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Monday, April 8, 2013

6 Quatre-foiled!

My house is a project. I'm always in the middle of one remodeling or decorating project or another. Or several. We bought the house out of foreclosure (and in super bad shape), and so we are slowly transforming it into something a little more like us and a lot less like the mess that it was. 

This includes the outside of the house, or the "curb appeal". My husband has had a special concern about the outside. He felt like we needed to get it done ASAP. I was convinced the neighbors would be so excited something was happening they would give us some slack. The house sat vacant for a year, while the weeds grew and the grass died. Here were a few of the problems with the front of the house:


And something that particularly bothered me, although it had nothing to do with the neglect of the house. It was the single round window over the door. It was an eye, like a cyclops, staring at me.

You know when you see one of those creepy portraits that looks like they are looking right at you? And when you move a little to the right or left, it seems to follow you and still be looking at you? This is how I felt about this window. When I would walk to the right of the house and look at the window, it was still staring at me.

And when I would walk to the left of the house...

I thought about removing it (expensive) or changing it (expensive) or changing it's shape. Although the architecture of the house definitely doesn't stick to one particular style, it has a bit of a Spanish/Mediterranean feel. So I decided I wanted to change it's shape to a clover-like pointy shape thingy you see on other Spanish and/or Mediterranean houses. But what was that clover-like pointy shape thingy called? How could I find one if I didn't know what it was? So I did a little research, and low and behold, it's a QUATREFOIL. Kinda like this baby on this beautiful home:


And once I knew what it was, I started seeing it everywhere...houses, mirrors, fabric, in the City of San Antonio logo...and started to look for a foam quatrefoil to cover my cyclops window. I found a foam manufuacturer in town that knew exactly what I was talking about! and had many in stock! and sold me this bad boy...


...which I painted white AFTER it had been sitting on top of my spare refrigerator for a couple of months. This is just how things go around here, sorry. But my contractor finally said he could come install it and so this piece of foam got carried all the way up scaffolding and a leaning ladder to the cyclops window....


And now, the cyclops eye is no longer is looking at me. Well, I guess we've made a few other changes that help too...


New door, lights, grass, trees, bushes, driveway, house number sign, sidewalk squares, trellis (still working on that one)...



I love my new clover-like pointy shape thingy window. And now you can sound super smart with all of your friends when you can correctly identify it's shape...quatrefoil!
jennifer