Before and After - Arbour

I never know what to call this thing?
Is it an arbour or a pergola?

Regardless, it was a wedding gift from Hubby 9 years ago.

He painstakingly assembled and stained it.
He even had a plaque made for it ... that I still have to put on.

It reads "HITYTTILY"  (Have I Told You Today That I Love You)

Sentimental and gorgeous - what more could a girl ask for?

Well, 9 years is a long time to be neglected, so I decided to tackle an arbour clean-up this summer.

 A little pressure washing and it already looks a million times better:

But I want it to last for another 9 years (at least), so I primed and painted.

If you haven't done this before, DON'T!

I love to paint, but this was a beast.
I had it out on my front lawn for 2 weeks because I'd go for a few hours and then lose motivation.
It looked like we were planning on hosting a wedding in our front yard. (Sorry neighbours)

I ended up painting the majority of it with a 3/4" Crayola paintbrush (the girl's) because all the cutting in was too difficult with a regular paintbrush.

I probably should have stained it again, but I had primer and paint in the garage, and I didn't want to go out and spend another small fortune when I could make-do.

Turned out not-too-bad eh?

 A "Before and After" shot:

Linked to:

 The Shabby Nest





 
Have a great one!