This will probably be my last blog post until August! My kids are home from school for the summer and I want to be present for all the fun! Ok, I also want to be present for the arguments. I feel like this is a crucial time to teach them kindness and how to be a good friend in the (heated) moment.

You can see all my kid activities and discipline ideas on my Kids page. Day one of summer break yielded early bedtimes and three draws from the consequence jar! Oy, this could be a long summer.

I also have some goals. We’re going to memorize one Italian expression each week and the books of the new testament. I set small goals. Last summer we memorized the fruits of the spirit and that was it! But they still know them because that was all we focused on.

But come follow me over on Instagram, I’ll still be posting there!

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Ok, now onto the painting the front door!

The first thing I did to this entryway was add the board and batten wall. It was only $100 and I did it by myself without power tools! Here is the board and batten tutorial.

It made a huge difference to the space! Then I kept eyeing that space (instead of watching the TV, haha!) and decided painting the door black would add the perfect amount of drama and contrast.

Here’s a good ol’ before and after:

I would say that this transformation cost about $150.

Here is how I painted the doors:

• Clean and wipe down doors.
• Roll on black enamel paint on larger surfaces.
• Paint where you can with a Wooster brush.
• Skip taping and paint mutins (panels) with an artist’s brush!

Painting with the artist’s brush is a bit monotonous, but didn’t actually take as long as I thought it would. It’s better than taping off or scraping paint of glass with a razor — in my humble opinion.

I have to mention that these black and white pillow covers are a steal. They are $15 for FOUR of them! They zip on the bottom and are white on the back. I love them.

And it’s been awhile since I raved about these Ikea Ektorp couches. We’ve had them for … gosh I don’t know … probably nine years! They have been washed 30+ times. I am NOT kidding. I wash them, dry them in the dryer and put them right back on. Not just the cushions, the whole darn thing. And gray hides all the terrible things kids do to them.

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For more detailed instructions

Here is the full tutorial on how I painted the front of the door. I used the same process for the inside.

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