And Remarkable Porch With Limed Brick And A Glass Front Door

When Krystol sent over her unbelievable before & after exterior photos we simply had to share the gorgeousness. Here is her letter:

I enjoy your journal and I thought you might like our recent porch renovation. We are trying to take our rancher to a french country cottage. First we the took out the porch railings and moved the posts a bit further apart. One of the posts was right in front of the door (not too welcoming!). Then we sheathed the existing posts in rough cut oak and brought in a second set of posts for a little extra oomph at the front door. We also brought in arches (carved from a single curved tree trunk section- go hubby!) and painted the house. Well, in fact we limed it. This is an ancient process where agricultural lime is mixed with water, then applied to the brick. Instead of sealing in moisture like paint can, the lime allows the brick to breathe. Eventually it does wear away, but I like that “old” look. It is also totally eco friendly and low-cost! A bag of lime is around $10 and it took about 8 to do our house. I think paint would have cost around $400 or more. The house trim is Farrow and Ball’s French Grey and the “new” front door is from the Habitat ReStore and we simply brought in new hardware from Emtek. Oh and the seagrass rugs are from World Market. Anyway, like I said I enjoy your journal. It is an inspiration to all of us DIYers out here! I hope you enjoy the front photos. – Krystol

Here is what Krystol began with:

Here is the house in progress after getting limed:

And this is wrapped up product with new posts and arches along with a new door and furnishings:

Is not that remarkable? It does not even look like the same house! And the fact that they limed the whole exterior themselves (for around $80!) and carved those arches from a single block of wood is incredibly envy inducing. Thanks so much for sending the vivid before and after photos our way Krystol! What do you folks think? What is your go-to part? We cannot decide between those arches and that fairly limed brick…