Curb Appeal?
From the first minute, my biggest concern in opening The Warehouse has how bad the building looked on the outside - especially at the front door and main entrance. To say it was uninviting is an understatement. It looked more appropriate as the entrance to a haunted house.
After much of thought, hours going through magazines, scrolling through Pinterest, and many trips to Home Depot for paint samples. The decision was made to paint the building gray. But I still really wanted to do something to make the entrance "pop" or stand out. I knew an awning was needed and would add dimension to the front of the building, The struggle was now to decide what kind of awning. If you have never realized how many awning options exist - just type "awning" into google or pinterest.
Back in April, I went to Scotts Antique Show in Atlanta (if you have never been, you have to go -it is the second weekend of every month). I found a pair of incredible black metal sconces in an great scroll design, The lady selling them did not know anything about them other than they were custom made. I wasn't sure how I was going to use them but bought them as I was certain that they could help the much needed curb appeal.
I incorporated them into an awning by mounting them on either side of the door. I first tried using the barn wood and metal roofing to finish making the awning. The brackets, wood and roofing did not go together, So I took that down and built and new roof, covered it with cedar siding on the top and sides and closed in underneath with bead board. Then I painted it all black. It looked great and I was so proud of it. The final coat of paint was put on on this past Monday night.
On Tuesday afternoon, I actually was at home taking care of some things. I recieved a phone call with some upsetting news. A truck making a delievery to the plant shop next door somehow, tore the new awning off the building. I knew the brackets could not be replaced. However, they were the only part of the awning salvageable.
At this point we were a week away from Grand Opening and I knew there was no way that I could find the time to rebuild it. I was fortunate to find someone through Angie's List and had a new awning up and finished on Thursday.
A new front door with single glass panel, was added and painted red and single shutters on either side of the door.
A large black shutter planter, that I also made from a vintage shutter and our sinage will be added over the weekend and will add to the curb appeal! Maybe it no longer appears to be the entrance to a haunted house!