You Might Be A Redneck...

...if the top of your lamppost is covered in tinfoil. Last fall, a windstorm blew our patio umbrella over on top of our lamppost. The ceramic top was destroyed. Brian recently put tinfoil on top of it to keep the rain out...Classy. We finally bought another one to replace it and Brian put it up today. Much better.


We also decided that since Brian starts a long year of nursing school on Monday, we better get our front door refinished this weekend otherwise, it just might not happen. The door was pretty shabby looking. The construction caused quite a bit of weather damage not to mention it wasn't in the best shape to begin with. The first thing we did was take the door off the hinges and sand it. Not a fun job with all those raised panels, but once we started, there was no turning back. The hardware came off and it was on!


After around 2 hours of sanding, Brian put the stain on. You'll notice that the panel that was a little darker in the middle is now almost white. This is because after 6 years of thinking that panel was just a wood panel they had replaced we found that it was actually a glass window that they had painted over. Brian scraped no less than a dozen layers of paint off the front of it. We were thrilled to find this treasure. We've got big plans for this little window. Look for it in a future post.

After a second coat and drying in the sun for a few hours it went back up. We'll have to put some polyurethane on it for extra protection tomorrow. I have to say the dark stain is definitely different from what I am used to seeing, but I really love it.


Putting the old hardware back on this door after its face lift would have been sacrilege. It was a cool old door handle, but it had no lever and we have no key for it. We have never come in the house through the front door in the 6 years we have lived here. Since the garage and driveway is in the back, its not entirely necessary, but it will be nice to open the door from the outside instead of having to walk around when the wind blows the door shut behind you. Since the old hardware was a mortise set, I spent some time on the Internet and was finally able to find a new handle with that old charm. You'll notice that the inside doorknob matches those that were put in the upstairs. I can't believe we have a front door that actually works right! Thanks Brian for all your hard work today. You're a good sport for executing all my harebrained ideas.