Saturday, October 10, 2009

A Front Door Redo

I'm back. I'm not in school. By week two, I re-evaluated and thought I was nuts for trying to get a Masters. I already have a great job and would have to give a four year commitment in order to finish the Master's program in SW and get certified. Instead of school, I've been working on projects, working hard at my job, spending time with my children, and living life. I'll try and catch you up on things. I saw this when I was out shopping with the girls. Cute idea. Use your ginger bread man cookie cutter to make an easy Halloween mummy. I just might give that one a try. Yes, I did get that black urn and those Halloween socks. I'll share what I did with them later. I did want to show you the before and after of my front door. Here is the before.
Here is the during. Three hours of sanding with an electric sander. I didn't know I had so many layers of paint.
So, here's the scoop about the door. I shopped at Lowes Friday night buying 3 cans of primer, and three cans of red gloss paint, etc. Anyway, I got up early to start on the job but no one else was up to help me get the door off the hinges and I couldn't do it by myself. Eli drew the short straw since he was the next one up.

I sanded for an hour before my DH came out to lend a hand for another hour. Good thing we had two sanders. ;) We thought we had it nice and smooth until we started painting and then you could see that it wasn't nearly as smooth as we thought. It also took longer to dry than I thought it would. Come on...it's spray paint, outside, on a nice warm day. (And yes, we did use all 6 cans of paint.)

Now comes the really big problem. I bought a new handle and lock set, plus new kick plate. (The last one was in bad shape making it hard to open the door. Plus, it looked awful.) Who knew that those things aren't universal? Why does the new kick plate have holes in different places than the old one? And why don't the holes for the old handle fit the new handle? It was a nightmare! My husband was none too happy with me since we couldn't put the door back on and have it lock before the BYU football game started which we had tickets to.

I ended up staying home until my niece came to skype the football game for her dad who is living in Spain. They stayed to guard the house while we were at the game. My DH ended up going to the hardware store and buying a new drill bit, redrilling holes, and securing the house before going to bed at 1 am. I think it turned out pretty well if you don't look to close. My husband still says he loves me...but he kind of rolls his eyes when he says that.
A friend of Candices' cut some vinyl letters/number for me. It was hard to get them in the right place since they were individual and not on a transfer mechanism. I've fixed the 3 since I took these pictures.
What do you think?

So now I'm gearing up for Halloween. The Halloween bomb has gone off in my house and I think I am now finished decorating. I'm also having a Halloween party in two weeks...theme...pirates. Think "The Black Pearl" from Pirates of the Carribean. I have my treasure display and my table all set. (My husband's students are coming for dinner this week. I'm using it as a trial run for my party.) I'll try and take pictures tomorrow.

A week ago I was in Texas with Candice. She just moved from NYC. I came to help her decorate her family room. We were girls on a mission and worked hard to get everything completed in a week. I did lots of sewing. (Four drapery panels sewn into black and white stripes 19 feet long plus 2 pillows. She has a 24 foot ceiling. They do say that everything is bigger in Texas.)

She promises to give me pictures of the "befores" and "afters" but it might be awhile because she doesn't want the "after" pictures to have Halloween decorations in the pictures. We had a blast and my DH flew in later in the week so we could see Mark's first play he directed as new professor. It was a great week that went by way too quickly. I don't like being so far away from all my babies. Good thing at least Steph and family live close by.

Monday we are working on a "Max" costume from "Where The Wild Things Are." Eli says that he wants one too. I thought that was hilarious.

What else am I doing? I have picked up knitting again and am knitting a purse to felt. I'm trying to finish up a Halloween quilt...although I have no idea where I will hang it. I made a new valance for my studio space. And, who knows what else I've been doing...hmmm, this morning I watch the faculty play the students in softball. They didn't get enough faculty to play so recruited from local alumni. The faculty won. Who would have guessed that would happen? My DH even made a bunch of runs and didn't get hurt. It was fun to watch.

I went on a great motorcycle ride with my husband up the canyon this afternoon. The colors were beautiful. We stopped at Sundance on the way down and decided to have dinner in the grill. It was a great date. We decided to make it a yearly tradition.

So, life is busy but good. I feel blessed!

19 comments:

Laurel said...

You are always doing something impressively crafty and beautiful. :) I LOVE the new front door, love that Eli wants a "Where the Wild Things Are" costume, and sincerely hope you're currently wearing your Halloween socks.

Lorna ~ Lace and Ivy Cottage said...

The red door is stunning and the number and letters are the piece de resistence!

Jane said...

I know it was a lot of work but your results were worth it. I love the red door and the lettering on int looks fabulous. Great transformation.
Jane

Amy said...

Looks wonderful and worth your hard work..it pops out now and the lettering is great!

Anonymous said...

Your door turned out beautiful! Great job and I love the red!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :)

Phyllis @Around the House said...

Your door is amazing and the house number in the center gives such a designer look, I love it all, you are just so creative and the door really pops...

trish said...

Your door looks beautiful! What a great job!

Anna said...

I really like those vinyl numbers, they look great against the red

Chany said...

La puerta te quedó hermosa, Chany.-

Anonymous said...

I think it turned out beautifully!!!


Drop by and sign up for my link party if you'd like! http://theshadesofpink.blogspot.com

Marigene said...

All that hard work sure paid off, beautiful door!

Shirley said...

Oh, your door turned out grand. What a lot of hard work you did! Love the vinyl letters. i've only seen that one other time.

Unknown said...

What a difference it makes! Great job- I know how frustrating it is when the new doesn't exactly replace the old like you would like. I have an old house so measurements are different today and run into this problem all the time.
Yay for great hubbies! :)

Ribbonwood Cottage said...

I love that door! What a great job you did. Red is always a wonderful choice. Years ago I painted our door red and I loved it! Someone told me to get a red mat and add a black planter with red flowers. So I spray painted a metal planter black and added a red geranium...WOW it looked amazing! Now looking at your door I reminded of how wonderful it looked. I'm sure you are going to enjoy this everytime you walk up to it!
Blessings,
Debbie

Jennifer Juniper said...

I love it, and I know how hard it is to paint a door and make it look nice. I tried it years ago and vowed never again!

Katherine @ Grass Stains said...

I had to laugh when I read, "Why does the new kick plate have holes in different places than the old one?" Because it's ALWAYS something, isn't it? It can't just be simple! I am completely in love with your vinyl lettering, and I MUST have it on y own red door. Thanks for the inspiration!

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

Love a red door -totally worth all the work you did. Love it!

beth said...

Love it!! I also have a red door with black house numbers, and I am so happy with it! Your makeover turned out great!! :)

Anonymous said...

Great blog you got here. It would be great to read something more concerning that matter. Thnx for giving that material.
Joan Stepsen
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