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April 26, 2009

Some juicy colours for spring

meta mondayIt’s that time of the week again — time to head back to work, weeehoooo!! ;-) Maybe not so much, eh?? But it’s not all bad, because there’s Metamorphosis Monday to distract you from all the bad things about Monday. Thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting :-)

Monday’s weather forecast is 27 degrees and sunny. That’s 27 Celsius — double it and add 30, and you get a balmy 84 degrees Fahrenheit (give or take a degree or two). Which means that spring might REALLY here!! Although I once had a softball game that was snowed out in May, so you never know for sure that winter is truly over till about July ;-)

There’s a reason why spring is a big deal around here. I took these pictures in March 2008. Ever lose your house in the snow??

bank 2

See the man in the next picture?? He’s a regular sized man. See the height of the man compared to the height of the snowbank?? That’s a whopper sized snowbank!!

bank 1

This is our street. One of those snowbanks on the right is ours…

IMG_7473

And this is the lamp post in front of our house. I guess it’s about 6 or 7 feet tall.

post 1

At this point of the winter, I was rooting for enough snow to bury it completely so I’d have a good story to tell. But that’s as high as it got.

So that’s why we love spring around here — NO MORE SNOW!!! And I think that’s also partly why I’m drawn to colour. After so many months of brown trees branches and white snow, I want to see colours that are vibrant and cheerful and that just say “spring” :-)

drum table 1 I was at HomeSense a couple of weeks ago and saw a fabulous bright green planter. I popped in into my shopping cart, but then I started thinking that 60 bucks was pretty steep for a planter. Especially when I already had planters at home. But they were boring gray plastic. I did pick up this orange ceramic drum stool for the backyard, though.

Then the brain kicked into gear and I thought, why not paint a planter that I already have bright green?? So I picked up a can of spray primer and a can of bright green spray paint at Home Depot for about 11 bucks. I went back later and bought orange and blue too.

I pulled out a couple of other planters, as well as a little concrete pagoda that I put in the front flower bed. I washed them and let them dry, then I went spray paint crazy. Here are a couple of before shots (I decided to hold off on painting the bird bath for now). I don’t know how old the pink planter is, but the price tag on it was 99 cents and it’s from a store that went out of business in the ‘80s!

Before

Before 2

A few pieces primed and ready to paint….

Primed 2

And the final results — juicy colours for spring!!

planters 1

The green spray paint is almost exactly the same shade as the ceramic planter that I already have. That was pure luck!!

four close

I like the texture on the now-blue planter.

blue close

Close up so you can see the glossy finish…

green close

I just love the little pagoda :-) The concrete seems to be a really good base for the spray paint.

pagoda 1

pagoda 2

The plan is to put the blue pieces in the front yard and the green & orange pieces in the backyard (I have plans for an orange & green colour scheme back there).

Not sure what I’ll put in the planters. Here’s what I did a couple of years ago:

pots left

pots right

porch2

The gardening expert on Cityline says that planters need “thrill, spill, and fill”. If you have any plant suggestions for me, please let me know :-) Oh, and I’m planning to re-paint the front door purple :-)

So take a look around your house and garden and see if there’s anything you can freshen up with a can of spray paint. Trust me, once you get started, you’ll want to spray paint EVERYTHING!! Even kids are fair game… ;-) (If you’re wondering, these are NOT my kids!!!! And if they were, they would have been in REALLY BIG TROUBLE!!!)

painted kids

Head on back to Between Naps on the Porch to check out more Monday transformations :-)

sig

What I used for this project:

Tremclad spray primer in Gray

Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch spray paint in Lime, Orange, and Deep Blue

22 comments:

Maria Killam said...

Love those colours! You did a wonderful job, totally transformed those pots!

Kat said...

These look really great. I bet you do crave bright color after your winters. And I can't wait to see the front of the house after you paint the door purple. It's going to look fabulous against that dark grey brick, especially with the pebbles in your walkway. Kathy

Anonymous said...

Oh, you've fabulous! I just love all those bright colors! Made your pots look brand new and oh so chic!
Whose kiddoes are those? Oh, my goodness! ;P
Be a sweetie,
Shelia:)

Jadehollow said...

Kelly I really love the bright colors. They all look awesome. I did the same thing today with my pots and planters. I was a lil chicken to go with the bright colors, but after seeing yours I might have to go back and do a lil re'morphing.
Have A Great Week!
Hugs,
Debbie

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Please tell me those weren't your children doing that to your house. Oh my.

Sherrie said...

Kelly,
What beautiful colors you chose! Really looks like you are skipping right in to spring!
Thank you for stopping by and leaving such lovely comments!
~Sherrie

Cindy (Applestone Cottage) said...

Kelly,
Being from Wisconsin I know how you feel about spring and the snow thing. I love what you did with your planters and are those really your kiddies covered in paint? lol, WHAT A HOOT. Cindy

Pat@Back Porch Musings said...

Wow! What a lot of snow!!

I love the colors of the pots!!

Maya@Completely Coastal said...

Love the pots, hopefully they keep the winter away for good..., I'm not sure if I have ever seen that much snow, not even in the Swiss Alps where I used to go sky back then.

Amy said...

What a difference some bright paint makes. I just love what you did with your planters. Wow, the snow you had last year was just overwhelming to see. I am so glad you are having warm temps now and can enjoy all the flowers and color of this spring season. Happy Met Monday! Amy :)

Painter's Place said...

I love the color of the pots. They make the flowers even prettier!! Happy Spring!

Madame Meg said...

Hello!
WOW! What a difference to those pots, they look fantastic! How brave of you to paint your pagoda, but it makes such an impact now! While I have one hand crossing its fingers that I don't have to run out to emergency cover the roses I planted this week, I'll cross the others to help keep you away from another round of monster snow-banks!
- Meg

Tiaa @ EYInteriors said...

LOVE the pots! I especially love the blue! You did a wonderful job! Great post!

Sofia Striffler said...

Those are great pot colors. Great look for spring and summer. I totally understand the joy of no more snow. I lived on the east coast and we did have a foot or more of snow in April. You had a ton of snow in March. Yeah for spring! As for plants, I have the same problem. I do like alysum those for spilling over the pot edges.

mrsben said...

Kelly, you did a marvelous job giving these planting containers some personality! So pretty 'n bright.

Re the snow; some people cannot relate to what it means 'to live in a snowbelt region'. Recall last year? I NEVER thought it was going to stop.

The home in your second picture looks particularly familar to me as I think I too have photos of it also, namely for inspiration if/when we reface the exterior of our home.
(Two blocks south of Meadowlands Drive?) I haven't approached the homeowners YET to see who did the masonary work on it. Trying to build up my courage to do so. :) HAVE A GREAT DAY...as it is finally a warm one. -Brenda-

xinex said...

Beautiful bright colors! Christine

Sarah @ Designing Woman said...

Kelly,

How could you post such awful, dirty pictures!? I'm really offended, you know. LOL, there's no one more glad than I am to see winter gone! Winter '08 was a doozy, though I spent 98% of it indoors with my newborn Ava. I remember not being able to open our back door, though if we'd managed, the 6' high drift would have fallen into the living room. Fun times.

Great job on the planters! I love the green and orange!

Sarah

Cass @ That Old House said...

Those planters look terrific -- what a great idea, and one I am filing away for future reference.

The pic of the kids is hilarious -- but if they were your kids, then not so much....
Cass

Ldy ~~ Dy said...

Great idea! They look wonderful...I have a few planting pots that I could spruce up! Thanks for the great inspiration!!

Joyce said...

The colors are so refreshing and make me motivated to color outside the box myself. Now the photo of the kids is a complete hoot and has me laughing:) Thanks for sharing and honestly if it snows that much next year come visit me. That is way to much snow!
Joyce

Fifi Flowers said...

LOVE these colour transformations except the last one... I would SCREAM!!!
Pots on the front porch are GREAT!
WOW... all that SNOW!

Outside The Lines said...

The little guy, and the can of white paint. That is a work of art!

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