Painting the House

Once  you start devoting your time to growing your own meat and vegetables on a smallholding, other things get put on the long finger. Things such as painting the outside of the house. This has been on the 'to do' list for two years now so a couple of weeks ago we finally admitted that enough free time would never present itself for us to do the task ourselves. A few enquiries around Leitrim, word of mouth recommendations, a subsequent phone call and the same afternoon Johnny Markey (086 6059090) promptly turned up at our house and gave us a quote. So here she is before ....

and after an intensive week of power washing, gutter clearing, paint scraping, wire brushing and several coats of paint ... this is what she looks like now in all her glory ...

The door is a Victorian blue. We have a salvage Victorian knocker to fit that I inherited from my Dad who saw the magic of salvage in the 1970s when much of Victorian Dublin was being demolished.  Decades later salvage is now trendy, and indeed an important part saving architectural  history. We have ordered reproduction brass letter box and door knob to match. The staff at Knobs & Knockers in Dublin couldn't have been more helpful ... it was a pleasure to speak to them, never rushed, true gentlemen and couldn't do enough for us.

Now all I need is a makeover of this intensity for myself!

Comments

[French Knots]

What an amazing transformation! It looks like a picture postcard now.

[Henriette]

wonderful- looks so great

[Katrien]

Wow! Fantastic!
I guess with winter coming you have more time to do things around the house (smaller than painting the whole thing though). Or am I mistaken? What do farmers do during winter?
(I'm still waiting for that map, by the way, of your farm. I'm so big on maps!)

[melanie]

It looks lovely! And yay for your Dad for saving that beautiful knocker!

[Rebecca (author of Sallygardens)]

Ah winter ... theres still feeding of all the animals, digging over the veg beds and adding manure to improved the soil, then repairs to fencing and housing, pruning of various fruit trees,ordering seeds for next year etc etc etc!

I love the idea of doing a map of the smallholding, a perfect project for a winters evening. Remind me again if I forget!

And yes, I love the knocker too ... I brought it from Dublin to the UK where I lived for 10 years, then removed it from the UK door and brought it back home to Ireland with me again!

[Maddy]

What a fantastic job Johnny has done, you have yourself a mansion there. If I were closer I'd offer some leadlights for around that handsome door.

[debra]

It looks absolutely lovely! And the knocker is a wonderful addition.

[kathyann]

Looks wonderful, what a transformation,love the door knocker.Kathyann (meg's mum's muffins )

[Victoria]

Your house looks so good. So so good.

[Cre8Tiva]

i came by way of vallen...and will stay becaue of you...what an amazing blog and life you have carved out...i am so glad i found you...blessings, rebecca

[Tinuviel]

What a terribly handsome home! The knocker is fabulous and that shade of blue is just exactly perfect. I love the cream paint on the house, too. It's just what I picture an Irish country home to be. Bravo!