Porch Redo - The Completion

And so, the Porch Redo is done.  I promised myself I would.not.post.anything.else.until.it.was.done!  And it is.  Here are some before and afters of The Porch Redo/Hubby Birthday Present.

Before - Claustrophia:

After - Freedom:

Before - Is there a porch in there?

After - Ah, yes, there is!

Besides painting the concrete and knocking out the railing, we patched and painted the posts and added new numbers:

The tired-out 1990s floral cushions got traded out for new, snappy stripes:

Pathetically scraped and abused wood was mended and painted:

I found an adorable little table clearanced at Hobby Lobby.  Just right for setting on a book or a glass of iced tea.  (If I knew how to make iced tea!)

A pair of tired out and faded planters got a fresh coat of paint, a coat of antiquing glaze and filled with plants.

So . . . did I have it all done by the time the Man of the House and Oldest Son arrived home from the basketball tournament on Saturday afternoon??  Ha!!  Of course not.

But the big stuff was done . . . the removal of the bars, the painting of the floor, the patching and painting of the posts, the trimming of the bushes.  And, best of all, when they got home, I was sweating and wrestling and trimming away with the manual trimmers (couldn't find the electric!), looking for all the world like an amazingly hard-working wife, completely dedicated to the delightful birthday surprise which I was attempting.

I think he likes it.

  The Man of the House is a little . . . shall we say . . . less than verbally exuberant.  In other words, reserved . . . calm . . . matter of fact.  But I think he felt celebrated.

Now, if I could just get that reserved, calm and matter of fact other half of my Marriage Contract to get to the rest of the bushes!