I’m working on finishing up some lingering projects, especially in the basement, so that I can take some completed room photos.  One of the projects that has been on my mind for several months has been a tap sign for the keezer (a keg/freezer for those who don’t speak homebrew). 

For awhile we’ve been labeling each tap by using a dry erase marker to write directly on the freezer.  But, I’ve always thought a sign would look cooler. 

There’s only a small space available above the freezer, so my dimensions were determined pretty quickly.  Also, there are a lot of light colors going on over here, so I wanted to tie in the black tap collar (the black piece that was built to mount the taps), by using a chalkboard.  The only problem was I wanted something Mike could change as new beers were added, but the depth of the freezer meant a mounted chalkboard was impractical.

That’s when I thought of a chalkboard (with a cool semi-permanent design), with removable mini-signs that could change easily as each keg was finished and different beer was added.

I drew a basic design with dimensions, and Mike built the base of the chalkboard out of plywood, a frame out of reclaimed wood, and thin mini signs out of some cedar he had stock-piled.  We used little brass hooks that I purchased for a different project and Mike drilled holes in the small signs for them to hang.

I painted the plywood and mini signs with 3 coats of chalkboard paint, and used 2 coats of shellac on the frame.  I made sure to condition my chalkboards before using a projector, with a design I created in Photoshop, to draw the design in chalk ink pens.     

 

The little signs can be easily reached and removed to erase and label as new beers are exchanged.

It’s not noticeable when you first walk around, which is nice because the first reaction, mostly from the guys, is awe that there’s a keezer full of beer on tap, so it takes a moment for them to notice anything else ;) 

Instead of looking like a freezer stuffed in an alcove, I’d like to think the sign makes it look like a deliberate “beer cave”.

On a side note, I recently had a realtor friend of a friend, walk through and give her opinion on our house value now that we’ve completed all of our large renovations.  I asked her if this set-up would help or hinder our house when we sell in the future (potential buyers won’t always have the same interests and some will be turned off by spaces that are used for very specific purposes), and she said it was definitely help, and it would be something that sets us apart by being a memorable feature! Ha!

Also, she said if we were listing now, she gave a listing price 59% higher than what we bought it for 5 years ago.  We bought at the right time, but I’m glad to see we’ll hopefully see a good return on the things we upgraded, especially since we remodeled with ourselves in mind, not exactly thinking only about potential buyers in the future!

When I showed the painted foundation I never did a full pulled-back shot of the porch.  Since I use this blog as much as a platform to share our projects as I do a reference for us to look back on, I wanted to wrap this project up, officially. 

This is probably the first project that doesn’t look that much different from the before, but the progress photos show all the good stuff.  We started with the existing porch, with carpeted stairs, and a concrete slab that dead-ended into the grass.

We got to work removing and saving the siding, demoing the stairs, and tearing off the old wooden siding.

We then had to step back to re-evaluate the project after we found extensive termite damage.

After some discussion, we decided to keep the porch and rebuild it with extra support.  Also adding better materials to prevent termite damage in the future.

We poured a new walkway.

And, got new stairs.

We wrapped the porch with Tyvek and PVC trim, and added faux stone panels to create a faux foundation and columns, creating an architectural detail and better curb appeal.  Then added the saved siding back on.

Finally, I painted the foundation (technically, only half of it) with a paint color matched to the faux stone for better continuity.

Even though we still have to fill in some of the garden beds, we’re calling this baby done!

I hope to get the other foundation wall painted before the weather turns.

Like I said at the beginning, the before and after aren’t mind blowing or anything, I mean we literally transplanted the same plants back into place, but all the work underneath is impressive and we can definitely tell the new supports when we walk around on the porch.

The before/after back to back:

We recently added up all the receipts from this project, as well as all the new landscaping (new beds, mulch, rocks) and our total was $2,700.  We had estimated that a new porch would be close to $5,000, so we went in to this project fearing the worse.  We feel really good about the upgraded curb appeal, as well as making the foundation secure and preventing future damage.  We’re also impressed we were able to clean up the rest of the yard in that number too!

I thought I’d share the secret of my latest planter.

It’s actually a food canister from Target!  Specifically, this one.  It came with a wood top, which I have stored just in case I kill the plant and want to use it as a canister again (which if you ask Mike is only a matter of time since I have the worst black thumb).

Since this isn’t made for plants and I didn’t want to permanently change it by drilling drainage holes, I simply added some rocks to the bottom (about 2-3”) and added soil on top with my plant. 

I was actually looking for a concrete planter but came up with nothing.  I saw these containers while I was wondering through Target one day. 

It started when I got this bowl from Anthropologie and then saw this set-up on Pinterest:

via

I never liked how my old dining table was styled and this looked fresh and simple.  You can see on top of the cabinet I loved the blue bowl so much I bought 2 (one was on sale Mike, I swear!) 

I thought of the canister again when I wanted to change up the one we used for Benelli’s cat food.  We set it on the step stool next to the fridge so it needed to be cute enough to sit out.

The top is very tight and it’s a little awkward to get on and off twice a day, so I ran back to Anthropologie and got this leather/bone pull. 

Mike cut a recess on the bottom of the lid and cut the screw (which is ridiculously long), so that the hardware didn’t touch the food every time it was closed.

For around $25 I got the concrete-planter-look I was after, plus a stylish container for the cat food!