Begin At The Beginning

Overwhelmed.

I looked at the house on Moving Day and wondered "Lord, where do I begin?"

And that's when God whispered "Begin at the beginning."

For starters, we immediately removed the Chinese good fortune token over the front door, the New Age crystals over the windows, and the Wiccan (okay, maybe it was just ugly) star wind chimes that cluttered the front porch. Coexist, take that! LOL!

After the exorcism was performed (ha! ha! ), I got a bucket of warm Lysol water, a scrub brush, and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and I got to work cleaning the front of the house. Every spindle. Every post. Every hand rail. Every door and door frame and window. Dirt and grime and bird poop were washed away!

At this point, the moving company representative, who was overseeing the unpacking, said to me "Mary Rose, when you're done there, would you mind detailing my car?" LOL!

A clean slate!

And then the fun began.

I love front porches, and this house has a nice wrap around front porch that was begging for some rockers. We bought four white rockers last weekend from Lowes (some assembly required. Sorry, Honey! Happy Father's Day!).

Two for the front.

And two for the side.

And then I stumbled upon these Smith and Hawken seat cushions at Target on clearance this week! Thank you, God! A blessing just when I needed one!

The hooks were in place, so I made a quick trip to Home Depot for some hanging baskets.

Pink shade loving impatiens, because the porch faces slightly northeast.

Some sweet petunias for the urns by the front door. Flowers make everything pretty, don't they?

We painted over the dingy tomato red doors with a nice soothing blue.

Unfortunately, this blue just isn't soothing me.

Better than dingy tomato, but still not there. That's okay. It's only paint, and paint is a cheap fix!

As soon as the weather forecast improves, I will repaint the doors in this lovely new color from Benjamin Moore. Mill Springs Blue. Perfect for a town that loves its windmills.

Sam took one look at the front porch and said "Hey, isn't this the color scheme you picked out for inside the house, too?"

Such a smart boy, my Sam. Soothing colors for the ketchup and mustard house.

But where to begin on the inside?

I think I'll begin at the beginning once again.

Blessings, cafe friends!