Fall is in the air, and this is my absolute FAVORITE time of year!The fields all around our house are buzzing with combines and tractors, and my boys are in heaven watching them harvest their hard-earned crop. My husband and I sat outside last night under the stars, enjoying the chilly air and watching the lights of the last tractors still chugging along through the fields.
To my family, this is heaven.
So now that Fall has arrived (and it's no longer 1000 degrees outside) I wanted to tackle some outdoor projects. But before I can show you all the pretty updates, I feel like I need to show you the "Before" pictures. They're not so pretty.
This is the outdoor furniture my boy's got me for Mother's Day a few years ago. We already had to replace the couch cushion because a certain Alaskan Malamute puppy named Luca decided she needed to dig a giant hole in the center... There are still some days I contemplate accidentally leaving the fence gate open...
But back to the before photos...
Beige, brown, and blah. And hiding behind my boring furniture was this mess...
EEK! I'm keepin' it real folks!
This was where we tossed miscellaneous building materials from our renovation and basically anything we didn't know where to put when we moved. After staring at this eyesore for weeks, I recruited my handy helpers to help me haul this mess elsewhere. I gave the furniture a fresh coat of white paint and set it up on our newly clean patio.
Much better! But it still needed some work. I wasn't loving the green cushions I chose, but couldn't stand the thought of paying for another set. The green just didn't sit well next to the beige/brown chairs.
Then one fateful day I was shopping in Lowe's and walked past this Allen Roth pillow:
Hello Gorgeous!
It was love at first sight. And then I saw that they were on clearance for $5.99! I almost fainted from excitement.
What a difference! After adding in some pretty Fall flowers, this is the patio I now get to enjoy:
Patio: Check
Onto the front of the house!
The first order of business was to clean off the yucky mildew on the siding. I had honestly been avoiding it all summer because I thought it was going to be a huge project, but it actually scrubbed off really easily. I picked up a bottle of Hi-lex Outdoor Bleach Cleaner from Menards and mixed it according to instructions in a big bucket. All I had to do was spray the house with water, drop a big sponge in the bleach mixture, scrub down the house, and rinse it clean.
Before:
After:
Unfortunately, scrubbing down the house has also brought a new project to tackle next Spring...
At least I have all winter long to get motivated to paint the entire outside of the house!
(Surely I can find motivation by then, right?)
After giving the house a good bath, my handy helper, Wyatt, and I planted some more yellow flowers by my front door.
Don't I have the cutest handy helper?
Again, Before:
And After:
PHEW! I'm exhausted! Time to go enjoy some apple cider on my new patio : )
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