Cottage Exterior Painting Update
A few weeks ago, I shared that Rob had begun the process of painting the exterior of our cottage. Naturally, we figured that the project would take only a few days. No big deal. But, as is also usual for us, we overestimated some aspects of the job. Particularly painting the front door. But after more than a week of hard work, the front of the cottage is officially “done.”
Or as done as we can be at the moment.
And I am absolutely in love with our old girl’s new look.
Our plan had been to try to get it all painted so that we could decorate for Halloween, but with the holiday a week away, we’ll put out our blow molds and our spider, we’ll just put out a few things to delight our boys and focus instead on Christmas decorating a few weeks from now.
Overall, I could not be more pleased with the paint job. It feels like our little cottage was always meant to be green.
Historically in America, red front doors were used to symbolize to travelers that the home was a welcome place to receive rest and hospitality on their journey. Although I didn’t know that specifically when I chose the color, I love the symbolism. Sharing my home, in-person and virtually, is one of my greatest joys.
We replaced our front entryway light after discovering there was no way to change the light bulbs. Initially, changing out the light was supposed to allow us to install bug light bulbs to help cut down on the insane amount of bugs that congregate around our front door and the lights.
We thrifted this perfectly chippy set of exterior lights only to discover that the bug bulbs have done next to nothing to help cut down on the very specific kind of gnat we have swarming the lights. I still adore the look the lights give to the front of the house, so I have no regrets. But I’m honestly stumped on how to approach eliminating these guys (and the lifeless bodies they leave behind all over my trim and door).
Our next move is to paint the back of the house, which won’t take nearly as long because there isn’t really much paintable real estate back there with all of the windows. Over the winter months when Florida has its dry season, we’ll tackle the sides of the house. In the meantime, Rob jokes that we’ll just make guests come through the house to get to the back so they don’t catch our two-tone house.
On Monday, I’ll share how the porch looks with everything put back together. I painted the chairs, revisited my DIY house number sign, installed a cool old bell as a doorbell, and fluffed up my plant containers. Rob put the final touches on the threshold yesterday, painting it red to match the front door. It was truly the perfect touch.
We hope to see you back here!
