Lately, I have been working on the curb appeal of my home. No longer is Ghetto Chic allowed by my neighbors. Appalling for an Interior Designer, I know, but while I'm making everyone else's Design Dreams come true, my home gets overlooked often. The state of the lawn is another story.
But not this summer! With more time on my hands, I have turned my design talent to beautifying my home's Curb Appeal. (And to also stop my mother's comments about the condition of my front entry everytime she visits - "You know the relatives from England are visiting this summer.") Per a colleagues suggestion, we decided to stencil my front door with a Personal Monogram (20/20 for Site, llc , Tm). This image would represent our family and home style. My partner- in-paint (PPI) suggested we go with the base color shown as she noticed I was drawn to it more and more when we went shopping.
This is a good tip for finding the right door color for you. Look at your wardrobe. What colors are appealing to you at this time? How are you dressing the "Entry Way" to who you are? Its an easy and safe way to make a color decision. We went with a turquoise color that naturally accents with chocolate brown, another color I was also being drawn too.
Always remember: Your paint job is as good as your prep so dont skimp on doing on thorough job (as I always want to do when its stuff for me!) My PPI held firm and we spent the first day doing all the prep and masking.
Halfway through painting the base color, my PPI told me she didn't have a stencil for the flowers. With her puppy dog eyes, she pleaded with me and assured me I could free-hand the design. Reaching back to my geometry class, I was able to create arches and layout the proportions for the petals, etc. Then, starting with no coffee, I carefully painted the image. Perfecto!
Meanwhile, my PPI painted the door and window trim while I was doing the difficult parts. How did she talk me into this again? Next we were to paint the concrete porch. Through the paint technology of today, I was able to get the chocolate brown trim color made up as porch paint. On a separate, long holiday weekend with no chance of the mail carrier showing up, my husband and I gave the porch two coats. What a huge difference!
When painting a concrete porch, never, ever, ever, never pressure wash it. The water will seep down into the concrete and slowly rise up to the surface over the years causing your porch paint to bubble, bubble, and toil with trouble. Concrete is hard, but it is still porous. (The voice of experience from the last time we did this.) Scrape and sand, scrape and sand. Its laborious, but your prep is.... you know the mantra.
The final project was to put down the anti-slip tape. Oh, we could've been utilitarian and put down strips of stripes, but that's BORING!! Laboriously, I drew and then cut out the centers and petals of flowers out of thick anti-slip tape. The kids helped me apply. The picture shows the cool results. Now the mail carrier or elderly neighbors won't slip on my newly painted concrete steps and sue me. Thats not the only reason I assure you. I have sent myself flying off the porch when stepping on the wet concrete in cheap flip flops. Who knew Icould still do the splits at 38+? (I have never been able to do the splits so you now understand the comedy and the agony).
How long did this all take? 4 Weekends in the summer with the help of my PPI, my husband, and my children. Not a bad result for a short time commitment. And it was just paint and
anti-slip tape. In this economy, its an affordable & quick way to add dramatic, cool Curb Appeal. Try it for yourself and give your house's face a lift.
