Front Porch Makeover | Paint Project
July 28, 2015Over the past few months, I had thought about giving my little front porch a makeover. Nothing too expensive. Nothing too drastic. Just something! Oh, and it had to be a project that I could do myself; no help from the hubby.
Sometimes I have little pockets of free time that randomly pop up, so I try to quickly seize the moment. Luckily I had a Pinterest board that was full of front porch makeover ideas!
Most of my projects involve paint. Spray paint, cans of paint, bottles of paint, you name it - I love to paint! So, you can probably imagine my excitment when I came across a pin that consisted of painting a front porch! Christine, from first home love life created the most fabulous DIY front porch makeover, and I was so inspired to tackle this on my own porch! {you can see her front door project, here}.
Paint brush, roller brush, paint tray + liner
Dunn-Edwards Paint {2 shades of gray - dark gray for my base, light gray for the stones}
Steel wool {to scratch up the faux stones}
Kneeling pad
Motivating music
2 - 3 cans of Wild Cherry Pepsi
The first step was to make sure my porch was as clean as possible. I swept, rinsed, and scrubbed the entire area where I wanted to paint. Once that was completed, I grabbed my roll of painter's tape, and started taping off every inch that I wanted to protect from any paint mishap.
Paint prep is honestly my least favorite part of any painting project. I'm very impatient, and just want to get started painting already!
I was proud of myself for completing all the prep work. Dare I admit that it really wasn't all that bad? ...moving on
Now it was time to start cutting in. I decided that rolling the paint would work best for such an open area. Not to mention, it would get done more quickly than if I used a paint brush. But as you can see, the wood siding on my porch isn't flush, and I knew it would be impossible to get in between, with my roller. That's where the paint brush comes in handy. I painted a few inches away from the siding, leaving an even area for my paint roller to finish the job.
*once I was finished cutting in the edges of my base coat, I removed the painter's tape, before the area was completely dry.
Now... on to the fun stuff!
Before I started painting, I found these darling topiaries at HomeGoods. I picked up two, even though the two pots were different colors. I had to have them! Plus, they were the perfect size for my small front steps. So, I ended up painting the other pot to match - super easy fix!
Dunn-Edwards Paint {2 shades of gray - dark gray for my base, light gray for the stones}
Steel wool {to scratch up the faux stones}
Kneeling pad
Motivating music
2 - 3 cans of Wild Cherry Pepsi
The first step was to make sure my porch was as clean as possible. I swept, rinsed, and scrubbed the entire area where I wanted to paint. Once that was completed, I grabbed my roll of painter's tape, and started taping off every inch that I wanted to protect from any paint mishap.
Paint prep is honestly my least favorite part of any painting project. I'm very impatient, and just want to get started painting already!
Now it was time to start cutting in. I decided that rolling the paint would work best for such an open area. Not to mention, it would get done more quickly than if I used a paint brush. But as you can see, the wood siding on my porch isn't flush, and I knew it would be impossible to get in between, with my roller. That's where the paint brush comes in handy. I painted a few inches away from the siding, leaving an even area for my paint roller to finish the job.
*once I was finished cutting in the edges of my base coat, I removed the painter's tape, before the area was completely dry.
Now... on to the fun stuff!
I rolled my entire porch & walkway, with Dunn-Edwards Battleship Gray DEC797, and then waited for it to fully dry. Doesn't it look better already?
To make sure everything was dry, I didn't continue with my project until the next day. Once I determined that it was dry & safe to walk on, I continued with the "stone" portion of my front porch makeover project! I found this Quikrete concrete mold walk maker, from Lowes. It was pretty inexpensive too.
I determined the position of the stone pattern I wanted, and I put my QUICKCRETE maker into place. I made sure to alternate my pattern by turning my stone shapes, differently each time.
Using the lighter shade of gray that I picked up from Dunn-Edwards, Stieglitz Silver DET612, I started brushing on my stones. The QUIKRETE WalkMaker made this task so easy! In fact, when I first started, I thought my stones looked a little too perfect.
To achieve a more authentic look, I started using less paint on my brush. Then, while the paint was still wet, I took a piece of steel wool to scuff the paint up a bit. You can start to see a difference in the stones, when you compare this picture to the one above it. I was certainly loving how this front porch makeover was turning out so far!
This project took a bit longer than I anticipated. I didn't realize just how long I would be on my knees. {my poor 40 year old, arthritic knees}. After a while, it didn't even feel like I was on a kneeling pad! The crouching, bending, and constant arm motion definitely gave me a work out. I continued with my project, on day 3. Despite all my aches + pains.
The painting portion of my front porch makeover was finally complete! I couldn't wait to start adding all the fun, little touches that I had purchased & refurbished, especially for this project.
Before I started painting, I found these darling topiaries at HomeGoods. I picked up two, even though the two pots were different colors. I had to have them! Plus, they were the perfect size for my small front steps. So, I ended up painting the other pot to match - super easy fix!
This old milk can was one of my favorite additions to my front porch makeover. A little elbow grease, sanding, painting, and a little vinyl "welcome" sign, was all it needed!
This was the before picture... I'm so happy I saw the potential it had!
I added an inexpensive door mat, from IKEA, and stood back to admire all the hard work that was put into my front porch makeover.
I really loved how these pink flowers popped, alongside my newly painted walkway! I don't have a green thumb, so I gave up on trying to plant anything, over the past several years. This flower bush has grown back every year, since the last time I planted anything. The flowers also gave me hope that maybe my thumb isn't so brown, afterall. Either way, it was just the motivation I needed to head over to Home Depot, to tour their garden section.
My little guys helped pick out some pretty flowers. With this serious California drought, I made sure our plant choices were drought-friendly. I was pleasantly surprised at the huge variety Home Depot had available!
By the end of our shopping trip, the boys were pretty tired, a little cranky, and so ready to get out of the shopping cart. After a brief meltdown in the parking lot, we loaded up my truck, and headed back home, to start planting.
It took me a few days to get everything planted in the ground. The boys did a great job helping, and they love to help me water, and even sweep the porch.
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