School House Curb Appeal

School is almost back in session so I thought I better get the school house ready to go.  I’ve been doing little things here and there the past couple months on the outside to cheer it up a bit.  The outside is obviously not the most important part of the school house, but it’s the part I see from my kitchen window so it’s the part that has gotten all the attention so far.

Here is what it looked like before any of the work started.  Just your typical shed out back with an ugly patch of ground not fit for planting.

If you haven’t seen my posts about the junky junk shed to school house makeover and want to see that process hop on over.  The demo has ants and mice, but the rebuild is pest free.

I started the curb appeal project by pulling up the black plastic the owners from many years ago were so fond of using everywhere.  It was under a thin layer of weeds, roots and dirt and was coming up in patches.  It was a lot harder to get out than I thought.  Roots went through the plastic and it would tear off in little sections.  Totally hurt my back.  Luckily, I have a friend with a teenage son looking to make some cash.  He spent a total of seven hours out there and got most of it out. Ben and I got the rest of the weeds and plastic removed, laid down left over packing paper as a weed block and covered it with mulch.

This is my husband with his this-is-not-my-project-but-I-want-the-mulch-out-of-my-trailer face.

We had a couple half barrel planters rotting away in the garden so one got re purposed to the patio and one to this area.  I planted petunias, larkspur and sweet peas in it.  I had given Little Bit a packet of wild flower seeds to plant elsewhere, but she misunderstood and planted them in the barrel also.  It’s okay though, they helped fill it out nicely.  Nasturtiums were planted in the stump at my husbands request.

I built a flower box to match the ones I made for the front of our house. I attached it and filled it with stuff I can’t remember the names of.  The vines are periwinkle.  I had to put them in because our school is called Perrywinkles.  So clever, I know.

The door was so plain and needed some attention.  I had come across a picture of a traditional Swedish kurbit, it had vines and flowers and birds and was very cute.  I have a sliver of Swede in me so I decided it was okay paint it on the door.  But then I thought “Wait a minute, I’m mostly Polish.  I should do something traditionally Polish on the door!”

This is me in the 2nd grade very excited for school pictures.  I still make that face when a good idea pops in my head.

I didn’t know how to paint a pierogi so I looked up some other Polish stuff.  I found an embroidery pattern that said it was Polish and since it said so on the internet it must be true.

To see my method for making and transferring patterns check out my Ruth 1:16 Sign.

It took about four hours to do the two coats of paint needed.  My arms were tired, but it was worth it.  Who wouldn’t want the door to their school room to be happy?

So here it is all up to date.

I will eventually put in some shrubs and more than likely make a sign with our school name on it.  Those projects will have to wait because I really need to work on the inside.  Book shelves are in need of being built and some decor should be put up.  I’ll let you know how that goes, unless it turns out ugly, then you will never hear about it again.

Once again, the super fun before and after shots!  TA-DAAA!