rub 'n buff to the rescue

You know that children's book If You Give a Pig a Pancake? Oh my goodness, I think I read that book no less than a million times when my children were little. I'm pretty sure I could recite the entire book from memory. It's funny too because there really is so much truth in that sweet story. One thing always leads to another........at least it does around here.

What started out as a front door painting project, has prompted me to change up a few other things. I'm replacing the outdoor light fixtures as they were pretty weathered and rusted, changing the door bell and possibly painting the front porch ceilings............and it all started with a little pink paint. ;)

If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen this picture the other day. I went with Rachel Pink by Sherwin Williams, and I'm really loving this fun color combination! Our new to us house is only 5 years old, but the salty atmosphere that living near the ocean brings is fairly tough on exterior surfaces. While I'm replacing the rusty light fixtures, I didn't want to replace the door handle/ lock set. It wasn't in terrible condition, but the gold finish was peeling and flaking off in places. Underneath the gold finish is stainless steel which weathers beautifully outside, so there was no real issue with the handle other than that the finish was peeling. To give it a quick inexpensive makeover, I busted out my favorite little helper, Rub 'n Buff. I used the color gold leaf, but there are lots of other colors from which to choose.

Rub 'n Buff is a product I've used for years. I just love those little tubes of magic. If you've never used this product before, I wrote a post years ago sharing a simple how-to and some tips; check it out here. For the door handle all I did was lightly sand the handle with a fine grit paper, apply rub 'n buff with my finger, then buff it with an old cotton rag. I repeated that process twice for good coverage, and I'm pleased with the results. I like the matte gold finish with the pale pink color on the door. Eventually, like all painted exterior finishes, this will weather but it should hold up just fine for a long time. It probably helps that my door is covered. But if starts to look a little worse for the wear, I can always freshen it up with a new coat. From my experience Rub 'n Buff works really well in exterior applications which is why I also decided to give my new doorbell a little gold facelift.

It's totally normal to be completely bonkers over a doorbell right?! I found this round beauty at Lowe's and just had to bring it home. It comes in an oil-rubbed bronze finish which is great, but I wanted it to flow with the door handle; so once again......rub 'n buff to the rescue. It's ridiculous how much I love this gold doorbell! It was so easy to install, and the button lights up at night! I'm a big fan of details, and I really do think the smallest details make the biggest impact.

So that's my "If you Give a Girl a Can of Pink Paint" story. Hopefully I'm able to finish this front porch makeover this weekend, so I can show y'all the whole she-bang next week.

Have a great weekend friends! I have something really fun for you all coming up on Monday, so stay tuned!