New Railings

Over the weekend, I got to work on the new front stoop railings. My dad helped me throw a coat of primer on them, and then I filled holes, sanded, and painted. I'm in love! What a difference. 

I painted the railings the same as the house, which is Sherwin Williams Alabaster (SW7008). The hand rails are the same as our shutters, Behr Elephant Skin (PPU18-16). I figured the hand rails would get dingy from people touching them, etc. and I like the contrast of the two colors. 

This is after just one coat of paint, so I've still got some painting ahead of me. That is a constant theme around here... 

The mailbox got a facelift, too. I painted the post and we got a new white box. I need EASY landscaping ideas... as in something I cannot kill and grows easily. I'm not a plant-new-flower-beds every year kind of girl. At all. 

And a before and after. Can't believe we bought the house almost a year ago. We've been working hard ever since. I think Hubs is ready for the projects to quit :) I have to admit, I'll probably be sad when the work is done. I always love a good fixer upper project. I have major issues. 

Thank you to my Hubs and my Daddy for building these new railings. I love them so much!

Linking up with Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays! 

Curb Appeal Updates

Hubby got around to painting the fence (although he still has some left to paint, but no time to do it really!). He has done such a great job so far, we both can't wait for it to be finished. With two kids under 3 and several other house projects and full time jobs to worry about, spare time is few and far between. Hopefully in the next couple weekends he can knock it out. 

Speaking of other projects going on, this old 50's railing is a thing of the past. I had several things on the front yard to do (fence- check, new lights- check, paint/shutters/new door- check) and the old railings definitely needed a face lift. Or in this case, a good riddance. 

The old railings kept the house from looking full on coastal cottage and kept reminding me that this house is a 50's ranch. I convinced Hubs and my dad to build new ones. Lots of post hole digging, concrete drilling, and (4) 6x6" columns later, they finally were talking to me again... :) 

They kept asking me if I was sure about the 6x6" size. I didn't want a dinky front entrance. If you are gonna do it, do it right. 

I also talked them into hanging a flag, finally. Flags just finish off houses, right?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new railings!! They did such a good job. Cannot wait for the wood to cure and dry out completely to paint them! Beforehand, Hubs was all "we do NOT need a new railing". Now he's like "I told you this would look good"...... Men. 

I opted for the same post caps as we used on the picket fence, only bigger in size. These fit 6x6" columns. Our picket fence has 4x4". 

The planters my father-in-law put together for me are still alive. I have managed to keep them healthy for a few weeks now. It's a miracle! 

Once the dust settles and all these projects are finished, I'd like to do a little bit of landscaping in front of the picket fence. TBD....

We've had several neighbors stop and ask us what our house colors are, who is doing the design work, etc. (by several I mean like 3-4 cars/bikes/walkers a week, it's crazy). So, Hubs said "get a sign out!".  I haven't put it out yet (you have to have a permit in Chatham County) but I'm excited the sign came in nonetheless! 

I ordered a little garden bench and outdoor address pillow for the front yard too. Can't wait for that to be delivered. I need a place to crash after running around the yard with Evans. 

A few more things to tackle in the front yard, and then she's done! 

Yard Work

I loved our yard at the old house. LOVED it. It had really mature landscaping and beautiful grass. Hubs worked really hard to keep that yard looking good and I was so proud of it. When we bought the rental house, I had big plans for the yard... Honey Do List grew and grew :)

This is where we started. We had several trees taken out when we first bought the house last summer. We talked about building on a front porch eventually, but honestly we aren't sure we will do that at this point, so landscaping was a must. 

I've blogged about it, but we started by adding a large picket fence so the kiddos can play and I won't get a head full of gray hair trying to keep them out of the street. We bought the paint for the fence on Saturday, and I'm hoping Hubby will have time to start spraying it this weekend! We've been waiting for the wood to cure and also the pollen to go away. 

We also added larger flower beds out front to add some depth to the house. It's a ranch house, so naturally it's going to feel somewhat flat. Adding interesting architecture (like a front porch or stoop) helps, but if you don't have that in the budget ( we don't right now ), look to the great outdoors. 

I decided to go with a few plants I know I can't kill from previous experience- knockout roses and loropetalum. We also had day lilies from Mark's grandmother's garden and planted those. They will hopefully be blooming next summer! 

I wanted to go ahead and extend the beds to the sidewalk since the grass really wasn't growing well (or at all) under this tree. 

I decided to plant guacamole hostas here. I'm having to spray them every day to keep the deer, rabbits, and snails from destroying them. They are not that low maintenance. Any tips on caring for them would be greatly appreciated! 

They are worth the extra care though because I do think they are pretty! 

On the side yard I'd like to plant aspidistra (well, after pulling all these weeds of course!).

Aspidistra is everywhere down here. I think it feels so coastal. 

And then there's this side of the house... we took out two trees over here and it left the chimney kind of bare. I need to plant a few shrubs over here so it's not so naked :)

And along this fence line, I plan to do my favorite- hydrangeas. 

I am enjoying yard work more and more, but you won't see me cutting the grass any time soon... 

The other exterior update we are planning right now is the front railing. It is beginning to rust at the bottom, and I've wanted to change the iron railing to something more updated. My dad said it'd be fairly simple to replace it with either wood or vinyl. I think it will dramatically change the look of the front steps. I chose wood- even though it's more upkeep than vinyl. I just think it'll look much better on this house. 

So, Hubs and Dad are going to replace the railing next time my dad's in town. Can't wait! It should look similar to this one:

I also plan to paint the brick steps the same gray as our shutters, whenever I get around to it... which who knows when that may be! 

Progress not perfection right?