Happy Thursday, friends! How is the weather in your neck of the woods? Here in North Carolina it is raining like crazy and we are set to have rain ALL day long. That’s okay, because I have tons of projects on my list. But meanwhile, I’ll show you my little front porch refresh. It all starts with how to clean exterior wood doors!
Our front porch is covered, which we love, but it still gets quite a bit of weather, especially during storm season. The rain blows in and we track in dirt and leaves. And somehow, our front door gets sand and grit stuck to it too. This was our front porch a few weeks ago. The ferns will still looked good and our fake owl was perched menacingly above the door to thwart the swallows from returning. (We pretended like it was a Halloween decoration.)
After a few big storms that saturated the porch with rain and debris, I figured it was time to spruce up the entry in time for Thanksgiving. See how the wood panels are scuffed and dirty?
First I cleared off the porch and hauled out my ladder. I removed the owl and put him away, at least until mating season next spring. (We are hoping the swallows will forget their former favorite front porch and nest elsewhere.)
I wiped down all of the wood surfaces surrounding the doors, cleaning away the spider webs and built-up dirt. Usually I use premixed Murphy’s Oil Soap in a spray bottle to clean the doors, but I was out. So, I used a new product by Shaw Floors that I got when we installed our new synthetic hardwood floors in the basement. It’s a hard surface floor cleaner and promises to “brighten and preserve finishes and leaves no sticky or dull reside. Safe for all types of hardwood.” Doors are hardwood, right? And it works wonderfully for its intended purpose, floors. It’s about $10 for a quart.
Using a soft microfiber towel I sprayed down the doors making sure I got into all of the crevices. Then I just wiped it off! The doors were super dirty and I had to repeatedly rinse the rag. After I cleaned the doors and surrounding areas, I cleaned the glass with Windex and paper towels. And wallah~a clean and shiny entrance just in time for the holidays! Lacey approved! (Just so you can appreciate this photo, picture me trying to squeeze my body in between the two doors so my reflection doesn’t show in the glass. HAHA!)
This quick clean up only took me about half an hour from start to finish and well worth the effort. After all, the front door is the first thing people see when they walk up to your home. My mums are still going strong so I’m hoping they will hang on at least until Thanksgiving. I probably need to pressure wash the porch and sidewalk before it gets too much colder, but that’s a project for another day! Well, off to prep for painting. Let’s chat soon and I’ll share my latest project! xoxo Dell