A One Hour Project-- The Porch!

I've started a lot of projects that aren't yet complete. For me this really isn't a problem. It's nice to be able to choose what I'll work on. On the other hand, it's not always great to look at 5 different unfinished projects. (I do finish the vast majority of them.) My husband, bless him, suggested that I write out a project list for my "home binder." On one page will be all of the projects that need finishing...in other words, anything that has been started and left at some level. Some things only need another coat of Kiltz clear coat. Others need much more intensive work. I'm going to compile part of my list tonight, I think.

Then, he continued, I should write out all of the things I want to do and put it at the front of my "Projects" section of my binder. He is a Good Man. Wow...That he even cares about my project dilemma. He likes what I do, but he could live in a cardboard box and be happy. The decorations are totally my territory. In fact, he doesn't really even care if the house is clean. I'm the one who insists on that. So when he gets into a detailed plan about how I can deal with my artistic outlets, I know it's purely out of love for me and really has nothing to do with the house. :-) That makes me feel all warm and mushy inside. Which certainly has benefits for him, too...

Where was I? Ah, yes, I do plan to finish up all of my started projects. However, today I just wanted to do a quick and fun project with the kids, start to finish in one hour. We had to get all of our schoolwork done first!
So, I decided to work on the front porch. Months ago I was inspired by Sara to do this project myself.

First we swept and wiped down the porch. 5 minutes, with everyone helping. What a mess it was, with muddy shoes and notebooks abandoned.

Then we measured and taped it. Good for their math skills (not to mention teamwork!) Maybe 15 minutes.

Next we painted! I used garage floor paint mixed with black exterior paint. The kids used brushes while I used the roller. That took about half an hour, and we all had a blast. Most kids can be a huge help far younger than grown-ups give them credit for. When it dried, I just sprayed over it with exterior kiltz clear coat.

You can see what I need to do this summer: repaint my porch! It was painted white right before we moved in, in 2002. I'd say it needs an overhaul asap.

I won't take the tape off until tomorrow, but I'll try to remember to post an update then.

By the way, those wet-looking spots are just the clear coat. :-) It will be all dried and better-looking later! Hmmm...but now that I'm looking at it again, I may do white in the other squares rather than leaving it concrete-looking. It would be easy with the tape still on. Now I must raid my paint collection to see if I have exterior white paint...hmmm.....