House Goals: Painted Brick

Ever since we moved into our ranch fixer upper almost three years ago, plans to one day paint our orangeish-red brick has been on the list. While we have stained our shutters, installed a new front door and painted it, and landscaped, the exterior still has something lacking. And over the past couple years as Chip and Joanna Gaines entered on the scene, the popularity of painted brick has risen even more. 

Today, I'm dreaming and planning for when we paint our brick rancher. House goals, if you will. Not only do the homes I'm showing you today scream modern style, they also seem classic. Like they'll be the epitome of beautiful homes for years to come. 

Painted Brick Inspi

// Magnolia Homes //

// Magnolia Homes //

// Magnolia Homes //

// Magnolia Homes //

// Magnolia Homes //

// Beneath My Heart //

Aren't all of those painted brick homes just gorgeous? It helps me to be able to visualize what our home may look like painted. 

This photo of our home's front entry was taken late spring last year after we installed the new front door. You can she the orange brick just kind of screams at you. I'm looking forward to a more neutral color as a backdrop for pretty landscaping. Aghhh....house goals. 

Stenciled Fall Doormat

In my opinion, it's never too early to start thinking about fall. Or maybe it's just my way of coping with the oppressive south Alabama heat and humidity; looking ahead to cooler days and eagerly awaiting the autumn leaves to fall. If you are nodding in agreement with me right now, perhaps an "amen" escaping your lips, then this post is for you. Although the humidity is so high around here you could slice it with a knife, fall is just around the corner and we might as well be prepared, right?

I started with Trampa mat from Ikea. I really wanted this mat to be simple and to look like a sign that was stenciled by a farmer at his pumpkin patch. I used simple stencils, some that can be found at dollar stores, craft stores, or supercenters.

Once I decided how I wanted the wording, I just used latex craft paint on the stencils. And here is the finished product! Voila!

I think Molly even approves of our new fall doormat.

I love this project because of how simple and easy it is, and because it can be personalized to say whatever you want. Getting ready for fall is so much fun!

Linking up to:

Create and Share Link Party at A Simple Pantry
Creative Spark at Weekend Craft
Welcome Home Wednesdays at Sequins in the South
The Creative Corner at Curly Crafty Mom
Craft and Recipe Link Up at The SITS Girls

Late Summer Window Box

A feature that's unique to my home is a brick, built-in window box on the front exterior. It's just to the left of our front door, nestled under a crepe myrtle. It gets dappled sunlight, but stays pretty shady for much of the day. Back in the spring, I planted white vincas there and that's all I did. Now, late in the summer season, I was ready to add in a few extras to carry me over into the fall season. Here in south Alabama, we don't start getting consistent cooler temps until around early October.  Adding in a few other textures and shades of green will provide a little variation to hold me over until those fall mums show up in my local garden center. 

My local Wal-Mart has tons of plants from the spring growing season marked half off. I decided to keep everything really simple, opting to buy various textures and shades of green foliage rather than trying to grow flowers this late in the season. Many flowers are already spent this late and wouldn't do as well as foliage would. I chose sweet potato vine, hostas, and dusty miller. Also, I added in some Fox Tail Fern that I transplanted from other  pots. When I get ready to plant a fall window box, I can transplant the hostas into the landscape and possibly carry some of the others over into the fall season.

Before: The white Vincas are pretty, but it was plain. 

I started by placing each plant, still potted, where I thought it would look best so that I could get a visual before actually planting. Once I get the look I'm going for, I planted each one. This window box is really narrow, so it can be difficult to get a lot in it. Since this particular grouping won't be in there for long before it will be time for a fall redo, I really packed the plants in there as much as I could. There isn't any reason to leave space since they won't be in there long enough to spread and grow too much.

The end result is subtle, but that is what I was going for this late in the season. I absolutely love the color of the sweet potato vine and the beautiful vincas!

Stained Vinyl Shutters: Two Years Later

One of my most pinned and most viewed posts is How to Stain Vinyl Shutters.  I posted it almost two years ago and I've had a few people ask how it has held up. I thought I'd show you exactly how the gel stain is today after a couple years of wear and tear.

I recorded a video to show exactly what the shutters look like now. You can see that video HERE.

For the most part, from a few feet out, or even from the road, our shutters look almost exactly like they did when I first stained them. The rich, dark color pops and is a nice contrast to the orangey brick.

When you get a little closer, though, you can see that there has been a little bit of fading. It isn't really that noticeable until you get a couple of feet away from the shutters.

The fading isn't terrible and I'm still very pleased with the gel stain. I guess it's just like any other home project; maintenance is imperative. I'll probably put another coat on the shutters in the fall when it isn't quite so hot.

 

Considering the ease of the project, the fact that it was inexpensive, and the way it improves the overall aesthetic of the front of our home, I'm still giving the Minwax gel stain two thumbs up.

Have you tried staining your vinyl shutters or maybe even a vinyl garage door? How has your project held up?

New Front Door Part 1

We've now officially been in our home for three years and have FINALLY gotten around to an item that's been on our to-do list since day one. Yeah, I painted it and pretty much "put lipstick on a pig" just to hold us over until we replaced the door. That quick fix served us well, but it took us a lot longer to get to this project than we anticipated. That's life.

We could not wait any longer to fix our front door problem! I drew the line when our dog, Molly, decided she liked to scratch the front door where there was some damage. "Let me in, let me in!" Poor Molly.

Molly's favorite place to scratch.

Out with the old.....

.....and in with the new!

Buh-bye, old broken door! Hello, new, more durable door!

We decided to go with this door from Lowe's. It has a cute little window that would allow for more light in the foyer. Yay! It's also fiberglass and should be a lot more durable in the long run that just a wood door.

As far as the hardware for the front door, we went with oil-rubbed bronze. The one we chose looks almost exactly like this one, but I couldn't find the exact one we bought on the Lowe's website so I could show you, but you get the picture. The one we bought, we found at the store and it was a bit more inexpensive than this one.

So now, the door is in but I have to finish painting it (no, it isn't staying white). My hubby spent this morning filling in nail and screw holes that are in the trim and then I have to lightly sand and paint it on the inside and outside. I also have some places to touch up on the foyer walls around the door. I'm going to be working on it today and will hopefully get it all done and will be able to share the finished product with you by the first of next week. Be sure to check back!

Christmas Curb Appeal

When it comes to decorating outside for Christmas, I like to keep it classic and simple; pretty white lights, live greenery, and maybe one thing as a statement piece. Since the landscape of winter is blah dead grass, at least the decorations on the house draw your eye instead.

Even as the cold months are upon us, there is always a reminder of the new life of spring. (I know this has nothing to do with Christmas curb appeal, but I just had to show you these pretty buds on my Janpanese Magnolia tree.)

Like last year, I chose to make fresh evergreen swags with cedar. (You can see the how-to here.) To me, they are so timeless. I feel like if I could hop in a time machine and travel back in time that these would adorn the homes of Jo March, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, or maybe even the Dashwood home. 

My window box got a little facelift as well. There are snapdragons planted in it, but while they are green and thriving, they aren't really blooming right now. I left them there, but added in cedar boughs and magnolia. It gives it just the right amount of OOMPH!

I wrapped lights around a metal topiary that I stuck in my pot to give the front a little more sparkle. There isn't a lot of room on my front landing......I don't even think you can technically call it a porch.....so I did my best to make big impact with the least amount of items I could. Simply because there isn't room. 

The snowman wreath was simple to make. I used three different sizes of grapevine wreaths, wrapped with white fabric, and added a scarf. It shows nicely against my blue door. I made these six feet tall wood signs for the front porch, as well. The front door is recessed back a bit, and it takes something really bold to be seen from the street. This definitely catches the eye. 

Street view.

Come back tomorrow for a tutorial on how to make these and a couple other wood Christmas signs. 

These arborvitae plants are definitely my favorite thing in our landscape. They have grown a good bit since we planted them a year and a half ago.  So pretty. 

For our side entry, I made tomato cage trees out of fresh cedar, as well as a fresh cedar garland. It was fairly easy to make, if not a bit time consuming. But I would rather spend a little time making a fresh garland than just slapping up a fake one. I just like the look better. (Not that fake garlands are bad....) On the front porch, I hung a fake wired garland, but added in the real stuff to get the look without it taking me so long. Best of both worlds, I suppose. (If you're wondering how to make a fresh garland, let me tell you. Get lots of fresh greenery and some craft wire. You just wire each piece together to make a garland.)

And here it is all lit up at night.  Simple but pretty. Do you decorate outside for Christmas?  Do you go all out, Griswold style? Or do you keep it simple?