Porch Time

We live in a large house so we can fit the kids, hubby, his mom and I all in. It's A LOT of house to clean and upkeep. I can barely keep the laundry in constant rotation (you know, floor, hamper, laundry room, wash, dry, laundry basket, worn, floor...) much less keep the whole house clean, repaired, etc.

I am very proud of what I did accomplish this last month. I wanted to share with you was what I did to the front porch. My MIL, who lives with us, suggested repainting it a coupla months ago. I agreed it needed it but didn't think I would be the one doing it. Fast forward to this Monday when I, by myself, finally finished the job. It took three weeks with long-breaks for drying, second coats, rain days, etc. I am really, really proud of it. It's my new fave space. There are only a few small details to finish, I'm looking for some coloful wall hanging to go by the door and putting some flowers in pots here and there, a new light and screen door but those are minor.

As usual, I didn't take a before shot, stupid, stupid, stupid, I NEVER remember to take a before shot of any project! You can kinda see it in these photos but it doesn't capture the sad state of kids-junk, worn paint, dirt, cat hair, and trash that had accumulated.

Here is what I did.

I started with the ceiling. Blue sky with clouds. In the middle of painting the clouds I spontaneously added an elephant shaped one...then more animals and stuff. I didn't tell anyone, my youngest discovered it.

Elephant cloud

Next, the white walls. This took forever! The kids helped for about 30 messy minutes. Their random swipes resulted in me applying a second coat to even them out.

Floor- I painted it black (over the worn-out grey)... This really hurt my knees, hips and back.

In the meantime I was working on this painting on a piece of corrugated tin left over from my brother's tree-house project. He kindly cut it and gave it to me.

After the steps were done, I was ready to find the piece de resistance! A table and chair set I saw at World Market a few weeks ago. My MIL said she thought it was too expensive. I tried to forget about it but couldn't. Then two Mondays aog I looked online and saw it had been reduced by 50%!!! I hightailed it down to the store and the girls helped me decided on the red table with blue chairs (I love this color combo).

Next, I repainted Mr. Gnome who had faded to a sad, grey with a rusted nose. Look how dapper he is now.

Painting hung, Mr. Gnome in place, table set in place...Ta Da!

Is it wrong that I have forbidden the kids from playing on the porch? Is it wrong that I sit in my new chair, sipping iced tea while they stand at the bottom step asking if they can come up? I think not.

Happy Mother's Day to ME!