Things I love...

Home improvement projects.

A couple weeks ago I was at a friends house, they have several projects going on at their house. We talked about what they were doing, their plans and their wants for future projects. All the talk got me to thinking about some of our unfinished projects at home. Mostly, the touch up painting and staining of our deck and wood furniture.

I had hired a contractor to finish, fix and paint some small things on the outside of our house. He had dripped paint on our deck and I asked him to please clean it up. He said he would pressure wash the deck and if we wanted sand and stain it. We said yes because it had been on our list of things to do for almost as long as we have known each other. 

He pressure washed the deck and then it rained a couple of days and then we went out of town and then two weeks had passed and then his ladders and things were gone. I am not sure what happened but oh well because he didn't leave us with more work than when he started. 

Rhys playing on the deck. This shows what the deck and the furniture looked like.

So, back to the day with my friend. All of our talk got me to thinking about our project and calling up the contractor and having him come finish. Then, by the time I got home that afternoon I had convinced myself that I could get the sander out to finishing prepping the deck and stain it myself. I already had the stain, so why not. 

Prep work almost complete.

When Eric got home two hours later I was almost finished with the prepping. We tested the stain and we loved it. I planned to finish the project over the next few days. 

We were so happy with the deck that it made staining all the furniture that much easier. It took a long time but finally after nine days of working on picking out the right kind of stain, picking up supplies and doing the actual work, everything is stained. 

The hardest part of the entire project was having the time to do it. Time is the reason why we had put it off for so long to begin with. Also, I know once I start a project if I don't finish it all the way, it might be years before I get back to it. 

Even though I knew it should have taken a few days to complete everything with out distractions, that is not my reality. I learned to work each part into sections so I could still give pushes on the swing or find a snack or break up an argument. 

When I finished the last piece of furniture I felt so accomplished. Now, every time I look out our back windows or return home and walk up to the door, I smile.