Easy curb appeal, and salt to banish weeds!

Cheerful, happy AFTER!:

 

Winter is over! I celebrated in one of my favorite ways: the annual sprucing up our front entry.

                                                         Sad, neglected BEFORE:

Five years ago, we enclosed our front porch to create a mudroom. I love having that extra space, but miss having a covered front porch when it's pouring rain, as it often is here in Oregon. More than that even, I miss having a cute little porch to decorate!





































Our driveway is now right outside the door, and I do love how it makes the constant unloading of the-crazy-amount-of-groceries-my teens-eat a breeze.

Handy, but not very pretty. In an attempt to have an entryway other than dusty gravel driveway, I dug and laid large, simple flagstone remnants into a half-circle, five years ago.

And the weeds found the dirt there, and lo, they multiplied:

 I am very sensitive to herbicides so we try not to use Round-up excessively. My son is a  history buff and so he suggested salt as the solution:

"It's what enemies would do after a battle, Mom! They sowed salt into all the fields so the conquered people wouldn't be able to grow food and would starve."

yikes.

Well, Morton's salt is .28 cents, safe to all but slugs and, it turns out...quite effective!


First, I pulled all the little weeds. Sprinkled a full can of salt around all the pavers and watered it in gently. It's been over a month of rain and alternating sunshine, yet not ONE teensy baby sprout of a weed has popped up...

I am the Victor of this battle!

 

It's a good idea to re-paint your front door and trim,  occasionally. A good scrubbing first, then a light coat rolled on just to erase those scuffs and marks that won't wipe off. Does anyone else have kids that like to kick the door open, when their arms are full? Lots of suspicious tennis shoe marks, here!

What a difference!

 

I buy a new front doormat every year, as the constant weather exposure wears them out quickly. I like Target's selection but was happily surprised by this floral loveliness, found  at Wal-mart.

Bonus-it matches my fun Summer toenail polish!

A little elbow grease in cleaning and weeding...
A bit of fresh paint rolled on...
A few colorful flowers tucked into pots...
A new doormat laid out...

A fresh re-design that says:

Welcome, family and friends!