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I love fall!! I love it so much that I put up my fall decorations in
August. Hey, don't judge me! Here is just a little sneak peek at my
house.

...and I want it painted black...

I see that red door and I want it painted black, no other colors I just want them painted black...Oh, sorry I was just lost in a song.

I do have a bit of an obsession with spray painting things black. No! I am not morbid or depressed, I just think some things really do look better with a little coat of black spray paint. I must have been suffering from my OCD a lot one day when I decided to spray paint everything that was black, black. Yes, that is what I did. I gave everything a new shinny fresh coat of black paint. I'll admit it started with spray painting the mail box black. But, then it grew. I removed all the door handles and spray painted them black.

Sliding glass door handle with a new coat of black spray paint.Light on the car port got a fresh coat of paint too. It didn't really help it look any better I still think it's ugly. I took down this black name holder thing and yes spray painted it black.

Then I went inside with my can of spray paint. I looked around and decided if I spray painted the return air vents black, then people probably wouldn't notice the black mold growing in our duct work. So, I took down several of the vents that would look better painted black, placed them outside in a well ventilated area, and spray painted till my hearts desire. I absolutely love them!

If you get brave and also want to spray paint items black please take note: Gasoline is amazing! Gasoline will remove black spray paint from not only brick, but also siding. You can have everything all cleaned up before hubby comes home from work and wonders what in the world you are doing!

Sliding Glass Door Re-do

For some reason, base housing thinks we need this unattractive reflection tape on our sliding glass doors. I was grateful to have a sliding door when we moved in because we didn't have one at our last house, but the reflecting tape was peeling and it looked horrible.

I guess they put the reflection tape on the doors so this doesn't happen. Ouch!I personally didn't think my family would have a problem with running into glass doors, so I removed the reflection tape with a paint scraper and this.....It now looks like this! I know it was not a huge transformation, but I got rid of the ugly silver band across my door.
I am happy to report that no one or animal has mistaken my closed glass door as open.

Front Door Re-do

If you are a lucky person like my friend Laura, you may get this door on your base house. Just think how you would feel everyday knowing that you have a six panel metal door! Oh the luck she had. I being her neighbor and right next door should have had a lovely all metal six panel door, but I did not. Since, I didn't have this little luxury, I had to have a Front Door re-do extravaganza! Hubby was actually home from this re-do! I painted my all metal boring door, bold brown...I think this is called Chocolate Sparkle! Sounds fancy doncha think! HA, No I didn't sand down the door before I painted it. And double Ha, you think I would take time to prime this! Nope, I just painted it!
I have always wanted a door knocker. They look so regal! Like a real grown-up would have on their fancy pants house. I figured, I needed one too. For only a few bucks, I got this gold beauty from Home Depot!
How did I install it? Well, it's not like I would drill holes into my metal door. I just "mistreated" it. The only thing holding this door knocker to the door is threw the peep hole. Your base door peep hole will unscrew and then you can attach this one.
See how it's not actually flush with the door! I tell ya no one can tell, well I guess till now. I have only seen one other gal on base do this same trick, I love her dearly and I don't even know her name! There are other was to mistreat your door as well, I have personally help paint two doors red. They look so good! Another gal, painted hers green, and then yellow. See the great thing is you don't have to keep one style very long, If you don't like it, or want a change just paint it again! It's so simple.

BTW, gals you know who you are...please send me a picture of your mistreated doors!

Your mailbox is ugly, so was mine

I am sorry Mr. mailman that you must pick up mail in these horrible looking mailboxes that are junking up the front of base housing everywhere! At first glance, when you are moving into your new home, the last thing on your mind is, "Wow, my mailbox looks horrible". But, give it time the thought will come. So, what to do? I looked at Wal-mart and Home Depot for replacement boxes but goodness they were expensive! I'm talking 20 bucks for a cheep ones like this, I couldn't do it. I couldn't buy one out of principle. What this mailbox really needed was a good cleaning! I washed it up, removed the Eagle and spay painted it a new shinny black, it was sparkling. It had such a crisp new look and I think the mailman liked it too. But, then I got tired of looking at a black box, I wanted something with more character. Character like only a basket can provide!

Doncha love it! This was at Christmas. I took off the mailbox and attached this basket. I also took off the newspaper holder from the old one and put them on the basket. The baskets do weather more than a old metal box, but I am willing to replace the basket when needed. So, far it's been a year and I have the same basket. By the way, this basket is from Ross. It was cheep and I was willing to sacrifice a few bucks for my mailman. I do think he is much more cheerful when dropping off my mail.

So, here is the calling. Change your mailbox! It doesn't have to be ugly. A friend told me about a girl who painted her mailbox red! Oh, doesn't that sound cute! So, let's help our local postal service and brighten their day with a little color and character added to our mailboxes!

Oh the places you can stain

This is your typical base house privacy fence. Counting blessings: you have a fence, it is made of real wood, it does provide 50% privacy, and best of all it is stainable. At first I tried lend (spell that?) seed oil , but really all that did was make the fence look really streaky and the finish did not last long in 100 degree weather. Before, I could try anything else we picked up and moved. But, at our 4th home I saw inspiration right across the street. Oh, it was the best looking fence I had ever seen. It had such a lovely redwood stain. Staining that fence really helped it look like a real live suburbia neighborhood fence.

This is my neighbors fence...hi neighbor! Also, this is the closest representation of the first inspiring fence I could find. I think she did a great job on this fence and she did this task as a labor of love all by hand. Warning to other stainer's, don't wash your hands with paint thinner.

My hubby was inspired as well, he allowed me to begin staining our fence too. After watching me struggle for 4 hours and only getting a few boards done. He decided a trip to Home Depot would help. He bought the best paint sprayer gun thing ever! He then took over the project and had the whole thing done in a few hours. He pick out this walnut because it match our lawn furniture. It has really been a great color, because I don't believe it is going to fade anytime soon. I will admit it is rather dark, but that's part of the statement.

So, do not be annoyed any longer by ugly fences, pick up your paint brushes or your paint sprayer gun things like hubs used on ours and get to work. So, it'll take a day or two or three depending on which method you use. But, look at the result! Isn't it much more warm and inviting with a little stain.

Adding Charm to the Carport

I have never actually had a car port before moving on base. Well, honestly I have never had a garage either. All i could find out about these mysterious things were a few guidelines, They mustn't be cluttered and you couldn't store stuff our there and it needed to always be clean. Pretty much the first year on base not a thing was in our carport I even swept it with the shop vac to keep it clean...maybe a little OCD doncha think? Anyway, after a year I couldn't resist the temptation to create an outdoor seating place. So, at first I only added the bench. But then Christmas rolled around and I made that cute swag. The best place was to put it above the bench. Very festive. Merry Christmas to all.

Then, finally this summer all broke loose. I added the lantern, replaced the wreath and added the star. I love it! As far as I can tell, I am not getting kicked off base anytime soon for bending these few little guidelines.
This is to show how I mistreated this poor star. Yep, that's just a piece of wire twisted to fit underneath the siding. It used to be on the front of the house hung in the same manner, but everyone has stars on the front of their houses, but no one else had a star in their carport! Please feel free to copy if so needed.

I hope this will help you feel free to decorate our carport too. Hopefully, you are lucky enough to have one!