Progress: Front Porch & Entryway

Tonight, we're going to League City to visit Matt (and Tyson), and then to Galveston tomorrow, to see some waves, introduce Bear to the ocean, and see my cousin, Sarah. We haven't seen that island since we went in October 2010 for Austin's 24th birthday. It's been a while - we were dating, and the island was still recovering form Ike (the Pleasure Pier didn't exist!). We're looking forward to spending one of our last free weekends with some people (and dogs) that we love!

A late-night beach walk.

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As I've said before, We're really bad about the "before" pictures. I've gotten better as time goes on, but I totally forgot to take a "before" shot of our entryway. it had a reddish-stained door that hadn't been updated in... forever. The front of our house is brick with taupe trim, so I wanted to add some pizzaz to the front door, which actually faces our neighbor's house. You're supposed to get approval from the HOA first, but we were safe since our door is not highly visible.

At first, I was a little unsure of my color choice (yellow) and Austin was very unsure of having a yellow door, so I took a Facebook poll... and all the men tried to veto my yellow door! I spent an entire Sunday painting our door yellow, and I love it. I'm pretty sure it was the best door color choice ever.

Note the tools leading outside, and the old Terrazzo tile.

I think it's a little more complete with the pretty wreath I made (couldn't have cost more than $15 with coupons to Hobby Lobby and Michael's). All those white flowers are from Michael's and they clip onto the wreath. The burlap was wrapped onto it with wire, and the blue flower stems are woven in. It's been several months, and nothing has moved or fallen!

A few of my favorite things.

Don't forget about the railing project... that took 4 months, broke two (three?) hammer drills.. and looks awesome!

He started this project in long sleeves, and ended it in shorts and a T shirt.
Look at that hodge-podge of plants!

And finally, we removed paid someone to remove the mosquito-breeding habitat that consisted of some ill-planted shrubbery:

Who knew a barren flower bed could bring such joy?

The next phase involves planting some anti-mosquito plants, making that flowerbed MUCH more narrow, and possibly putting in more grass (though that area doesn't grow well since it is so shaded.. but that makes it the perfect place for our cafe set!). If not grass, then some rocks that were leftover from the other side of the house, where we also removed plants.

The rubble of rocks that remain.Why they left the one potted plant, we will never know.

Now our entryway looks like this (actually, the grout has been stained, but you get the idea!):

I love the brick pattern, and the new shelf I found at Marshall's!

Look for an updated post on the garden(s) - hopefully sometime before Ethan arrives. We're too busy going to the beach to work on a garden in 100-degree heat!

love,