I think it’s safe to say spring is here to stay. We’ve had our fair share of rainy days, but the beautiful, sunny afternoons make up for it. We finally pulled our outdoor furniture out of storage this weekend and have been trying to spend as much time hanging out on our deck and front porch as possible.

We decided to knock an easy DIY project off our to-do list earlier this week while the sun was out. Our porch swing is in great shape, but it was unfinished. We’d been wanting to paint it since we moved into the house last summer. It was an easy and fun project to knock out in an afternoon. And I was happy that it only cost about $40 to do — so much cheaper than buying a new swing!

A couple of notes about how we tackled this project. Because our swing was unfinished, this was a very quick process. If you’re repainting a swing, it will take a bit more sanding and possibly more coats of paint. We used some leftover white, exterior paint that’s an all-in-one paint and primer, which also eliminated some steps. If you’re painting your porch swing a color other than white, I would recommend doing a coat of traditional primer, then putting on several coats of exterior paint in the color you desire.

We were able to find replacements for all of the hardware on our swing, except these hooks that help hold the arms in place. We took all of the hardware to a local store to make sure we got the correct size replacements, but the clerks there had never seen these before. We removed as much rust as possible with steel wool and then spray painted these with a rust-resistant metal spray paint. You’d never guess they are so old now! The rest of the hardware was replaced using a standard porch swing hanging kit that you can find at most hardware stores.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how we upgraded our swing.

[ingredients title=”Supplies”]

• Sawhorses
• Porch swing hanging kit (includes chain and hardware)
• Sandpaper
• Rags
• Exterior all-in-one paint and primer
• Medium angled paintbrush

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Remove the original chains and any rusted hardware from the porch swing. Place the swing on two sawhorses and sand all sides.You want to scuff it up just a bit to give the paint something to cling to.  Once the swing is sanded, wipe away dust using a rag.
2. Using a angled paint brush and broad strokes, apply a thin coat of paint to all surfaces of the swing, except underneath the seat. Allow paint to dry according to the directions on the can before applying a second, slightly thicker coat.
3. Once second coat dries, you can apply a third coat to the top of the swing, if needed. Once you’re satisfied with the look of the paint, allow it to dry completely before flipping the swing over and repeating the process with the bottom of the swing. Allow paint to dry completely.
4. Once paint is dry, install the new hardware from the porch swing hanging kit and hang swing up at desired height.

[/directions]

I’m so happy with how this project turned out! Our porch swing certainly pops a bit more with its new paint job and fits right in with the white trim we have on the front of the house. I have a feeling we’ll be getting a lot of use out of it over the next few months!

The post How To Upgrade Your Porch Swing appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

I’m super sore today after spending most of yesterday tackling some house projects. My amazing in-laws came to town to help us continue upgrading our garage, which was in dire need of help when we bought the house. James and his parents knocked out much of the work while I was in Europe. They added new wood to reinforce the structure (it was wobbly when they got on top to do some work) and re-shingled the roof. The last things left are repainting the garage to match our bright, yellow home and installing a garage door.

I helped a bit with scraping the peeling paint off the sides of the garage, but James and his dad did most of the heavy lifting on this project. They got the garage door track in and the door up, working late into last night. James primed much of the garage while I was at work today and it already looks so much better. Just having a door on the garage is such an improvement — now we can actually use it!

I quickly realized my skills weren’t much help with the garage, so I tackled some of the leaves in our backyard. Raking is hard work! But there’s something about owning your own home that makes simple chores seem kind of fun. You feel so much more ownership when you put some sweat equity into your home.

Our backyard is huge, so I only got about one-third of it done over a few hours yesterday. My mother-in-law helped me bag up some of the leaves and we filled ten bags! And there were still some piles of leaves left over. Maybe next time I’ll just mulch them all? I need your strategies so I don’t become a slave to my backyard! How do you tackle fall yard work?

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While we still have plenty on our to-do list, I wanted to give you a peek inside our home. We are so dang happy here. The home is cozy, but big enough for entertaining. And we can walk almost anywhere, which is the best part about living in this neighborhood.

We fell in love with our house from the moment we saw it. We were just starting our search and happened to drive by when my parents were visiting. The bright yellow bungalow caught all of our eyes, so we turned around to take a closer look and wrote down the address to give to our realtor. I’ve always wanted a yellow house with a front porch, so it was meant to be. From what we learned from neighbors and the seller, the house had fallen into disrepair for several years and was an eyesore on the block. A contractor and investor bought the property and did an amazing job breathing new life into the home.

Of all the things on James’ list of “wants” when we were searching for homes, a front porch was at the very top. The house we were renting had a great porch where we often gathered for hours with friends. This porch is even better! The swing is long enough for you to stretch out and prop your feet up and the wicker chair my mother recovered is so comfortable I’ve almost fallen asleep on it. The porch is my favorite place to stretch out and read while enjoying some morning coffee.

Living Room

The floor plan of the house is very open, which makes it a great place to throw parties. You enter into the living room, which opens into the dining room and then the kitchen. The hardwood floors continue throughout every room except the bathroom, which makes the home feel so much bigger. I love how much light comes through the big windows everyday. It always makes the house feel so warm and inviting.

One of the things on our to-do list is replacing the light fixtures in the living room and dining room, which we understand have been in the house quite some time. I’d like to add a ceiling fan in the living room and a rustic chandelier in the dining room.

Dining Room

The dining room is one of the features that sold us on this house. It’s nice and spacious, with a large window seat on the east side. We’re going to need more chairs for our table, because this is the room where everyone tends to congregate when we have gatherings. Aside from our dining room table, we also have a makeshift bar setup on an antique buffet table sitting along the west wall.

My mom is a saint and spent lots of time sewing pillows for our new place. She also made the beautiful blue cushions we have on our window seat, making it a much more comfortable place to sit. The cats love sunbathing here.

Kitchen

No surprise, the kitchen is my favorite room in the house. When we moved in, there were only cabinets on the left side of the kitchen so a table could be setup. Because I spend so much time cooking and baking, we knew we needed more counter space and storage. We asked the seller for information on the materials he used and were able to easily order additional cabinets.

The countertop won’t be here for a couple more weeks, so James had a friend cut a piece of particle board to fit on top so we can still use the space. It’s already so much more functional with the second bank of cabinets. I spend most of my time in this room!

Study

When I’m in the kitchen, James is often in the study editing photos. It’s the perfect space for him to plug away at work when he needs to and the cats love sitting back there with him and looking out the sliding glass door. His office doubled as the guest bedroom at our previous rental, so it’s nice for him to have a room he can work in without imposing on our guests.

Bathroom

We initially started our home search with the goal of finding a place with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, but we ended up with two bedrooms and one bathroom. And, honestly, I’m so glad we ended up getting a slightly smaller place. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the one bathroom we have is spacious and beautifully done with earth tone tile. We do have guests frequently, but having just one bathroom hasn’t been a problem.

Guest Room

The guest room may be the best room in the house, to be honest. It gets the most amazing sunlight and is so spacious. We’re on the hunt for some new bedding, but otherwise don’t plan on changing much in this room.

Master Bedroom

I think our bedroom is pretty amazing, too. It’s our little zen zone we love escaping to every night. It’s super cozy — just the way we like it. We are hunting for some additional artwork to hang, but don’t have too many improvements planned for this space, either.

One of my favorite features is the white dresser that also doubles as a TV stand. James and I decided to refinish it the same week we moved. It was stressful, but so worth it! When his parents gave us this piece of furniture it was brown with outdated brass hardware and the mirror was attached horizontally to the back. We stripped it, painted it white, attached glass knobs and decided to take the mirror off and hang it vertically on the wall. I’m so happy with how it turned out!

Basement

We have a large, unfinished basement to use for storage, DIY projects and laundry. We just bought some shelves to help us keep the space organized and will eventually probably put some epoxy down on the floor. I would love to get some TRX straps down there for days when I can’t make it to the gym! It’s great to have plenty of room to store out-of-season clothes and other odds and ends.

Backyard

Once you come up from the basement and go outside, you’ll find yourself on our back deck. Now that we’ve had a few days of slightly cooler weather we are absolutely loving this space. The deck was built with pretreated wood and not ready for staining until recently, so James and I actually knocked that project out today (after this picture was taken). I’m excited to see what it looks like when it’s dry tomorrow! I’ll let you know how it turns out.

The biggest projects we have to knock out are in the yard. James is a total beast when it comes to yard work, so we’ve already made some progress. We have a huge lot, which is great, but there were a lot of weeds when we moved in. We have plans to put some grass seed down this fall and dig up some of the scary-looking bushes that are plopped randomly throughout the yard. We also need to re-roof and paint the small garage (the white building on the left in that photo), which needs some major love.

It gets a little overwhelming when we think about all of the things we’d like to eventually do to this house, but that’s also part of the fun! We are having a blast making this place our own and we can’t wait to see what it looks like years from now.

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