Shutter Island

No, I didn’t run off with Leonardo DiCaprio.

But I have been stuck on a little island of my own involving more gel stain. In an effort to overhaul the curb appeal of our house, I decided to lose the cranberry paint on our shutters and doors. First, I gel stained the front door, which turned out great!

Next up were the shutters, so I asked my dear husband to climb up a ladder and take them down. I don’t have a great before shot, but here’s one of the upper shutters which are still their original cranberry color.

You can’t really tell from the picture, but the shutters-although completely plastic- actually have wood grain stamped in them just like the front door did. So I set out on my mission to turn these into wooden beauties. Using the same yellow-paint-and-gel-stain technique described here, I thought they were looking pretty good!

After 3 coats of UV protective exterior polyurethane, I again begged my better-on-a-ladder husband to put them back up. I LOVE the results, but it was hard to capture in pictures.

I think it was the time of day, but up close you can see the wood grain and there is quite a bit of difference.

When I can get ahold of an extra tall ladder and work on the upper set, I’ll try to get some better full house pictures. I’m really pleased with my slow, but steady progress, and I think in the end the change will be quite dramatic. Next up….pruning the bushes! How do you all feel about window boxes? I’d love to add one here, but I’m not sure how it will look with the tall-ish shrubs. Hmmmm…comments? Suggestions?