Our back deck is the main entryway to the house.

Park your car

Up the stairs

Across the deck

Into the door

Of course I didn’t take a picture of the dirt path but here you can see the light color it was previously painted. And how gross it was.

And how I recruited Mom to help me paint.

I started by picking out a new color.

I decided dark to hide the dirt. It’s still there but at least it doesn’t show!

Painting all the slats is not fun.

I had already decided that I wanted to do something special with the floor after it was painted.

A pretty rug would be nice but they get wet and soggy.

Then they smell and it’s impossible to clean.

Nope…… no rug.

At least not a fabric rug.

I painted a border in white to create the illusion of a rug on the floor.

There was a little bit of measuring but this girl doesn’t do math so fingers crossed, everything would fit.

I purchased a 12 x 12 stencil from Michales for $6 (with my coupon of course) and used exterior house paint to paint it on.

I liked it a lot when all the rows were completed but it just needed a little more.

So I added some of the center rosette in the empty spots randomly around the rectangle.

So cute!!!

I had many hours of touchups ahead of me and I might not stand erect for a while but it’s so worth it.

No more dirt path!!!