House Facelift

From landscaping, new sconces, to freshly painted shutters and more, I am going to step through how we gave our a house a little TLC on a budget for some added curb appeal. Below are the before and after photos to see how we got from this to that. :)

Before

After

First things first, we removed all the shrubs/bushes in front of the pillars. They were overgrown and couldn't be saved. I wanted a fresh clean look. Now, this was no easy task as some of the roots were 4/5 inches thick. Using an ax helped after digging around each shrub. Once you broke the roots, you loosen the shrubs so you can remove from the ground. There was a point when only the back row was left and I decided to get a couple quotes to see what that would cost to have the professionals come in. The lowest quote I got was $600 for 7 bushes. I decided to carry on. Sore muscles and some back pain later they were all out. I leveled out the dirt and added some fresh top soil. I then planted 5 new shrubs (boxwoods). We then poured 55 bags of Home Depot White Rocks to finish off the landscaping. After a couple weeks after the rocks sank in a bit, I decided to use rock glue to keep the rocks in place. This was to help avoid rocks rolling into the pathway and onto the concrete patio. I only used 1tub of it linked, and put into a sprayer bottle to spray around the edges of the garden bed. This worked and the glue has held up months later.

Moving on to the white pillars, railing, shutters and front door. I painted the shutters and front door black with Benjamin Moore Exterior Black paint (soft gloss finish). For the shutters and front door I cleaned with TSP. I did not prime either but I did two coats of paint. In hind sight, the time it took to clean, set up a paint station, buy paint, and then do two coats on four shutters, and I was pregnant at the time, I think I would have paid about $100 for 4 brand new shutters. But if you're looking to save a few bucks as you may have more than 4, DIY is the way to go. The painted shutters came out great! I then decided to use Rustoleum Spray Paint for Pillars and the side rail for a more modern updated finish. I ended up going into labor with my second child, so my parents actually took this over! They did a great job. One stood on a latter spraying, while the other held the tarp to avoid getting the black spray paint everywhere. I'm sure it was quite the site to see. They did great!

I'm no professional designer, but the house still needed a few updates. We decided on updating the sconces with a modern black fixture that looks similar to these Outdoor Black Sconces. After plenty of research, I then pulled the trigger on the Polywood Rocking Chair Set. I'm obsessed with this rocking chair set and a bit surprised how often I sit out in the front yard vs backyard. It's durable, sturdy, and super easy to put together. I must admit, we've always been an LLBean Family but I wasn't ready to dish out that kind of cash when we had so many other projects/expenses happening. Polywood was half the price without compromising the durability. I am very happy with this purchase.

We have a few more front of house updates to come... so stay tuned. :) Please note, I get commissions for purchases made through any links in this post. Help a sista out, if you like what you see. :)