikea a week or two back and bought a tall skinny cabinet for the bathroom. I have had trouble with storage in that tiny bathroom. This cabinet worked out great! It looks so clean and streamlined in there now.

I also bought 3 sets of curtains for my gables.  Sometimes I like to leave the lights on upstairs. At night, you can see into our messy attic. So, we put the curtains up last week. I think they make the window look a little more “finished”.

And…….that’s it!  I have called several paint contractors. Only one showed up to quote me. I got tired of scraping and painting, so I was going to hire someone to finish painting the last two back walls of the house. After receiving estimates between $15 and $20k, I decided that I am not that desperate. So, I put an airless paint sprayer in my cart at Home Depot and am going to put some scaffolding on reserve at the local tool rental place and get to work painting again.

The absolute LAST two things we have to do on the house are: Paint the back walls and fix some of the bricks crumbling in a few areas around the skirt of the house. After calling 8 brick contractors over the past month, I actually had someone show up this morning!!!!  I was excited. Now, let’s see if he comes back with a bid. That is always the hardest part. Getting someone interested in your project.  So, I will be back to report whether or not that happens.  You can see the bricks in the above picture around the electrical box that I have stacked up to keep the cats out. I have about 5 places like this that need to be repaired. The man I talked to today is going to give me two quotes. 1) to fix the 5 brick holes; 2) to re-point ALL of the bricks around the entire perimeter of the house.

So, there is your little update on progress of the house.

Andrea

Snow in Louisiana

This is crazy stuff! I am kind of shocked because I really did not believe the predictions of snow.

Here is my neighbors’ house:

We probably won’t see snow like this again for many years to come.

****update: 1/28/14. ^^^Apparently I was wrong. It wasn’t years but only a couple days before we got it again! Lol.

Pinterest Christmas Sign

I found this idea on Pinterest.

and made this with a leftover board and paints. I bought the letters at a local craft store. I have one in the works that will say NOEL and Ho!Ho!Ho! They are about four feet tall and I can’t wait to lean them up on the front porch.
I am glad I found some use for these old fascia boards and half cans of paint. I prefer to reduce, reuse, recycle before sending it all the a landfill. Soon though, I am going to have to clean up my yard and anything I cannot reuse will have to go. I have already donated what I can to Habitat for Humanity and to friends for their Misc. projects. We are thinking about renting a wood chipper and reduce the non treated boards into mulch. If that ever comes to fruition, I will come back with a follow up post. Over the next few weeks I will post some of the things I made with the construction leftovers.

Happy early Christmas!

Front house work

Last weekend, we decided to tackle the jungle bush in the front yard. Unfortunately, the azaleas could not be saved. After digging deep, we found a huge wisteria vine and poison ivy ropes bigger around than my thumb. We got tired of battling the ivy and always having to cut it back, so we pulled everything up! That did not go over very well with our neighbors since they know the azaleas have been here 50+ years.

We decided that the only way to get rid of all of the wisteria and poison ivy, we had to take it all up. Here is the base of the wisteria vine!

Here is the after pic. We are going to wait until next spring to plant the flowerbeds. This is what it will look like until then.

Yesterday, I decided to paint the top of the porch rail black. I like how it came out. I procrastinated for so long because I could not envision it. It is not easy to paint over black if you change your mind. But, I am very pleased with the outcome.

Before and After Tax Rehab Projects

So, I have nothing cute or smart to say. After four months (August-December) worth of Louisiana Tax Credit Rehabilitation projects, here are the before and after pictures of what we accomplished.

Landscaping and other minor fix ups and remodeling were not eligible for credits, so we move on to work on those things this Spring/Summer.

I know I’ve mentioned this a few times, but what we did accomplish through the Louisiana tax credit program was: update HVAC units, plumbing, electrical, roof, exterior carpentry, porch, bathroom addition, some exterior paint, foundation repair and some termite remediation.

Without further ado…..

We are done

It has been too rainy to take the “ta-da!” After pics….so here are a few older pics I neglected to post earlier. We finished most of the work before Christmas and did the finishing right before New Year’s Day! Whoo! Talk about busy!

Anyway, I am waiting for the rain to clear, then I will clean the trash out of the yard and post some good pictures! I am going to put them in before/after collages.

Trying out the porch paint

I thought I hung up my paintbrushes for the week, but I got bored yesterday and 10 gallons of Iron Frost paint were calling my name. So I popped open a can and painted a bit on the front porch to see if I am going to like the color. I love it! Balances out the light blue on the ceiling a brushed nickel lanterns. Sometime after all this rain passes and we get a warm day again, I’m going to paint it on. Merry Christmas!!!

Finishing work

A few photos from the last several days. Finishing work has commenced and should be complete by the end of next week!

What’s left? Porch paint, fascia boards and column paint, yard cleanup, bathroom tub installed…that’s about it! Waiting on some warm weather for the porch paint.

Today’s Work

Working on the porch. Roofers moved on to the back of the house freeing up the exterior carpentry team to get the front entryway boards replaced.

I hope to start sanding and painting the porch deck in another week to week and a half. Then the porch will be complete. I think the roofers underestimated the scope of the job, and the time it would take. They are still here after three weeks. They hope to be done in another week to week and a half. After they finish with the shingles, They will fix the flat roof, and then go back and put all of the decorative flashing and edges around the entire house.

Drywall is almost done in the new bathroom addition. I hope to be able to paint the walls this week. Then, next week, the plumber will be able to come and set the fixtures and turn on our new water lines. Yay! I will have two bathrooms in the house now! Lol