A BEFORE AND AFTER 3 YEARS IN THE MAKING

I'm not one to draw projects out. When I get set on doing something I like to focus on it like a laser and pound it out until it's finished. I'd rather wait until I can do all of it exactly the way I want to than take it by bits and pieces or settle for something I don't really love because what I really, really want isn't in the budget at that time.

But for various reasons, that approach wouldn't have worked when it came to dealing with our garage. Never a very good looking building, we toyed with the idea of tearing it down completely for a time. But when it became clear that really wasn't in the budget, we set to improving it little by little over the past few years.

Last week we put what is hopefully the last major finishing touch on the garage that has helped take it from a pretty pathetic looking structure that you'd be hesitant to park your car in, to something that I think looks far more charming than it really is.

October 2013

 

It all started three years ago almost to the day when out of seemingly nowhere, I decided I was sick of looking at a wreck of a garage, especially after we did so much work to renovate the house.

April 2014

The following spring very little progress had been made, but I satisfied my urge to do well, anything, by painting the door Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue, a color I'd been dying to use somewhere.

Later that spring we had the garage reroofed (which I can find no photos of) and that helped the look of the whole thing tremendously. We also got the driveway paved, which wasn't really on my radar but was something that Mr. Much Patient had pushed for for a long time (and in retrospect it was a good call).

July 2014

A few months later we hired a painter to paint the garage. At first I wasn't sure I loved the color (Benjamin Moore Ozark Shadows with Simply White trim), but you great blog readers encouraged me to live with it a little and that's a good thing because now I quite like it. At this point I was feeling like it was looking much better but still a bit plain.

July 2014

Then we stuck a new light on it. A really small change but certainly another little improvement.

April 2015

It sat like that for several months until the following spring when we built a small pergola on it to match the pergola on our deck. Of course Mr. Much More Patient still doesn't understand what the point of it is (answer: to look pretty, obviously), but I love it.

July 2015

Later last summer I decided that the Wythe Blue was never really right and I repainted the door Benjamin Moore New York State of Mind. Ah ... that's much better.

July 2016

This spring I bought a new planter for near the garage and slid the boxwood between the doors.

And then last week we finally did what I've been waiting ages for: We replaced those ugly, dented garage doors. I'll write a full post about that process (we did not install them ourselves) soon. For now, I'm just basking in the beauty of a garage that somehow went from pretty horrible, to pretty darn good. Fixing it up over three years never would have been my choice, but it actually worked out OK, and by spreading the cost over several years it doesn't seem like nearly such a big hit.

It's funny, since it took so long to get to this point it doesn't feel like it really changed that much, but check out this before and after.

Yep, that looks just a little better. And having two garage doors that work isn't so bad either.

YET ANOTHER BLUE DOOR

So I painted another door. By now, this should come as absolutely no surprise to you. When I get an itch, I paint something and 99% of the time it's a door. What can I say? They are easy and you get a lot of bang for your buck.

BEFORE (Wythe Blue door)

AFTER (New York State of Mind door)

Just as I felt like the Wythe Blue was too washed out on the screen door (which I painted a much brighter color a few weeks ago), I never really felt like it was quite right for the garage either. So I went with blue (shocker), but a new blue. It's Benjamin Moore's New York State of Mind. You might be thinking that it looks very similar to the Down Pour Blue that's on the front door and you are probably right but I did something different anyway. The collection of blue paint grows!

So I absolutely love the color. It's not too bright and it's not too navy. It maybe has just a skosh of green in it in some lights, but all around it's pretty fab.

But I'm not quite sure it's fab on the garage. I think the dark color is leaving the whole thing feeling very unbalanced. Not to mention there's a very, "Hey, I'm the service door! Look over here!" vibe to it.

So I'm living with it for a little bit. Frankly, the fix is easy, although I want to make sure to let this paint cure before I go slapping more on. So what do you think? And if it's not quite right, what is?

A Wythe Blue door on a falling-down garage

I forgot to show you something I did about a month ago.

I painted the garage door Wythe Blue (Benjamin Moore color). I've been sort of lusting over that color, which is this really interesting grayish greenish blueish, sort of turquoise-but-not color for a long time and I really wanted to paint something that color. 

Since I didn't want something as bold as the blue on our front door (I didn't remember until went to link that post that I had entertained the idea of painting the front door Wythe Blue), but I did want to have a little fun, it hit just the right sweet spot on the garage.

Of course the rest of the garage is still a wreck. We're waiting for the contractor/neighbor to finish up a couple projects so he can rip the roof off the entire thing and put on a new one that matches the house on. 

And do you see that dirty snow pile next to the garage? The last vestiges of snow are finally melting but the bottom of the heap is always the grossest. And that red roof peeking out is actually our neighbor's two-story garage poking up above ours. That's the neighbor who is doing a roof, so we keep telling him that the sooner he fixes our roof, the sooner the view from the window on that side of their garage improves.

We'll be painting the whole thing as well. We decided to go with gray for the siding and white for the trim (what a shock, right?). The problem is this silly weather, which just won't warm up soon enough. All of these projects need a bit of warmth to get going.

Even on the derelict-looking garage, we love the new door color. So much so that we're thinking of painting the outside of the new screen door for the back door that color. I mean, if you can't paint a screen door a fun color, what can you?

A return to something other than the garden

It's not unusual for me to let house projects slide during summer. After all, there is gardening to be done and fun to be had. And winter up here is way too long so it's good to have some things to keep busy with. But this summer, more than any other, I pretty much walked out of the house, leaving paint brushes in my wake, and never looked back.

At least until a week ago or so.

I read a blog not too long ago (I'm sorry, I don't remember which one) where the author was lamenting the fact that one project took her so long to complete that she actually grew and birthed a baby in between when she started it and when she finished it. Well, in the case of the project I finished up last week, I could have grown and birthed an elephant. Theoretically speaking, of course.

And the stupid thing about is that it wasn't hard. It was just a matter of finding the time to do it. Twice.

Allow me to explain. Remember when I painted the front door a different color of blue? Ironically I even mention in that post that I had to repaint the screen door that winter (this is all two years ago, if you're keeping track). And I did. I had decided I wanted to pain the inside of the door white to match the trim in the living room (where the door opens to) and blue on the outside to match the outside of the door.

So I painted one side white and one side blue. And that was all fine and dandy until I went to put it up and I realized I had put the colors on the wrong sides. How that happened, I have no idea, except I think maybe I was thinking the hinges were on the other side or something. Anyway, I was so disgusted with myself that I set the screen door aside for another time.

But that time didn't come until a week ago or so. We actually went all the way through last summer with no screen door on the front door. It was hot last year though, so we probably had the air conditioning on most of the time and it didn't matter much. Or so I tell myself now.

Anyway, this summer I pulled that thing out and resolved to just finish it the heck up. And it was a pain to paint over that dark blue paint. Oh well, that's the price you pay for being stupid.

Finally, the screen door is back on. Just in time for the end of summer.

So last weekend, one week before Labor Day (so, what some people consider to be the end of summer but I refuse to buy into that theory), I hung the screen door. And we've been enjoying the breeze through it almost all the time. I can't believe we lived without it for so long.

Speaking of house projects, I find it amazing that even though I don't have kids, so nothing really changes in my life after Labor Day, and the weather is still summerlike, I feel like I can already feel myself shifting into "indoor" mode. This morning I was pouring a cup of coffee and out of the blue I decided that maybe we should put gray grasscloth on the walls in the kitchen. Where did that come from? Seriously I haven't given an iota of thought to anything in the house for more than three months and suddenly I'm thinking about wallpaper. Insane.

Do you do that? I suppose I better start making a list of projects so I don't go off half cocked and start something I don't need to be doing. Perhaps I could start with last year's unfinished list.

Another touch of black

What is it with me and spur-of-the-moment door painting? It's really quite strange. I usually really think about a project before I jump into it. I'm not one of those people who will tear down a wall on a Friday night without thinking through what happens next.

But for some reason, I get a little crazy when it comes to painting doors. You may recall that last year, just days after I painted the front door a slightly deeper blue (Benjamin Moore Down Pour Blue), I got Coastal Living magazine in the mail with a gorgeous picture of a turquoise door and damn near ran to the store to buy paint and repaint it right then and there. Fortunately a few readers talked me off the ledge, which was totally the right call, and the door stayed Down Pour Blue.

I'm not even sure what got me going last Friday. All of a sudden, in the middle of the afternoon, I got a bug about painting the inside of the back door black. I posted on the Facebook page and got several positive responses and one pointing out what was my main concern: with the black from the vintage botanical prints in the eating area, would adding more black to that part of the kitchen be overkill? It's a good point and I think it would be if our back door wasn't mostly window.

Within hours I was standing in the hardware store picking a black paint (if you thought picking a white was hard, try picking a black) and buying a quart to take home and an hour after that I was sanding the door with a glass of wine in one hand.

I knew I had some dark gray tinted primer at home from a project a couple years ago so my plan was the prime the door first, just to limit the amount of paint coats I would need and to hopefully provide better adhesion. Unfortunately I couldn't find that can of primer anywhere so I just started in with the paint straightaway.

I did one very thin coat of satin (Benjamin Moore Advance, which I think I like better than Aura for trim, but I'm not positive) and was not impressed. I gave it a second coat of satin, which would have been passable had it not been for the fact that I thought it was looking a little dull and chalkboardlike. I like a satin finish on woodwork in almost every case, but I think the intense darkness of the black dulled it down more than usual. So I ended up putting another coat of the same color in semi-gloss on for a little more sheen.

And here's what it looked like when it was all done. Boy that black really shows the difference where I've painted the trim (the door) and where I haven't (the window next to it). I'm actually in the process of doing that now, which is why the roman shades are off the window right now.

I've never really liked the door hardware much, but I think it looks much better on black.

And here's a before. I know it's not really a fair comparison because I didn't show you the whole area in the after, but I really didn't feel like cleaning off the table and straightening pillows. 

Mr. Much More Patient, who has been out of town and came home Sunday in time to see the newly painted door, which he knew nothing about, has decided he thinks "it's probably good."

I think so too.

So fess up, are you a spur-of-the-moment home improver or do you approach everything with a plan?

I have a favor to ask. Apartment Therapy is doing their annual blog awards, which is by popular vote. I don't have a chance in hell of getting to the finals, but I do find the awards to be a good way to find other blogs. If you enjoy reading The Impatient Gardener, I'd be so grateful if you would take a moment to vote for it in the Best Home Project & DIY category. Go here to find it. You'll need to sign in to vote (but that's a relatively painful process) and then scroll down (way down ....) or do a find for The Impatient Gardener and then check that little box by it to vote. Thanks so much! P.S. you can vote for multiple blogs.

Birthday memories

I'm showing you this not to show off my unbelievable cute and huggable dog, Hudson, (which he is, of course) but because I think this is a great birthday thing to do for both critters and kids. I'm totally embarrassed to admit that we only did this with our older dog. I don't know why poor Rita got left out, but I suspect it's the same reason why there are precious few pictures of me between the ages of 1 and 8 and 80 billion of my older brother.

Hudson turned 8 at the end of September and we were thrilled to make a big deal about it. The poor guy has been through his share of orthopedic issues and more than vet told us we'd never see this age with him. Newfoundlands are generally pretty short-lived as far as dogs go to begin with, and all of his health issues didn't help. But I'm happy to report that the big guy is doing great and running up and down the beach every time we go.

As a little aside, it's sort of interesting to get a peek at the plantings I've done on the front steps over the years as well.

 

Baby

 

Age 1

Age 2

 

Age 3

Age 4

Age 5

Age 6

Age 7

Age 8

Door redux redux?

Yes, I know I just repainted the front door a deeper blue a few weeks ago. But the October issue of Coastal Living just came today and I think I might have to paint it again.

Coastal Living photo

I'm pretty sure I need that. Including that awesome starfish wreath (from Beach Grass Cottage on Etsy, according to the magazine). I guess the problem with the fact that it was pretty easy to paint the front door is that it might be really easy to do it again.

This is why no real projects get done around here.

The white house with the blue door gets a paint job

I apologize for the lack of posts this week. Since most of what I blog about in summer is stuff that happens outside, and because I'm usually at work during the day when the light is decent, I often take most of the photos for the blog on the weekend and then pump out a bunch of posts related to the photos during the week.

But no matter how much I pretend to deny it, summer is waning. We've had gorgeous weather lately and I can honestly say that last night might have been the most perfect night ever (with the exception of some obnoxious mosquitos). I sat outside well past sunset trying to savor every second.

Anyway, last weekend I was busy doing summer-type stuff and didn't get time to snap any photos. And then when I get home from work during the week the light sort of stinks and then I end up with no blog posts. Still, I could wait to show you what I've been up to.

You know our blue door that I adore? The one that was the very first project I took on when we bought our house nine years ago and ever since have called it "The white house with the blue door"? Well, I painted it.

Now don't be alarmed. It's not a drastic change, even though I am currently in love with yellow doors and after seeing this amazing house tour I damn near painted it Benjamin Moore's Wythe Blue.

BM Wythe Blue

But after thinking about it, I knew our otherwise plain white house (which I was once so nicely told on Gardenweb was the "most boring white house anyone could ever imagine" and the very nice poster suggested that I fire whoever was responsible for that. Ah, the Internet, don't 'cha just love brutal anonymous honesty?) needed a bold color that would stand out in our new entry.

So I chose (drumroll) .....



Another blue.


Wow, I'm a crazy party animal, aren't I?

I changed it from what I have always called "Greek blue," although I don't know what color it really is (I painted it before I ever started paying attention to paint colors and neurotically googling the name of the color to look for images of what it looked like in other people's homes), to a more royal/indigo blue: Benjamin Moore's Down Pour Blue.

BM Down Pour Blue

Anyway, enough chit chat. Onto the (lousy, taken after work) photos. By the way, this was one of the easiest projects I've ever done. Because I painted it last, I knew I had used water-based paint (I ALWAYS use water-based) and that I had primed it thoroughly. So I just sanded it with the palm sander, touched up a few blemishes caused by moving in and out however many times in nine years for floors, renovations, etc., and put on two coats of semigloss paint.

So here's the best picture I have of the before (pre-renovation):

traditional entry design

And here's what it looks like now (with the screen door open because I've not painted it yet; that's a project for winter):

It's actually kind of nice to have the screen door the old color so you can see the difference in the blues. And yes, the stairs are all wet because I was blasting bugs off the house right before I took the picture.

And speaking of that screen door, there's a bit of a problem. Can you spot it?

How about now?

It turns out that the hanging light that I really love and picked up for a steal, doesn't work so good with a screen door that opens out. Fortunately we don't really go in and out of the front door much, but we do frequently open it for more light and airflow in the summer, so we're just really careful when we do open it. 

I'll work on better pictures that show more of the house this weekend!

The blue door ... again

I have lots of posts just waiting to be finished, written, posted, etc.  But this weekend is the big push on painting and installing the floors upstairs.

In the meantime, I'm thrilled that once again our blue door was featured in a Houzz ideabook

Winter Holiday Decorating for Your Front Door

Houzz- Kitchen Design, Bathroom Design and More»

Decorating Ideas and Photos:

Kitchen Design · Bathroom Design · Living Room Design · Bedroom Design · Dining Room Design · Patio Design · Landscaping Design ·

If you don't know about Houzz.com, you must check it out. It is every decorating inspiration picture you could ever possibly need in one spot.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A blue ideabook

I     t's an exciting morning! I swung by Houzz today and greeting me there was ... my door! It's part of an ideabook on using blue, and I think I love every single picture in the ideabook. I just adore blue, although usually as accents rather than wall colors. However, seeing some of those photos has me seriously considering a blue bathroom and maybe blue kitchen chairs.

Anyway, it was exciting to be included.

Feeling [Wonderfully] Blue

houzz- kitchen design, bathroom design, landscaping and more