Alliteration aside (all that made me feel practically poetic!) I am indeed rather intimidated by my next painting project: the front porch. Which is likely why I’ve been avoiding it all year so far (and, well, all LAST year too.) But it’s now make-it-or-break-it time. Use-it-or-lose-it time. I need to make hay while the sun shines. Be that early bird who catches the little worm. (And yes, quoting miscellaneous cliches is indeed my way of stalling) (although it’s not a particularly effective one.) The nights are starting to get super chilly now that September is here, and there isn’t going to be much porch painting weather left. And it really does need to be done. So I should probably get this project started. Soon. Terrified or not.
Why is front porch painting so intimidating? I think it’s because it’s such a public project. If I paint a room INSIDE of my house and then discover that I had some weird moment of insanity and chose very very wrongly, paint-colour-wise, me and Sweetie (and the cats, but they’re pretty indifferent to most paint colours) are the only ones who will know, and I can quickly hang my head in shame and scurry off to the nearest paint store and try again. However if my front porch looks ridiculous post-paint job, my neighbours and everyone passing by will all know I made a porch painting blunder. Ack. Mortifying, I know.
Here’s what my porch looks like at present…
See why it needs repainting? It was stained a rather poopy (technical term) brown before we moved in. And that colour drives me a wee bit bonkers. It makes the entrance to our house look really dark and uninviting. (Would you want to hang out on a poopy-coloured porch? Nope. Me neither. See my point?)
(And yes, that sad little bush out front is indeed dead [there are actually two of them, truth be told.] They were little green troopers last summer, but for some reason they just didn’t make it this year. Poor little guys. They’ll likely be replaced by a couple lovely drawf cedars [or something equally foolproof-ish to grow] shortly.)
So the big debate? (That I’m having only with myself, of course.) (Well, with myself and with my friend Shawn who told me to just pick a colour and stop obsessing already.) (He’s way more decisive than I am, obviously.) To restain or paint. And then (next question): what colour(s) should I go with? Do I go with all one colour all over the porch? Or do I paint the top lighter, and maybe stain/paint the skirt/porch floor darker? And what will the neighbours all think?
Insert absolutely agonized sigh here.
Needless to say, I’m running out of indecisiveness-time.
Update to follow. Soon. Maybe. I hope.
