Porch Update: The Front Door

Hi there... I hope you have had a wonderful Father's Day!  I thought I'd give you a little update on our front porch progress.  We're not quite to the fun decorating stage yet, but we're getting a lot closer! 

 The porch remodel has actually been a lot of work, but it's exciting to see it shape into something that is more our style and hopefully more fitting for our house.

BEFORE

AFTER

You can probably get a better view in the first photo above, but the very first thing I did was tear off the shutters.  I know it's a little shocking, since it does give a much simpler look, but they were non-functional and certainly not original to the house.  I love how it opened up the porch. 

Next we replaced the light fixtures with these energy efficient lights that Lamps Plus sent.  I spent a lot of time deciding what color scheme I wanted to go with... I alternated back and forth between nickel and black, but in the end, I felt nickel was the best choice, especially with our nickel colored barn lights in the back.  These light fixtures are very lightweight and let off a surprising amount of light. 

Justus actually rewired to accommodate these fixtures... it's hard to tell in this picture, but he lowered them a good few inches so that they were more in proportion with the door frame. 

 One of the biggest changes for me was painting our front door because it has always been a bright red.  I wavered between black, green and gray and then after being inspired by this picture, realized I could bring in a dark color that would still be in the green family.  I loved the idea of a color that would match our green metal roof, but wouldn't be the exact same shade.  I went to our local Benjamin Moore store, picked up this swatch and knew it was perfect.  The color is Essex Green (semi-gloss, exterior).  

Our front door is original, including the wavy glass.  We have a storm door as well, which had gold hardware.  After reading about Rust-Oleum's Universal Hammered spray paint here, I found it in the color Titanium at our hardware store and set out to spray paint the door hardware to match the nickel lights.  And once again was reminded why I'm terrified of spray paint... I have never once had a successful spray paint story (user error).  It stuck, it chipped, you name it... it had to removed with paint thinner and then I let the expert (Justus) spray them the second time around!  It was a great, affordable way of changing out the color though.

 This weekend I finally picked up a plant for the round galvanized tub from Lamps Plus that I chose to use as a planter.  And now here's a confession... instead of the tub sitting, I've been using it for every imaginable thing around our place.  My most favorite thing to use it for is weeding in the garden... the handles are so sturdy and it's just a perfect all-around size.  So I think I'm going to have to order another because I've already been missing it (smile).  

I planted a Mini Penny hydrangea in the tub, which is a compact hydrangea that is re-blooming.

I also spray-painted the number plate beside our door and then this weekend gave the siding a good cleaning.  I'll be giving the porch floor a fresh coat of paint this week, but it will remain light gray. 

 The other side of the porch is still a construction zone.  We're framing in the columns so they are square, and I am so, so excited.  Justus made some great progress this weekend though and I've been working behind him with wood putty (smile). 

Happy Father's Day!