So, I own this house that I don’t live in. It’s a long story. Maybe I’ll tell it sometime. For now, all you need to know is that the front of the house looks busted.

Ok, so it is winter which makes everything look extra depressing, but this old girl needs some serious help. I really want to put in some work this spring and summer and bring her back to life a little bit.

I’m trying to keep things realistic since 1. I’m not handy, and 2. I’m poor, but here a few things I think I can get done that won’t completely wreck Wyatt’s college fund or my sanity:

Paint the front door. I’m leaning toward a really dark gray so it’ll pop but not be too in-your-face. The goal is to sell the house eventually so that seems like a better option. Although don’t get me started on how many teal doors I’ve looked at on Pinterest.

Replace or paint the window boxes. I think I might get a couple more and space them out differently too. This is how they were when I bought the house and I’ve never been thrilled with how it looks. But the tan definitely has to go. The previous owner clearly didn’t have an issue with that color scheme. Seriously, look at how sad they are.

Replace the door mat. I’ve got my eye on a teal one from Target. Mama likes teal.

Strip and paint all the trim work white. This is going to the most challenging and labor intensive part. I honestly have no idea what I’m doing so that should be fun. Also, if someone could remind me next month that I don’t want to wait until it’s blazing hot to do it, that would be great. And if you’re so inclined, pray that the wood isn’t a rotted mess under all that paint. I’m scared.

Replace or paint the door hardware. I need all shiny brass out of my life ASAP.

I know you can’t see them because it’s an overgrown mess, but there are two flowerbeds in there under the windows. I need to clean those out and plant something pretty but low-maintenance there. And seriously, I’m pretty sure there’s an old doormat in there too. Why.

And finally, I need to clean up the massive amount of leaves and weeds. I’m tempted to just light the entire yard on fire, but I think that might be counterproductive.

I haven’t given too much thought to colors and style (well, except for that doormat) but here are a few inspiration pics I’m working off of:

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Hanging pictures up has always intimidated me. Especially the ones that required me to coordinate hammering in two holes into the wall at exactly the right distance apart so my picture would hang level. Like, you want me to get out a ruler or something? I don’t even know if I own a ruler. So I’v always delegated the picture hanging task to someone else. And when I wanted to hang a few things up in my new office space, I totally tried to pawn it off onto my mom. She was off busy having her own life though and I wanted these things hung up right now so I figured I better just put my big girl panties on and get to work.

I vaguely remembered hearing someone talk about hanging pictures by marking where the holes go on some masking tape, then using that as your guide. Seemed easy enough, even for me. Although, considering I recently tried to make a call from a calculator, I still had some doubts about my mental capacity. But you guys, it worked. I hung up a picture and two ribbon boards all by my lonesome. And they’re level. And I didn’t destroy the wall!

Here’s how to do it:

1. Decide where you want to hang your picture, then using a level and a pencil, mark a line on the wall where the picture will hang

2. Tear off a piece of masking tape the width of your picture and place it across where it will hang on the nails

3. With a pen or pencil mark the points on the masking tape where the nails will go

4. Remove the masking tape from the back of the picture and place it along the level line you penciled onto the wall in step one, then hammer your nails into the wall using the markings on the masking tape as your guide

5. Remove the masking tape, wipe off the pencil markings from the wall with a damp towel, and hang your picture!

I mean, I can’t exactly take credit for the method, but I’m still feeling pretty accomplished. Almost like I may have redeemed myself after that calculator incident. But still feel free to comment with anything ridiculous you’ve done lately so I can feel like I’m not alone.

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