Getting Ready For Summer…Exterior Refresh

It’s finally here! Longer days, sunshine, warmth, and that newfound energy that always seems to come this time of year. After the months of snow turned rain finally broke, I found myself outside soaking up the sun and staring at our exterior, excited to get started on a summer refresh.

Last year, we did a total DIY, exterior overhaul, which you can read about here. The final result from where we started was so rewarding and I was happy with how everything turned out! Well…mostly everything. From the first day it was complete I knew I had picked the wrong color for our window boxes and pergola. I lived with it for about a year but was ready to repaint both this spring. I enlisted the help of my husband, mom and sister to vote on the new color. The choices were, a) the siding color or b) the front door color.

I swatched both on the window boxes and ultimately decided on white. When I had finished painting this time I knew for sure that I had made the right choice.

With the fresh paint acting as a new blank canvas, I knew exactly what I wanted for the window boxes. Lots of greenery, white, and pops of red. I love how the vibrant red contrasts against the other colors. The plants have already been growing and I look forward to how they continue to blossom this summer.

To finish our project, Nick and I headed to the store and picked up some hydrangeas, a lilac bush, and some mulch for a garden refresh. After some pizza and homemade lemonade, we spent our evening getting everything planted, a perfect Friday if you ask me!

Another detail I wanted to add this summer was a couple of Adirondack chairs in the front yard for a welcoming place to sit.

When we finished, I was so thrilled! It finally looks exactly how I had been picturing it in my head- a mix of beach, cottage, and a bit of Charleston SC (our honeymoon destination that I was so inspired by).

Our final project on the front of the house will be new steps that Nick will be building this summer. We will be doing wood stairs with a railing and adding an additional step to make the front door more accessible. I will post about that project when we do it, but for now we are still using our painted concrete steps.

Thank you for reading! Have you started getting ready for summer? Let me know what you’re planting or any fun projects you are working on this season.