Painting a three-bedroom Craftsman style house with a wonderful front porch seems like a daunting task for a single mom and her two teen-aged daughters. But, you had to know this particular mom. She was very appreciative of the low rent she was charged for her family’s home. So, instead of calling the landlord every time there was a repair issue, she learned to take care of things on her own.
When the 1920’s era house started looking sad and dreary in its gray paint, she negotiated a deal. The owner would buy the paint, and she would take care of the labor to spruce it up. First was the hard part, the scraping. Up and down those ladders, scratching and peeling. No glamour in this step. After the three occupants applied the primer color, it created quite a stir. In order to cover the gray, the local paint store recommended a very bright pink. To say we were the topic of conversation would be an understatement. By the time we applied the final color, which was a handsome deep red, Mom had recruited some teen-aged boys we knew to help. The end result was highly satisfying. Even the neighbors approved.
When our new step-dad moved us to Arkansas, the house we settled in needed some updating. The new head of the household had a similar attitude about home improvement. Why pay someone else to do the work when you can do it yourself? One of the first big projects was adding a large front porch. Step-dad had stonework in his blood, so he and Mom built the base for the porch out of stone, filling it in with loads of dirt and gravel. Note for future treasure hunters: There is a time capsule of sorts in this porch. A decorative mason jar holds mementos that tell the story of the time of the porch’s creation, and the family that lived there.
Soon, a major change to the house transformed it from a single-wide mobile home to a full-size house with a real roof, and a large family room complete with a hearth and mantle that supported a wood burning stove. Once again, rocks played a huge part in the transformation, and my step-dad was in his element, while proclaiming all along that he hated working with stone. This time, there was an all-hands on deck attitude in the family, and my new husband spent many hours helping out.
Later, when my parents became full-time gypsies in their travel trailer, we raised our own kids in this same house. Now, hubby took on many projects, including partially closing off the family room to make it a bedroom for the boys and closing off some extra windows to make our daughter’s room more energy efficient. Then, he used his day-job talent for manufacturing synthetic marble to modernize both bathrooms and the kitchen counters.
When the kids were older, we moved to Bryant, and while the new place had plenty of bedrooms, it needed a safer and more convenient way to enter and exit. Once again, no need to call in anyone. Hubby designed and built steps for the back, and a sturdy porch for the front.
Reading over this list of projects, it seems that I was taking a back seat, and just waiting for the benefits of the upgrades. Though I have not become a skillful tradesman over the years, I have helped and filled the role of gopher quite well. “Go get me this, please bring me that” are words I readily respond to as needed. I have learned to keep my shoes on, waiting for the dreaded words, “Come over here and hold this”, which almost always leads to a trip to the Home Depot. I have gotten pretty good at visualizing the end result, and am often called upon for my opinion on color and style issues.
We purchased our house before everything was fully complete, so we were able to pick out paint color and flooring. After years of making improvements, we have finally become comfortable with allowing others to do the actual work. One of our bedrooms was painted without professional help, but for the most part, we have trusted the experts to add crown molding, upgrade the master bath and change from carpet to hardwood floors.
Since the first of the year, though, we have enlisted the help of more hardworking contractors than ever to upgrade our kitchen. New appliances, granite counter-tops, tile backsplash and a new vinyl floor are being added as we speak. After years of sweat and worry, my life partner is assuming the role of general contractor, shopping for the best materials, scheduling and supervising the work. No surprise, he is very good at this. And this time, I don’t think I will have to life so much as a paintbrush.
Making changes to your surroundings can be a great way to start a new year. The most important tool in the process is a good list of phone numbers. After all, these young hardworking folks have to feed their families, too!
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