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Rain on a Tin Roof

Be a Freak.

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How to Clean A Ridiculously Gross & Dirty Sidewalk

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I am almost ashamed to show you just how gross my sidewalk was.

Almost.

But I know that you guys understand the concept of real life.

Real life that involves neglecting things such as the sidewalk while focusing on much more important and fun things such as a kitchen makeover or just chasing around the circus at the park.

When we bought the beloved foreclosure, the exterior was the last thing on our minds. It may not have been that pretty, but there was nothing wrong with it and we would have rather had a functional kitchen and bathroom rather than a pretty exterior.

So we didn’t really touch the exterior except for some painting on the porch and a semi-makeover on the screened-in porch.

This summer I kicked the screened-in porch up quite a few notches with a complete (and super colorful) makeover.

And then I looked at our sidewalk.

And realized just how disgustingly gross it was.

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DIY Floating Curtain Panels

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As you guys well know, I will stretch a dollar as far as I possibly can.

And then some.

The same is true with fabric.

When I started the colorful porch makeover, Grunt Labor had one request:

Curtains.

Well he had other requests too, like a fireplace and a television, but at the current moment, those aren’t attainable.

He was adamant on the curtains though. He thought it would make the space feel more homey.

Yes, that coming from a male who even refers to himself as Grunt Labor is a little odd, but he was right. And really, the man rarely asks for anything around here – there was no way I could say no.

My problem was that I only had three yards of fabric for the curtains. Typically, I would be lucky to get two curtain panels out of three yards – and they would be skinnier panels at that.

My other problem here was that even though the porch is screened-in, the curtains were still going to get dirty at the bottom pretty quickly.

Luckily at Home Depot one day, the lightbulb went off.

Does anyone else have moments of genius at Home Depot? I swear sometimes that’s the only place I get them. I will have ran in for one can of spray paint and by the time I get to the checkout line, I’m struggling to hold onto everything that I’ve picked up and apologizing for knocking over a display with the 10 foot piece of pipe I’m barely holding under my arm.

Yep, I’m that girl.

But it was that stroke of genius that solved both problems – I would make Floating Curtain Panels.

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Screened-In Porch Makeover: Because I like to drink cheap beer in colorful places…

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As I write this post, I am sitting in the most colorful space in my home.
I dare you to step into the screened-in porch and not be happy.
Double Triple Dog Dare You.

And if you do step out here, and you aren’t happy, I’ve got a cheap beer for ya and a kid is bound to turn the corner at any moment riding a plastic pink flamingo.
Heck, you just smiled as you read that last sentence, didn’t you?

Sweet friends, who put up with way too much craziness from me, welcome to my back porch.

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Staining Pressure Treated Wood

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I am an impatient person.

I do not like to wait. On anything.

Good things come to those who wait, right? Well, I guess I’m more of a go out there and get it done now kind of girl.

Case in point, our new deck.

Yep, I said new deck. Over the past month, Grunt Labor built a deck. Isn’t he just awesome, y’all?

Of course that deck was built with pressure treated wood. Many people say you should wait at least six months before staining pressure treated wood.

Six months.

Negative.

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

So being a real rebel, I stained that pressure treated wood after only two weeks of the deck being completed.

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How to Stain Wood or Lattice the Easy Way {Lattice Refresh}

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Remember back in November when I made a confession?

I told you that I kinda, sorta, maybe, sometimes ignore the outside of my house.

Well, a couple weeks ago it seemed as if spring was finally arriving here (it was a trick though!). It was sunny, it was nearly 70 degrees and the kid was at preschool (thank heaven).

I certainly did not want to coop myself up in front of this computer all day. I thought it was a good time to spruce-up the porch a bit – seeing as how I have not touched it since its makeover nearly three years ago. And when I did do the makeover, I got pregnant half-way through and failed to touch the lattice on account of being tired all the time.

At least that’s the excuse I’m giving.

So, on that beautiful day a couple weeks ago, I figured out how to stain wood the easy way and gave my lattice a much needed refresh.

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Restored Rocking Chair

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Its Summer Spruce-Up Wildcard time! Tomorrow is the wildcard link party and today, I’m sharing my wildcard project. This Restored Rocking Chair. Rarely, do I ever spend a significant amount of money on an item for my home. I change my mind too much. We all know this. This rocking chair was the exception.

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Teapot Planter

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I was hoping all my fun planters would be ready for some beauty shots by now, but they are not except for this one. And its my favorite anyway. Its an old metal teapot planter. The best thing about it? I scoured it up from my Pap’s old toolshed. He used to keep random nuts,…

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Simple Screened-In Porch Makeover

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I have teamed up with three other bloggers to bring you the Summer Spruce-Up Series. The series is all about sprucing-up our outdoor areas to get them ready for summer! What all of that means is that I had to get off my butt and get to work. Enter my screened-in porch makeover. My screened-in porch…

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