Ta-daaa! As promised, here are the photos of our latest project - painting the front of our rowhouse. The "before" photo was taken the night we went to closing, back in January 2005... seems like eons ago. I can't believe it had taken us so long to actually tackle the front yard. We went back and forth about painting the concrete walk and wall. It was John's thought to one day take remove the concrete walk and eventually lay down brick or pavers... but not a priority any longer. So, I painted it with some porch & concrete floor enamel to match the window sills. Planted some seasonal mums, and my eternal favorite (earlier this summer) potato vines, and viola! ...a whole new, crisp look.
The door we found at Lowe's about 2 years ago -- a special order Jeld-Wen (if anyone was interested) - it comes unfinished, blonde wood. I stained it twice and put several coats of spar varnish to protect it from the elements. It's held up pretty well. Door hardware is from Lowe's. I've been obsessed with the oil-rubbed bronze fixtures - we put them throughout our entire house....I'll show more on those later. And our mailbox, my splurge -- from Restoration Hardware. I would actually live in that store if I could... that, or Anthropologie of course. The chair was a trash-day find -- John spotted that one on the side of the road in Alexandria -- I painted it last weekend.
Before
Measure your transom, so you know approximately how large your numbers should be. Create a template in Word or Photoshop like the one below and print out (any font your heart desires!) Tape template to outside of your transom window, making sure that the numbers are level and centered. On the inside, using an $2.99 gold paint marker (similar to this one, found at Michael's), trace out the numbers. I used a straight razor to clean up my edges. If you mess up, or don't like the outcome - just scrape off and try again. So easy!
**If you have any good suggestions for increasing your curb appeal, please do share :) **
(images by RowHouse)
11 comments:
It looks so crisp and fresh and love the potato vine! I hope you saved the original door....they are so hard to come by and it was gorgeous....maybe rotted or drafty though?? Anyhoo, the new door looks terrific with your fresh paint. Nice job.
We tried because it was original with the house and I loved the window, but it was beyond salvaging - both rotted and drafty. All the interior doors and moldings, etc. we absolutely kept though. That was a must. :)
Looks wonderful. I am thinking of doing the numbers on the transom. I have icky ones on the front door, which I want to paint.
wow! it looks AMAZING! what an upgrade.
i LOVE the door- it's beautiful.
and great advice for the address numbers :)
very cool numbers...and where did you get this door? We are working on the inside of our house but hopefully in the next year or so we will be upgrading the outside...would love to know about the door!
bravo. I love it. congrats on your hard work. it is clearly worth it.
Thank you! The door we found at Lowe's awhile back - special order Jeld-Wen - it comes unfinished.
Thanks for the transom idea! When looking for numbering options I searched google and found your page. I used your idea (but took it a step further.. cutting a stencil out of contact paper) and saved a ton of money on a transom window. Check out my blog for pics! And update, please!
Hooray! SO satisfying :-)
If you love oil-rubbed bronze finishes, check out the Fersa, Louis Fraser, and Omp Porro ranges of hardware at our site. All of these suppliers have extensive collections of products that are available in oil-rubbed bronze finish.
Has the do-it-yourself 'painting' of the house numbers on your transom hled up over time? I am contemplating the same approach and wondered if I should buy glass paint.
Well done on the numbers they look great, you must have a steady hand!! For my transom I used a company from England I found on the web who make numbers you can just stick on but look like real gold leaf. www.fanlightnumbers.co.uk not a bad price too
Post a Comment