{outdoors: part three}

It's glider time people! We received a beautiful wood glider as a wedding gift from some wonderful people last year, and I left it unfinished until I figured out what I wanted the rest of the front of the house to look like. After I figured it out, I was delighted to see that YELLOW was not only an option, but really the best choice I could make. Yay! This post will go through prepping and painting the glider, and sewing the cushion.

Here's the gorgeous glider I started with. It's ok if you're jealous, I mean it's curved for lumbar support for the love...

Sorry, I just couldn't get this picture to stand up. I got a quart of Curry colored outdoor paint from Walmart. I cleaned the wood with a damp rag to get spiderwebs and what not off of it, if it had already been painted, I would've sanded it first, but in this case I didn't have to.

This is one coat, I did two total. I used a brush, it's a lot of work getting in between all those slats and in all the nooks and crannies of the undercarriage, etc. so be sure to set aside enough time. I put it on the tarp because I didn't want to deal with grass at the bottoms of the legs, and it worked just fine. And I sat on a sheet so I wouldn't get chiggers!

Here's the hard fun part. The cushion! I started with a cut of 3" foam from Joann. No idea if there is such a thing called 'outdoor foam,' I didn't think about it or look for it..if it ends up getting moldy in a few years or whatever I'll just replace it. Anyway, you can have someone cut it to the size you want, my experience with that wasn't great, only because there was an older lady working that day who thought she was awesome at cutting foam and she sucked, bad, I was thisclose to asking her if I could just do it. Anyway, that must've been why I didn't ask them to cut the width for me, only the length. I made marks at both ends to cut the width, you can use a serrated knife or good scissors, OR the best way is an electric knife if you have one. Hopefully for you there will be a competent Joann employee working that day and you won't have to worry about it! Also- foam isn't cheap, FYI.

This is the real fun part, the FABRIIIIIC! This is a lovely Chevron pattern in dark teal and white, it's outdoor fabric that dries quickly and won't fade until it gets something like 5000 hours of direct sunlight or something, and it goes beautifully with my new shutters.

Based on my math and measurements, I cut my pieces, top, bottom, sides, and ties.

First step was to pin all the sides of the cushion together.

Double-checking after they're sewn. Time for the top. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of this step, but it's just attaching 1 panel of fabric for the top, and two for the bottom, you'll see how they're put together in a bit.

Before attaching the bottom, I made these ties so I could tie the cushion to the glider once it was on so it would stay. Just cut strips of fabric, 2" wide would be sufficient, fold just like this and sew.

Here are all 4 ties. They don't have to be beautiful, they're in the back and they tie together, so they're not on display.

Position 2 ties between the bottom panel and side panel in each corner. This will be the back of your cushion. Sew over them as you sew the panel itself on, and they'll be attached!

Here they are sewn in, and I've cut off the extra ends that would be on the inside of the cushion.

This is what they look like on the outside.

Top, sides, and ties are done. All I need now is the bottom pieces! This is a pocket cover, no zippers or buttons, just an overlapping piece in the back.

Here's what the back will look like. Sew along all edges, and leave the two pieces to overlap like an envelope. After it's done, squeeeeeeeeeeeeze the foam into it, it'll be difficult, but it'll go!

And VOILA! Cushion. I tied it on and made some matching pillows, which also tie to the glider.

Here's the 'big picture' with the shutters framing it. So fun! I'm so happy with it. There's the transformation that took place on my house this summer! Now I can LOVE it and smile when I drive up the driveway instead of shaking my head in exhausted derision. :D Hard work pays off. Especially before it gets too hot outside for the summer!

{outdoors: part two- painting front door}

You've seen the shutters go, now time for the matching front door! The door was the same color as the old shutters, that maroon color I just couldn't live with anymore. Using Sherwin-Williams' Color Visualizer on their website, I uploaded a picture of the house and played around with the shutters and front door to find the colors I wanted. Since our house is basically cut in half in the front view with the garage, the color was going to be very concentrated on one side and then the garage is all white on the other. I wanted to balance it out a little more, so I decided on the color Greek Villa for the front door instead of matching it to the shutters. Supa fresh. Here's the process, my first time painting a door. FYI, my door is wood, not steel. Using a sprayer would probably be a better idea for steel.

Supplies:

Exterior primer and paint (Quarts will do)
paint brush
4" foam roller (best type of roller ever!)
power sander
wet rag/sheets for clean up

Original door, sheets down for sanding, doorknob not removed yet.

power sander! i used a very rough grit, don't remember what number, it was low. you should also use a fine grit to smooth it out before painting.

Just look at this nonsense!! Supposedly this was painted by a professional? Ugh. I also used this opportunity to clean this mess up by painting the side.

Door is sanded. It's not necessary to take off all the existing paint, only to take off the gloss of the existing paint and smooth the surface. You can use individual sandpaper pieces to get in the crevices, like the picture below.

crevices!

Be sure to wipe all the debris off of the door with a wet rag between sanding and painting!

This is where the fun begins! I took a 2" wide, thin artist brush and put on 2 thin coats of primer in all the crevices of the door. You can't let the paint pool anywhere, or it will dry that way and you'll have bumps, that's why the thin layers are important. Do this anywhere the roller won't fit with the primer and paint.

close-up of crevices

This is the primer I used. I used primer because my door was so dark, and I wanted the paint to come out as quality as possible!

THIS is the important part!! I'd never used or heard of these foam rollers before, but they are AWESOME. I'll be using them for many other things, I'm sure. Sorry this one is blue, I used it for something else, incidentally- this is the roller I would've used for the shutters if I'd known before! You'll find the handle in the same section of the store.

STEPS:

 1) Use brush to prime crevices.

2)Use roller to prime door. Repeat 1 & 2 for another coat.

3) Use brush to paint crevices.

4) Use roller to paint door- thin, smooth layers, going in different directions as if you were painting a wall. Repeat 3 & 4 for another coat.

 *BE SURE TO dry each coat before painting another**

Here's the painted door, behind my hideous storm door lol. I thought it looked too plain! A friend suggested I paint the door yellow, and I loved that idea, but I just thought it would be too much. I decided to just accent it with yellow.

I took an artist brush and painted the ridges and accented the architectural elements of the door. This took way too long. It was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. But I am very happy with the result!

Close-up!

Checking it out from the front. Gah! That door.

Not only did I re-paint the door, I ordered a new handle set that is GORGEOUS compared to my old one. LOVE.

TA-DAAA! Finished front door with the old one gone. New storm door coming, but definitely enjoyed this look while it lasted! Couldn't be happier with it, it's so different!

Would you ever take on changing the look of your house, now that you know how EASY AND FUN it is? Ha!