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New Porch Posts

May 8th, 2012

Our front porch posts have needed replaced for quite a while. We never really liked the old ones because they didn’t really fit with the style of our home. They were kind of cottagy and our house is a traditional cape. I always knew what I wanted in their place, but we just never had the time to get them replaced; until this past weekend.



Pre-made porch posts can be quite pricey, hovering around $60-$100 each. We didn’t really like the look of plastic ones either and wanted real wood. Finally, we settled on using wooden 4 x 6 posts with trim detail, which Mr Chiots made some trim from 1 x 6 boards. Everything was primed, caulked and given many coats of crisp white paint. The results were quite nice, not bad since it cost us less than $100 to do all six posts.



They now look fantastic with our freshly painted shutters and foundation. Hopefully in the next couple weeks the rest of the trim and the doors will be painted and the entire project will be finished.

I must admit, the fresh facelift for the house makes the gardens look even better! When all the rest of the outdoor to-do’s are finished I’ll give you a tour of the house and gardens (since so many people have been asking for it).

What is one thing you’ve been wanting to change about your house but haven’t gotten around to it yet?

17 Comments to “New Porch Posts”
  1. Angie H on May 8, 2012 at 8:56 am

    Our house needs so many things done to fix it up. It was my grandparents’ home but my grandma now lives with my mom and we bought the house. I have a love-hate relationship with it! It is pretty from afar and it has pretty yard that gets prettier every year with the work we put in to it.

    I also need to replace our posts and the trellis we have on each side of the porch. They are pretty beaten up and the trellis is rotting. I want to replace the short trellis with spindles and maybe put up some decorative brackets. We also need to do some powerwashing and fill in some chinks around the block for our first floor and then paint it. Little things make so much difference!

    Reply to Angie H's comment

  2. Sherri on May 8, 2012 at 9:28 am

    Oh my goodness, that looks FANTASTIC! What a HUGE difference that makes – you must be so pleased. VERY good job ~ looking forward to a shot of the whole house and garden from the street :)

    Reply to Sherri's comment

  3. Jess - Knot By Gran'ma on May 8, 2012 at 9:37 am

    I love how they turned out. I’ve been wanting to replace our shudders and repaint the splotch of maroon wood siding(?) with a nice navy blue. I’m having trouble deciding on the shudder style, and there just seems to be too much going on for all the hours in the day! Great job though!!!

    Reply to Jess – Knot By Gran’ma's comment

  4. Allison on May 8, 2012 at 9:39 am

    Wow they look fantastic! I have so many things that need done around our farm and just literally not enough time in a season to do any of it!

    Reply to Allison's comment

  5. Texan on May 8, 2012 at 9:49 am

    Last year was our year of change in the house. New floors a rustic 22×22 stone tile and installed two wood stoves.

    Reply to Texan's comment

  6. Turling on May 8, 2012 at 9:51 am

    We’ve been wanting to change the, err, location. My wife is dying to live in a house in the country at the end of a gravel road. So, I guess we’d need to move the house there.

    Reply to Turling's comment

  7. Miranda on May 8, 2012 at 11:29 am

    These look great! We had some very dodgey looking posts back in Austin i would have liked to fix up. Leave that to the buyer, though!
    I have a feeling we’ll have some barn door fixing up to do.

    Reply to Miranda's comment

  8. Maybelline on May 8, 2012 at 11:36 am

    Your question is a timely one. Today, a work crew is starting some demolition of some cracked steps. They will replace them and extend our patio. Along the way they will be creating 2 flower beds for me to fill. One will be in the shade (for the most part) and the other will be in the blazing sun.

    Your house looks beautiful. It would be hard for me to leave my home that I’ve put so much work into.

    Reply to Maybelline's comment

  9. Chris on May 8, 2012 at 4:19 pm

    Hi….very nice porch posts…not so cutesy as the old ones….was just browsing your site, as I’m new to it and trying to catch up a little! Is this your new home in Maine?? It’s funny I happened upon a post that you had written about the Nearing’s homestead…I also have that book…written by Joseph Stanley and I also had gotten an e-mail from Lynn Stanley quite some time ago regarding her photography business. You probably already know that they divorced while living there…so I guess not as idyllic a life as it started out and then he passed away and she no longer lives there! I wonder who lives there now…do you know?
    It is a beautiful place but a bit of a sad history! :(
    Love your peas in a pot!!

    Reply to Chris's comment

    • Vonnie on May 8, 2012 at 4:45 pm

      I was about to ask the same question as Chris – have you already moved to your new home in Maine, or are you just beautifying your current home ready for selling? Either way, it looks fantastic – well done.
      I have a totally new build that I’m on the home stretch now. I’ve made everything “straight”, much to the disappointment of the local craftsmen who are used to Caribbean “gingerbread” style houses, and think me odd.
      Would love to see the whole view when you’re able to share. : )

      Reply to Vonnie's comment

      • Susy on May 8, 2012 at 7:44 pm

        We’re still here in NE Ohio – just finishing up the things that need to get before selling.

        to Susy's comment

  10. Joan on May 8, 2012 at 6:00 pm

    Wow Susy, you two are so talented! They look absolutely wonderful! Will you come do the same for my front porch? (just kidding!)

    Reply to Joan's comment

    • Susy on May 9, 2012 at 8:34 am

      Sure – let us know when…

      Reply to Susy's comment

  11. daisy on May 8, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    What a nice change. Y’all really saved a lot by doing it yourselves.

    We would like to change out the carpet to wood floors, but don’t want to spend that much money just to turn around and sell the house. A good cleaning will have to suffice.

    Reply to daisy's comment

  12. Nebraska Dave on May 8, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    Well, I can’t think of one thing that needs fixed around my house. Yeah, but I can think of an entire list of things that need to be finished or fixed. Projects are afoot and completion remains to be accomplished. Spring is such a busy time.

    Your DIY projects looks great. I bet it really does make every thing look much better. I’m patiently waiting for the tour. :0)

    Have a grea day in the garden.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  13. itchbay on May 8, 2012 at 11:47 pm

    In a word? Everything. We bought our house knowing it would take us a couple of years to rebuild our savings before we could actually start doing many of the improvements we’d like to do. So, aside from slowly working on the garden and doing bits of painting and whatnot, we’re just waiting. The first project will be a big one: a new kitchen.

    But, my little project I hope to tackle on my own this summer: replacing the white picket fence in the front yard before it falls down. I’d like to replace it rather than simply remove it, because it keeps the neighborhood dogs and kids out of my yard, and since the front yard is where I’m doing most of my vegetable-gardening this year, it’ll help protect the tender plants.

    Reply to itchbay's comment

    • Susy on May 9, 2012 at 8:36 am

      It’s always a challenge to find the cash for home improvement! We have been saving for years to do some of the projects we’re finally checking off our list.

      I love fences, useful and beautiful!

      Reply to Susy's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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