(like)new steps

well, this little house of ours is starting to come along. we took this picture on the day we closed in october of 2012. we've done a lot since then, but there is still plenty to do.  since we are both out of school, we are tackling projects head on.

 

the front porch steps have always really bothered me...look at them...they are a complete mess. my cousin beth suggested tiling the fronts.  i was 100% in to this idea and even wanted to include our house number on one of them.  however, i have never tiled (though i'm ready to learn), we don't own a tile saw, and that was going to be a little too expensive for ye ole budget.  so we just tried to clean them up for the time being. my dad loaned us his power washer, and we went to town.  scary how much junk it cleaned off.  i was still not happy with the results... though cleaner, the steps really just needed to be resurfaced. ugh!

i can say with complete confidence that we had been to lowes 33 times looking at rustoleum's restore product for decks and concrete.  originally, we were going to cover our back deck with this stuff but decided it just might do the trick on the steps...and not even all of the steps...just the risers, the treads were in good shape after a good cleaning.  brian was worried that the color wouldn't match close enough, but as usual with this house, i took the "how could it look any worse?" approach. so we slapped some top n'bond on to even out the holes and big cracks, and during nap time, we got busy.

granted this is still wet and dried a little darker...how AWESOME is this color match (fieldstone)!???  we only painted the risers, and it surprisingly matches the treads almost perfectly. this picture is after one coat. i edged and brian worked with the roller (which is specifically made for this product). we finished the second coat after Will went to bed. 

 this is the finished product after drying for 24 hours. i am in love.

for the front of the house, we really want to get rid of that white storm door since it doesn't fit the opening and the rest of the trim on the house is, well, not white!!!!  however, we have priced doors to fit what seems to be a rather large opening, and we are looking at >$700 for a storm door.  good grief.

we also would like to paint the red portions of the house so that we no longer look like a bob evans. leaning toward a grey or dark blue right now.  i'm loving the inspiration picture below for a color option...but i could go either way.  until the next project.....