619 miles

surprises are fun

I have the BEST roommate ever. So...to show her my appreciation for helping take care of 'ol Reese dogg and because she is "awesome" I did a little surprise porch makeover for her while she was out of town. Andrea left on a work trip on Monday and returned home this evening to find a bright sun-shiny porch! Last fall I did a post with a little photoshop magic and for the most part I stuck to those ideas.

I painted the front door, replaced the mailbox and porch light, and added some fun color in the form of flowers and a new welcome mat. I haven't planted any flowers in such a long time it felt good to get the hands dirty. Maybe next year, if I get really ambitious, I can tackle a garden!

Most important of all is that Andrea loved it! I'm sooo glad. I think it really turned out nice and nothing beats coming home to such a welcoming and happy front entry, don't you think?!?!

I decided on yellow for the front door because I know Andrea likes yellow and I wanted something that would coordinate with the green shutters and porch. Of course after seeing the freshly painted porch Andrea suggested painting the shutters black... which I thought was a great idea, since I was thinking the same thing after seeing the door yellow. Great minds!! I still think a window box under the smaller window would look great as well as some colorful outdoor pillows for the bench. oh... and I still have to add the house numbers. They are larger than the previous ones and a more modern style. 

Thank you Andrea for being not only an awesome roommate, but an incredible friend! Reese says thanks too.. and she is sorry for destroying that plant to the left of the steps that is now gone...oops! 

exterior facelift

My best amiga (Andrea - also best roommate EVER) is doing some exterior updates to her cute house.  This weeked she weilded a chainsaw (you are awesome girl!!) and got rid of a small tree that was under the larger tree in the yard.  It immediately opened up the front of the house.  Next she started reshaping the planting beds.  It's looking good so far!!

Inspired by a recent house facelift down the street we moved from talking plants to talking paint.  Was a new door color in order??  Knowing my obsession with design blogs, she asked my opinion and I promised her some exterior inspiration images.  Soooo... here ya go amiga!

First up, here is Andrea's adorable casa:

Here are the inspiration pics (both from a fave design blog The Estate of Things):

1. source  2. source

My idea was to paint the shutters the house color above, paint the door yellow and perhaps add a window box under the bathroom window to compensate for it's smaller size.  Here is my attempt to make that happen in photoshop:

What do you think?  Any other ideas?