Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Show & Tell: Outdoor Updates

Hello There!

I have new kitchen cabinets! I am waiting to blog about them until we finish up the kick boards, countertops and deco strip. Once those small things are done, we'll just be waiting on paint and a backsplash. There's a sneak peek of the before and after so far on my Instagram account.

Today's post features two small projects I did one Saturday morning: a new wooden screen door and an outdoor Tick-Tack-Toe game.



Screen Door

Our house didn't have a screen door when we moved in. The five year plan is to have a complete exterior remodel done with an addition, so I'm not looking to start replacing exterior doors until then. The summer has been beautiful, and we've only ran the air once or twice. However, with only 6 windows, we needed some more airflow. I wanted a low cost screen door solution that will get us through a couple of summers.

Lowe's sells wooden screen doors for $20.00. If you are willing to wait, check out the clearance door/window section. They often put wooden screen doors with a slight rip in the screen on clearance for 1/2 off. That would have been a beautiful solution for us especially if the rip was at the bottom since we added in a panel to the lower section anyways. Alas, the only clearance doors were 2 inches too small. You will also need to purchase a hinge kit. They have kits made exclusively for these types of doors. Look for the door hardware section. Our kit was $10.00.

The wooden screen doors come unfinished. I had some exterior yellow spray paint left over from my lighting project, so that was the chosen color. (I did a layer of primer first) I love yellow, but I have to agree with my husband...the color isn't exactly the greatest with the Ugly House teal. We're repainting the house next summer a nice dark grey so I decided yellow will have to pair with the teal for the winter. I slipped some packing paper under the frame so I would keep the screen clean. If you do have overspray, take some steel wool and gently sand off the the excess color.



Since we have dogs that often scratch at the door, we needed to put something on the bottom. We looked around, and the best option was some bead board paneling. We bought a small half sheet panel for $10.00. It attached easy with my nail gun.



My husband likes to think I picked the yellow on purpose since we look like some sort of Packer super fans.



Stump Tick-Tack-Toe
We also had a stump in the middle of our yard. We'll probably remove it eventually, but until then I thought it could be spruced up. I used some of the same spray paint from the door to make a little tick-tack-toe game for our children. My daughter has already beat me several times. She loves it because she painted the rocks so she got to help make it. It also doubles as a stage (although the paint does make it a bit slick).





A couple of small updates to a sad looking exterior. We have already made many plans for next summer including new landscaping, paint, fencing and some fun projects for the kids.







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