This Old Porch...

Today was another "Git it Done" Saturday at our house. I had an idea to continue sprucing up the house and maybe make some progress on my long-term project to expand and finish my patio space.

Since we started the day with a rain shower I moved into the back porch to get some work done there. I replaced a fan and got some painting done. Most importantly, I had help from a princess! Eve did a great job as my assistant all day long.

We had an old, but servicable ceiling fan in the porch, but recently the blades had begun to come apart and fail. I wanted to simply swap the blades and be done with it, but the other fan I had stashed away had different blades, mounts and hardware so that was no good.

Instead, Eve and I went to the store and got some paint. I disassembled the extra fan, which was white, and painted it completely.

Eve helped me pick the colors. The fan blades are a soft chocolate brown and the metal housing and brackets are a special "Hammered Bronze". The colors are designed to blend in with the redwood stain in the rest of the porch. If you haven't tried the new hammered finishes available in spray paints I recommend you give them a look-see, they are really cool.

Here is a quick look at the finish on another fixture I did:

Next we assembled the "new" fan and attached the blades. Then we hung the fan and completed the wiring. Eve was right there the whole time, helping me with each step.

When that was done I got out the paint and a brush and we painted the back door and trim. There is not much painting needed on our brick house so that took very little time or effort. Eve made up a new song for every task we undertook and she was delightful to be with. In the end, we got the porch looking very spiffy, and the fan does a great job of cooling off the comfy little space.

My little helper has learned to paint with "long, smooth strokes", and to "dab" into the corners to fill the gaps. She also knows to dip the brush tip only half way in and tap the sides of the can to make sure the brush is loaded correctly.

Most importantly, she has learned to be a "Domestic Princess" and then return to her home in the forest until needed again.

Thank you Princess Eve; The domestic diva of our home...