New porch in one nap time (plus a giveaway from HomeRight)

As many of you would concur, time is the most precious of all my resources. I’m constantly looking for ways to get a DIY project done faster. Restaining our wraparound porch floor was no exception. I had one afternoon last week to get it done, factoring in an hour or so of “life-guarding” to make sure no children or dogs stepped on the wet stain while it dried.

I should mention we have a fairly large porch, which is certainly awesome 99 percent of the time. The 1 percent of the time it’s not awesome is when we have to sweep, clean or restain it. 😉

Considering my short time frame for this project, I prepared the wooden porch floor for stain the night before. I scrubbed it down with my magic mildew wash, then power-washed it to remove any leftover dirt and loose finish. It’s important to have a clean, dry surface before applying any stain or paint.

Because our floor was previously stained with a solid, beige color, that limited my choices to another solid stain. The good news is that there really are a lot of great color choices out there in solid, exterior stain.

I wanted to stain the floor a different color than our posts and railing, so I went with a rich chestnut color that I thought would work perfectly with our green house siding. (For help choosing colors that work together in a space, check out my color wheel lesson post here.)

When the big day (i.e. afternoon nap time) arrived, I gathered all my materials and tackled this beast with all the desperate fervor one caffeine-fueled toddler mom can muster.

The key to the success of this project? The right preparation and the right tools. Check out my short video below that highlights the process.

Here’s a list of the tools and products* that made this whirlwind project possible:

• HomeRight Deck Pro StainStick with Gap Wheel** Stain Applicator
• Deck Pro 12″ Flat & Gap Stainer
• Cabot Solid Stain in Chestnut Brown (This stuff covers really well in one coat and cleans up easily with soap and water. I had the color mixed at my local Ace Hardware store.)
• 2.5-inch angled brush for cutting in around the porch perimeter and posts
• Paint tray (Tip: Avoid dipping a brush directly into the paint/stain can to help keep out dirt and debris.)

Here’s what my “new” porch looks like now:

Now on to the giveaway! If you’ve got a large staining project on your to-do list that you’d like to tackle at lightning speed, HomeRight is giving away a Deck Pro StainStick with Gap Wheel Stain Applicator AND Deck Pro 12″ Flat & Gap Stainer to one of you luckies!

Enter below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Special thanks to HomeRight for sponsoring this post and giveaway. I’m thrilled to be a brand ambassador for HomeRight and, as always, all thoughts, opinions and projects are my own.

** Affiliate links are provided in this post for your convenience.