Awnings Away

When we bought our little beach cottage, the trailer part of the structure still had its original aluminum awnings.  There were just two--one on the side by the front steps and the other on the front end of the trailer itself.  Doug and I planned to take them down, wire brush them, paint them with our trim color (SW Youthful Coral), and rehang them.  We really like to preserve old things as much as we can.

This picture shows them as they looked when we bought the place:

But unfortunately, when we took them down, we realized they really weren't salvageable.  They were badly corroded, and in some cases the cotter pins used to hold them in place had been replaced by nails.

Yeah, what a great idea that was, but it's what we've come to expect from the former owners--if there was a wrong way to "fix" something, that's what they did.

So we gave the aluminum pieces to a neighbor for recycling and started shopping.  We opted for Sunbrella fabric awnings, which created a whole new dilemma--color.  I was hoping to find coral and white stripes, but no luck.  With the whole house painted aqua, we didn't want any more of that color.  Black and white was an attractive combination, but it looked more "French cafe" than "beach cottage."

Then I saw gray and white stripes, and that seemed like a perfect fit.  We had painted both sets of exterior steps with gray porch paint, and the railings were white.

We ordered not only the two replacements, but a third extra-long one for the windows on the other side of trailer to make it look more balanced and to add interest on that side.

Last weekend, we installed them, and we love the result.  This picture makes me feel like I should be opening the window from inside and taking orders for tacos or hotdogs:

I love how the pines frame the house here:

Note the pink flamingos in this picture:

The installation process went better than we had expected, although it wasn't without drama.  To install the awning by the front steps, Doug had to use two ladders--a little one on the stop step and a big one on the ground--and two planks clamped together as a catwalk. I probably should have taken a picture, but I was too sick with worry about him killing himself to think about photography.

As a weekend bonus, I took Jodie on a long walk to the wildlife reserve beach and found another float for my collection:

We have now pronounced the project finished, but as all of our Facebook friends were so quick to remind us, if you own a house, you're never really finished.

Besides, that would be boring.  (Yeah, Doug, I know--you'd vote for boring right now.)