Prettying Up the Porch

I love my front porch!  Many times the whole family will hang out here.

[By the way, can you tell hubby's hair is growing out?  You do remember his summer new "do", right?]

It is a nice, cozy alcove...somewhat private as 1.) we live on a cul-de-sac and 2.) the porch does not face the road.  My creeping Jasmine has decided to really creep this year and I have a lovely new "Welcome" mat that Rob picked out for me all by himself on Mother's Day.

However, the title of this post is "Prettying Up the Porch", so let's take a closer look:

Can you spot the improvement needs?  Yeah, me too.  Let's start with this eyesore above!  I love this bench.  The darn thing is quite sturdy -- it weighs about 200 lbs.  I would have sold it at 3 different yard sales if I could have single-handedly moved it to the yard but, no...talk about endurance.  I have mentioned once or twice that I like to hold on to things, so the bench is staying...sort of.

First thing I did was sand it, and sand it, and sand it.  In the picture below, look at the before (left) and after (right).

Now just 'cause you're wonderin', yes -- I was absolutely smart enough and prepared enough to do this project in the middle of the day...in the summer...in the South!  Excuse me while I try to rehydrate...

That's quite the glamor self-shot, huh?  This is going to be a labor of love...

Well, at least I have some great, Grade-A help from my little man...(PS check out his "worker-man" boots.)

Okay.  A little varnish will go a long way.  So a lot of varnish should change this baby for good!!!

By the way, it was so hot outside, dead bugs melted into my cute candle on the porch. 

 

But I have a bench to restore and the Bible verse tells me somehow I will survive this...

...and with no further ado (hey, what a pun-coincidence!)...I proudly present my newly restored bench!

Before-and-after shots will come once I'm through prettying up the porch.  Stay tuned for more...