Garage Re-do

Painting the garage is one of many home projects that’s been awaiting our attention for, well, years. Last year Cute W repainted the upper portion of our garage, which was nice because we had peeling paint and the remnants of a long-lost basketball hoop.

Still, the garage suffered from ugly, pinkish cinderblocks as well as a metal post left over from a fence a previous owner had put in. Would you believe that there used to be a big black fence that went from the garage to our back door, all set into the driveway asphalt to make it exceptionally irritating to remove? Years and years ago, as Cute W was ripping it out, my old neighbor Mary, rest her soul, came to me and thanked me. “When they put that in,” she said, “We started calling it ‘the yard'” as in prison yard. Apparently these previous ownders wanted to put the same fence (you can see it on the right) halfway down the shared driveway, and at that point even the Nicest Neighbors Ever put their foot down and said no.

At some point early in our social isolation, I saw a social media post with lovely garden murals, and I suggested that painting the garage could be a diversion for the kids. It was one of many, many, many suggestions we have thrown out to the girls, and one of the few that they actually thought was a good idea.

My original vision was actually for them to paint the side of the garage. It’s a vast amount of space, and it really only faces our own little backyard, so even if it wasn’t great, it wouldn’t mar anyone’s landscape. But then Cute W pointed out that there appeared to be a mama and baby birds in the birdhouse that we have on the side of the garage. Pressure washing and painting so close to them seemed like a bad idea.

Meanwhile, the girls were a bit nervous about their artistic abilities. This is pretty annoying to me, because they both actually draw and paint well. But they were intimidated. They decided to start with something easy for the front of the garage. I’m hoping that later this summer, they’ll be a bit more confident and willing to do something beyond their comfort zone. But meanwhile, they had fun with the garage, and it looks much more cheerful now.