Spring Spruce Up

It’s taken a while but I’ve finally completed a light spruce-up of my front porch. After painting stripes on the porch floor, it was hard to ignore how dirty and worn out everything else looked.

The bricks and mortar were moldy.

The asparagus fern survived a few winter freezes but needed some pruning.

This plant stand I found on the side of the road a year or so ago was in need of some scrubbing and paint.

And worst of all was the spindles and painted portion of the handrails. A little mold and loose paint meant it needed to be pressure washed before I could touch up the paint.

I used a cleaner formulated for pressure washers to give it extra cleaning oomph.

The pressure washer I used had a soap reservoir for this purpose. If your pressure washer doesn’t have this soap dispenser, you can apply the diluted solution with a pump-up sprayer before pressure washing your house, deck, fence, etc.

After pressure washing the railings, chairs, siding and columns, the railings were a little worse for the wear…

But it was nothing a paint brush and a little paint couldn’t fix! So I got to work touching up the worst parts. When I got to one of the column bases, it needed a little more than just paint.

In order to prevent water from getting in and causing unsolicited damage, I closed the gap with some white caulk before applying paint. Much better!

There were a few other places as I went along that needed caulk as well, mostly on the other columns.

Once they were caulked and painted, I let the rails dry in peace while I moved on to my free rusty table/plant stand.

I knocked off the worst of the rust on the sides and the peeling bottom with a wire brush. After wiping the dust, I pulled out the trusty spray paint.

I had it on hand, but it worked out well since it’s formulated to be sprayed on rust and help prevent it from rusting more.

Rather than try and tape off the top of a round table with painter’s paint, I just turned the table upside down on some plastic and carefully sprayed the edges and bottom. Spraying light coats on a flat surface doesn’t let much, if any, paint through to the top. I ended up with a little spot on top once I flipped it over, but it cleaned up easily with a little mineral spirits on a rag.

And it looked much better back in its spot on the porch!

Now I just need to get a blooming plant to sit atop!

Speaking of plants. The asparagus fern got its much needed pruning and looks much more welcoming in the corner!

If you’re looking for a carefree plant, I recommend an asparagus fern! I’ve had it for close to 3 years and I’ve trimmed it back twice and water it once in while and it keeps on living!

To finish off the spruce up, I couldn’t overlook the empty window planter box. I picked up these brilliant red begonias at a local hardware store for $1.97 each. $8 of beauty!

I made the window planter box in an afternoon over on Black + Decker’s blog. Click here to read how to make your own.

It was refreshing to get outside and work with my hands in between Southern spring rainstorms, but next I’m heading back inside, or out to the workshop rather, to work on a little something for my living room makeover.

Thanks for Checking In! What’s your favorite thing to do around your house when the weather warms up? Comment below!

Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea