I confess...I'm a copy-cat

If you're on Pinterest, or read design blogs, I'm sure you've heard of Rebekka Seale.  Among other illustrations, she does these amazingly cute house portraits that are personalized with your name, street address, quote, etc.  Here are a few of my favorites...

Although I have NO experience with watercolors, I do have a tote full of artist paints that Grady has been begging to use for a while now.  This weekend we decided to drag 'em out & I thought I'd give a Rebekka Seale style house portrait a go.  It's definitely not anywhere near her level, but for my first attempt I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

First I printed out a few of her houses that had similar characteristics as mine, along with a picture of the front of my house.  Oh, I also printed out our last name, address, & a short quote in a font I liked in case I wanted to add that to the bottom.  Then I went to Joann & bought a small pad of watercolor/acrylic paper (4x6) in their dollar section.  (Grady bought a small bird house, also from the dollar section, that he was going to paint.)

I watered down my paint & layered it on in the rough shape of our house.  I just eyeballed it & didn't sketch it out at all beforehand & I certainly didn't try to get it perfect.  My house is just a box with no crazy angles, so it was pretty simple!

After getting the base painted, I filled in the windows, door, steps, trim, etc.  I also added random lines on the roof & walls for the shingles & shake siding.

Next, I focused on the details...the mortar lines on the chimney, adding a little depth to the windows & doors, etc.  I just kept tweaking it until I was happy with the look.

I didn't have much room below the house for text, so I opted to keep in simple with "Home".

Then I painted an old garage sale frame yellow & called her complete!

Like I said before...it's certainly not perfect, or nearly as cute as Rebekka's portraits, but it does add a little cheer to the kitchen & makes me smile when I see it.  All for a couple of hours of time & less than a buck!

the {not so pretty} porch

There's a long and narrow (think 6x14') porch off the back of our house that started out as a hodge podge of things when we moved in, and hasn't been touched much since then.  There are two different tin roofs that have several holes and dents in them, there was one wire "trellis" that I ripped out last summer, and one lattice wall.  There also used to be a speckled gray and black outdoor carpet on it, but that went away last summer too.  Oh, and the front of it sags slightly.  It's a real beauty (see image below).

Disclaimer: This is also before the new roof that we put on in the fall of 2009...this is what the front of the house looked like at the time this picture was taken...yikes!  And on an even scarier note, it used to have pink exterior doors!

 This is what it looks like now, after removing the awnings, shingling, and getting a new front door...

 And this is a Photoshop rendering of what I'm hoping it will look like by the end of the summer: new gray paint color, yellow doors, and new window boxes.  Better, no?!

Anywhoo...back to the back of the house.

This is what I'm toying around with for a layout.  (This sketch is not to scale...just a quick doodle.)  We're planning on creating a screened porch that we can use for eating, entertaining, and relaxation free from mosquitos!)  There's an ugly A/C unit and all of our utilities meters to the south of the porch that I'm planning on hiding with a vertical planter made from an old pallet.  The plan is to build a small bar directly across from the patio doors that will be able to sit all three of us comfortably, and also be used as a buffet when we have guests over.

To the north will be a small sitting/reading/coffee (beer) sipping area with a cute striped rug and a couple of gleaming yellow Adirondacks that I'm hoping to con my dad into building me for my birthday!  I also hope to reuse the "window" boxes that are currently on the porch.

We'll have to tear off the mismatched roof and replace it with a brand new seamless metal roof, replace the siding with some vertical panels, put a new light in, and paint, paint, paint.  I'm thinking that I'll paint the floor a teal-ish color similar to what's on the house now as a little tribute to what will soon be covered in a warm gray.  Here's the mood board I created as inspiration...

1. Pallet Planter Plans from here.
2. Adirondack chairs (hopefully) built by my handy dad.
3. Floor color (inspired by my house and this lovely porch).
4. Bar inspired by a picture on this site. Although I can't find the direct link anymore.
5. Metal roof that I'll get at Menards - probably in "burnished slate".
6. White frame and trim with black door, inspired by this porch. Originally from BH&G.
7. Dash & Albert striped rug, sold here.
8. Totally awesome and inexpensive barn light ($25!) but not sold online, from Menards.
9. Primed siding panels from Menards - painted gray.

The goal is to get the entire project done in time for Grady's third birthday the first weekend in June...and stick within a budget of $500...wish us luck!

The {condensed} To-do List...

When we bought our house 3 years ago, it was solid, well-built, but insanely outdated. Everything from the roof to the floors needed an update. We didn't really even have a formal to-do list in the beginning because, let's face it, it just would have been too overwhelming & disheartening! We just started chipping away at whatever we deemed important or needed to be fixed at the time...& that philosophy still stands today, although now I've actually put all of the remaining items down on paper...& it doesn't seem all that long anymore! (After the original list only read - 1.Replace everything in house.) I'll slowly recap all of the projects, & include before and after pictures, but this post is really about what still needs to be done.  Below is a sketch of each level of the house, along with semi-condensed and vague lists of what needs to be done in each & every room.  (The items crossed out are ones that we've completed just in the last few weeks...woohoo for progress!!!) Click on the picture for a larger image.