you had me at hello

That's what I want people to say about our home. I want people to feel welcome when they first walk in the door. If our front door was more accessible, I think we would feel we've accomplished this. Unfortunately, our side door which leads into our mud room is right off the driveway and is the most accessible and most used entrance. Our mud room is still a work in progress - Josh and I are still not sure what to do with the space...besides hang our coats.

As we attempt to figure it out, I aim to still make people feel welcome in this disheveled space. So, I decided to make a sign that will greet people when they first walk through the door. greet them with a hello.

My first step was to pick a font that would translate well into a wooden sign; one that didn't have too many small cutouts. I chose the font Black Jack. Then I got each letter enlarged - you can do this at any local copy shop. Then I cut out each letter.


After they were all cut out, I taped them together and traced them onto my piece of wood. As you can see, I modified my font a bit. Truth be told, I wanted to free-hand it, but I knew it just wouldn't look as clean. But I did want the 'o' to look like the way I make my cursive 'o'. Hence, the modification.




This next step requires someone handy, unless you're allowed to use power tools, which Josh has informed me, I am not.


We (and when I say we, I mean Josh) cut out the letters using a jigsaw. Then he sanded the edges and the places where the jigsaw had made a couple digs.


Next was painting. I wanted a cheerful, inviting color, so of course I chose yellow. Happy day for me when I realized that I had picked yellow when ordering my free valspar paint sample. Dijon to be exact.


After a couple coats and some questioning remarks from Josh, I added some brown to tone it down and make it a more mustardy yellow.


And here is the finished product:


i love the bright yellow against the white brick wall. and it definitely makes me smile when I walk in the door.

more to come on the progress/styling of this room...

This project has been linked to:

The DIY Showoff

My Romantic Home

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