Recently,
Wayfair challenged me to complete a DIY makeover on a front entry. Actually two of them - first spruce up the whole area, and then freshen it up for fall. I knew right away I didn't want to do my front door. That area has had plenty of attention of late. I knew, I wanted to tackle the entry to our garage and complete a garage entry fall makeover.
As you can see in the picture below, it started out sad and lonely. We bought stepping stones for this area forever ago, but could never make up our mind on where to put them, so they sat it a pile behind the garage.
The first step was to pull back all of the 3/4" rock that was in place from when the driveway was installed. The landing step there is actually our old fireplace hearth - reuse my friends! Once all the rock was pulled out we planned our space and shape and pulled back any grass with a pick ax. Then, we laid down landscape fabric and lined it with small river rock leftover from our pool area. Then we added the 3/4" rock back in place to form a base for the stepping stones to level themselves on.
Once all of the stepping stones were in place, we filled in the whole area with pea gravel and smoothed it out with a rake (and my foot!). Once everything was in place, I rinsed all the rocks off well with a hose to removed all of the dirt and debris.
The door was already black, but it needed to be freshened up so we gave it a fresh coat of paint. I added a trellis to a potted plant with a knockout rose bush so that it would grow to cover the electrical lines going into the garage.
Then I began to "zhush". I have been wanting to add planters at the sides and in between the doors but I could never find anything high enough. I didn't want to put a low planter and have it dwarfed by the doors.
These planters are so perfect. The bring the added height, the black color that I wanted and the simple clean lines that I love. The best part is that there is a shelf inside. Right now I have just set the boxwoods inside still in their pot, however, in the spring I will plant them. When used a true planter, is also has self-watering abilities. Until then, I love being able to easily switch out plants.
I also brought in a
nice doormat to keep feet clean when entering and a
simple galvanized stool. I will use the stool to sit on when taking the dogs out and also for display. I am thinking it is really meant for indoors and will age in the outdoors, but that is just how I like it!
Once that was complete, I was ready to set it up for fall.
The first step was to trade out the boxwoods for large mums. I love the orange color in the black and how it pops against the beige and white of the garage.
I added an
unusual wreath to use a more muted color scheme for fall decorating. I really wanted the focus to be on all of the beautiful changing trees in our yard.
I added some corn stalks and found the perfect place for my
DIY rustic wood pumpkins.
Another mum and a few gourds and I was good to go.
And now an area that I have long neglected is a show stopper. We love it so much it has actually called attention to the fact that the side door to the house, which we use every day, is looking sad and unloved. Oh well, a project for another day!
And here is our garage in each of the stages.
And if you are looking for more inspiration for entry makeovers, Wayfair has partnered with several bloggers to bring you even more ideas.
Click here to find more fall entry makeovers.
Here are the links to everything I used in the space:
Galvanized Stool
Wreath
Planters
Wood Pumpkins (DIY)
Doormat
Thanks so much for reading! Oh, and stayed tuned - wait to see what busy bees we have been on the inside of the garage! If you want to receive projects regularly from Finding Home,
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Disclosure: I was provided these items by Wayfair in exchange for writing this post, however, all ideas, opinions and beautiful garage entries are my own.
