So I painted our screen door yesterday.

We’ve lived in this house for 7 years now. Which totally amazes me. I haven’t lived this long in one spot in my adult life ever. This is also our first ‘real’ house, as our last abode was a mobile home. It was very nice….especially the low maintenance part. Anywho, we bought this manufactured home in 2000 and had it built here on the property. Neighborhood rules required that we have a garage, so that went up later that year.

We couldn’t afford to do much more than build the structure at the time, and over the years we’ve worked bit by bit on clearing the clutter out of the garage, wiring it, building shelves and cabinets, and generally finishing the space. We were able to insulate (in case anyone ever wants to convert the space to living area) and hang drywall a couple of years ago but we didn’t do the mudding and taping. I’m fairly adept at that job, but it takes me sooooo long to finish anything that I just procrastinated on it instead. (grin)

The great news is that last fall we were able to hire a great guy to come and finish the drywall for us. It was amazing! He did in just a few days what would have taken me weeks. We painted shortly after that but it was getting mighty cold by then so I didn’t worry about all the little details until just yesterday.

My father-in-law is in his 80’s and up until we painted last fall we had a nice sturdy handle on the wall near the door so that he could hold on and keep his balance when entering the house. Poor guy has been making do on his own all this time. The reason we didn’t put it back up was because we wanted to paint it to match the new color scheme in the garage. So I dug out the handle and a nice can of spray paint yesterday and got the job done. It turned out great! I can hang it today I bet. Another detail I haven’t attended to is the screen door. It has been a nice navy blue color for a few years now, to match the shutters on the front of the house. Except we painted the garage in grays and whites so it was sticking out like a sore thumb when you walked in. On top of that, the screen was coming out in a lower corner.

So. It’s all painted now, just have to put the screen back in and re-hang the door. Oh, and get that handle installed. I’m looking forward to seeing how it looks now that I have taken out my last glaring bit of mismatched color. Might even make me smile, right there in my own garage.

Earnest Parenting: tips for making a home look organized.