Hey Everyone!! I’m Cheri and this is my VERY FIRST blog post!! Woohoo! (Can you tell I’m excited!?)
My Husband Justin and I bought our very first house just a couple months ago, so now our home renovation journey begins! We will be showing you our entire decorating process from start to finish as we progress throughout our home. There will be before and afters, DIY projects and tutorials, and my love of fashion and style will be posted along the way! (Did I mention I have a jewelry obsession!?)
So where to begin!?… Curb Appeal! The front of your home is the very first thing guests see upon arrival and this is where the first impression is made, which is why Justin and I thought this was an appropriate place to start in our home. Curb appeal doesn’t have to be marble fountains and stone laid driveways. Let’s be practical. A lot of these things are super easy and affordable to implement, but just takes a little TLC.
Let’s start with some before pictures of our new home!
This house definitely isn’t what you would consider a “fixer upper”, but given that it was built in 2000 it’s just 15 years out of date. I’m going to give you guys 6 easy ways to give your home more curb appeal, with examples of how we implemented them on our house.
1. Garage Door Accents- As in these before pictures the garage doors were in need of a paint job and (for lack of a better word) pizzazz. Next week I will post the tutorial for how we made over the garage doors with the links for to where to buy the hardware, but for now let me just tell you we did the garage door makeover for under $100! That’s a lot of bang for your buck! Instead of spending the money to buy a whole new set of garage doors which can easily cost you over $1,000 minimum, a little paint job and hardware can do the trick!
I mean how much better do they look!!??
2. New Shutters- The shutters we had on our home were, for one, your traditional shutters you see on a lot of homes built in the 90s and early 2000s. Because they were 15 years old the once burgundy tone had faded into a very sad pink. For only $200 we bought brand new shutters from Home Depot that gave our home a more “craftsman” feel. New shutters of any kind will instantly give your home a facelift. Our board and batten shutters can be bought here and we got them in color “federal brown”.
3. Paint Your Front Door- New front doors can be expensive, but a little paint can always do the trick! While I love a front door that pops out in a fun bright color like blue or red (and I definitely encourage trying that! ) for our home we wanted to darken the door so that it would pop out a little more against the lighter vinyl siding that we have and match the more craftsman look that we are going for. Also, Feng Shui suggests that east facing doors, like ours, are best when painted brown, because they attract more positive energy. We painted our front door in “cowboy boots” by valspar. We also replaced the old brass door handles and popped out the stain glass in the middle, which both gave the door a more traditional outdated look. Some primer, paint, new door handle and center glass and voila! Brand new front door for under $100!
4. New House Numbers- New House numbers are a fun way to add style to your home without breaking the bank! You can buy the house numbers we bought here.
5. Fresh Flowers- Adding some fresh bright flowers to the front of your house makes your home feel more inviting. Believers in Feng Shui say that the entrance of your home (“or the mouth of chi”) is one of the most important places to put flowers, because they welcome positive energy and make you home feel refreshing. I am definitely not known to have a green thumb, but a few hanging baskets and large statement pot can do the trick!
6. Decor- And now comes the fun part; Accessorizing! As with any space in your home, accessories is where the magic happens, and your front porch is no different! We spray painted some old rocking chairs that we had in a sage green color to match the craftsman vibe that we were going for. We also brought in some gorgeous over sized candle holders and added a boxwood wreath to the front door to make our guests feel welcome. A new door mat and the space was complete. The spray paint color we bought for the rocking chair is valspar “leafy rise” and can be bought here. The door wreath we have is hand made but you can buy similar ones here and here. And of course our awesome candle holders are from Accent Prone.
AND NOW FOR THE FINAL REVEAL!!
We had to throw in a picture of our babies Reagan and Piper Lingafelt, our beloved weimaraners!
Again to show a side by side here is the before and after:
Yes there are still plenty of other things that we would like to do! The front of our home is by no means complete, but we got a good start on it. Some things that are in our future are new lanterns for around the garage and a statement chandelier for the front porch. We are also going to build a new mailbox and show you guys the step by step! And if we are really talking about into the future, we would love to add some more intricate landscaping throughout the front yard and add a pergola and some cedar trusses to the front of our home to complete the craftsman vibe. BUT if there is one thing I have learned being in the home furnishings and design industry, Rome wasn’t built in a day! Designing your home should be a fun process that you complete over time. And if I know myself well, my home will truly never be finished!
I hope you guys have enjoyed seeing the very first stage in our home makeover and I hope you will tune in with us throughout this journey! I promise there are some super cool projects to come! I look forward to your feedback and getting to know all of you!
All “after” pictures of our home are photographed by my amazing friend Catelin McNamara. If you live in the Piedmont Triad are of NC and are interested in her photography services, email me at cheri@accentprone.com for her contact info!