Welcome to the 293rd Metamorphosis Monday!
Have you ever thought about making over your front walkway? Often, our walkway is the very first impression visitors have of our home since it’s one of first things they see upon arriving. We want our walkway and entrance to always feel inviting and welcoming since it guides our friends and family right up to the front door of our home.
Carolyn who reads BNOTP, kindly shared some pictures of a wonderful makeover she recently completed for her front walkway.
In this “Before” picture, you can see that her walkway was the standard, builder-grade concrete walkway that most of us have. Doesn’t look bad, does it?
When the walkway developed a large crack across it, Carolyn and her hubby decided it was time to give it a whole new look.
Here’s another “Before” view from the other end. Carolyn felt her walkway was a bit narrow and wanted to correct this issue, as well.
Carolyn decided to keep the good portion of her walkway, the part that wasn’t cracked, and expand it making it much wider and inviting. Work got underway and pipe was placed underneath the walkway in places to run the “plug-and-play” lighting Carolyn chose for her new walkway.
Ready to see the “After?” 🙂
AFTER: Wow! Just Wow! What a difference! I love the soft gray color of the pavers against the green grass and the surrounding brown mulch.
Carolyn went with a paver called the Cambridge Cobble. Per their site, it mimics the “tree-lined avenues of the late 19th century small-town America.” This paver has gently rounded corners and a domed “pillow-top” surface. Carolyn specifically chose it over a tumbled stone her contractor showed her because it didn’t have as many gaps between the pavers where debris, pollen and leaves could collect or get stuck.
Carolyn also remodeled the stairway leading to her front porch. Here’s how it looked before its makeover.
Before:
Almost After:
I can’t show you the final “After” on the stairway since the wood has to cure before it can be painted. The risers are PVC and the staircase balusters and rails are KDAT wood which is pressured-treated wood that is “Kiln Dried After Treatment.”
Since Carolyn went with KDAT wood, she’ll be able to paint it much sooner than possible with regular pressure-treated wood. It will be painted a little later this month to match the rest of the porch. You may remember, KDAT wood was the same wood I used for the floor of my screened porch, too. I’ve been really happy with how it has held up these last six years.
Carolyn and her hubby love how much this has already brightened up this area since the front porch steps tended to be dark due to all the trees in the front yard.
The lighting Carolyn used to light her front walkway was especially made for outdoors.
She found it at Lowes and ordered the extensions she needed for it on Amazon.
I asked Carolyn about the cute little thingies alongside the walkway that she installed her lighting inside. I love how they look! Carolyn said, “We made them up so I just call them our “pier light” sets. We saw those originally with a solar landscape light on top that were made with flat-sided landscape ties that can be found at many home improvement stores.
We have little sun so we needed the look with low-voltage lighting. My husband and I wanted the true, round look found with the fence posts…those were a 60-mile trip, ONE way, only found at a Tractor Supply Store in my area! Lowe’s couldn’t even order them.”
Carolyn said, “The lengths we cut were: 12″, 15″ and 18″. Were I to do them again, I would only put a 2-inch height difference between heights for visual, aesthetic reasons, not because the 18″ is too high. I might do 14′, 16′ and 18″ heights.
After roping and the light installation, they give about the same amount of light as the deck application. The lighting system holes were drilled at 8″. If someone wanted more light, they would need to use the second set of heights and drill the lighting hole a little higher. I wanted soft, low lighting. Where one fades out, the next light begins. They are about 15 feet apart on the walkway.”
Be careful! Carolyn has a “Watch Turtle” guarding her walkway! Isn’t he cute! I love me some garden art! Every garden needs a bit of whimsy. 🙂
Thanks so much to Carolyn for sharing her beautiful walkway makeover! I known all the great info about the lighting and seeing this wonderful transformation is going to provide so much inspiration to others who are considering a similar renovation of their front walkway.
Have you recently transformed your garden or landscape? Share a few pictures with me at [email protected] and if possible, I’ll feature your landscape makeover here at Between Naps On The Porch!
Looking forward to seeing what you’ve been working on!
If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday, you will need to link up the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top of your blog, into the “url” box for InLinkz.
In order to link up, you’ll need to include a link in your MM post back to the party so the other participants will have an opportunity to receive visits from your wonderful blog readers.
Please observe these few rules:
Only link up Before and After posts that are home, gardening, crafting, painting, sewing, cooking, DIY related.
Do not link up if you’re doing so to promote a website or product.
Do not link up a post that was just linked last week since a lot of readers will have already seen that post.
Thanks so much for hosting! Life to the full! Melissa
What a great sidewalk makeover. Lots of great ideas! Thanks for hosting MM, Susan!
That’s a gorgeous walkway !
Thanks for the party Susan – hope you have a wonderful week
Hugs
Suzan
Wow, that looks like a park trail. How pretty. Thanks for hosting.
Shannon – bohemianjunktion.com
Absolutely gorgeous walkway, Susan – very inspiring! I am delighted to join your party – I do appreciate you hosting,
Kathy
What an amazing transformation! Love this look! That crack was the best thing that happened lol! Thanks so much for hosting!
So pretty. I keep thinking I’m going to something to the walkway to my front door. Maybe this will be the inspiration I need. Thank you, Carolyn and Susan, for sharing this inspiration. laurie
What a pretty walkway, Susan! Thanks for sharing it! Have a great week!…hugs…Debbie
Susan, this was a great ‘before & after.’ Carolyn made smart choices and the result is stunning. I’m especially impressed with how she was able to save a large portion of the cement walkway (we know how expensive that much cement is to lay) and have it beautifully incorporated into a new and more inviting entrance to her home. Her surrounding landscaping is beautiful. Bravo to Carolyn and her hubby on a job well done! Vikki in VA.
What a beautiful walkway! Thanks so much for the Monday inspirations to kick start the week!
Wow they did a fabulous job! I love the lighting they added too. Those brick pavers are perfect and I like how they incorporated it with the original cement sidewalk. Their stairway looked good but now it’s even better! They have a beautiful setting and now they’ve enhanced it. Thanks for sharing. I’ll send you a link to our backyard transformation we did some years ago.
Thanks for hosting!
What a beautiful transformation,….Christine
Such a beautiful solution to her problem of the narrow walkway….I love the pavers…and its design…we had brick pavers in our walkways and driveway in a previous home and loved them!…Also love the lights on the stairs…a great idea as far as beauty and safety….Thanks for hosting Susan and have a great weekend!
What a beautiful transformation,…Christine
LOVE the walkway transformation! It looks so great.
Thanks so much for hosting the great link party!
KC
What a lovely walkway, Susan! This is such an improvement and so welcoming! Thank you for hosting another great link party! Have a great week!
Ha! I have a bunch of “watch” frogs…and a small family of rabbits! 😉 Thanks for the party!
This post is a keeper. I love the new sidewalk and the paver cobblestones are wonderful. I am thinking of doing something to the sidewalk going up to my front door and I love this idea. My sidewalk is much shorter so I would really have to modify her idea but I just love the look. Thanks for hosting.
WOW! WEEEE….I’m in love with Carolyn’s before an after transformation of her concrete walkway. The pavers are perfect. I be “liking” the three post lighting, looks kinda nautical with the roping….Thanks for hosting Susan.
Thanks, Laurie, for picking up on the nautical vibe. We live on the NC coast and it was exactly what we were striving for!
Oops! Thanks should’ve gone to Jo May. My apologies!
Carolyn, I love your walkway and your entire lawn. Could you share what kind of sod that is?
Sandra, thank you so much! We have to seed with a “shade lawn” seed. We have dozens of trees surrounding the house and are situated in a maritime forest. I will check with my husband regarding the seed he uses. I can tell you it’s a Scott’s product purchased at Lowe’s Home Improvement. We really rely on the lawn care experts at Lowe’s because this is the most shade we have ever had.
The 100+ azaleas are just starting to bloom. It is a much-improved view from the porch since the sidewalk was refreshed with the pavers!
Carolyn’s sidewalk and lighting look better than new. What a great job.
Madonna
What a great transformation! I love everything about that walkway! Thanks a bunch for hosting. Have a super week!
Blessings,
Nici
Carolyn’s project was well done with a great thought process in choice of materials. Thanks for sharing, Susan, and hosting us all again for this Met Monday. Let’s make it a great week!
Rita
Thanks for the party, Susan! What a lovely front walk transformation and so nice of your reader to share such detailed pictures! Have a great week 🙂
What an amazing makeover — love the cobblestone! Thanks for hosting, Susan! 🙂
Carolyn’s walkway is such an amazing transformation. Thank you for sharing and for hosting. Have a happy week. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thank you, Susan, for posting our sidewalk transformation. Had I known it would ever be featured … anywhere … I would have staged things a little better when I took those photos! lol!
We bought a lovely little cottage home on the NC coast that was 15 years old at the time of purchase two years ago. It really needs some work! After a number of indoor projects, it was time to tackle that sidewalk this spring.
My husband and I cannot take credit for the new and improved walkway. Credit for the design should go to Ahmed Hassan, Celebrity Landscaper. (The HGTV Original and BEST!!) I was all for tearing up the whole sidewalk to put in pavers but Ahmed offered a better solution, a more wallet-friendly solution, at the Wilmington Home Show this past February. And I really love the mix of the concrete and the pavers. (Our contractor told me the concrete removed does not go to a landfill. It is recycled.)
Our home is on a section of NC coast that backs up to a lovely little marsh. Hence, the coastal vibe to the lighting. : )
The typos are mine, everyone … not Susan’s! These arthritic hands and my poor eyes are to blame!! I am not the proof-reader I once was!
Even the garden bunny was embarrassed at the look of those weathered, old stairs!! lol!
Thanks again, everyone, for the lovely remarks!
Thanks, Susan!! How fun to see this!! <3
Thanks for sharing Carolyn’s new old walkway. We have a mess of a sidwalk here at our old farmhouse and I have been looking for good options. I think this is it! I do have a question though. Did they do any prep or covering on the ground or just set the pavers down on the dirt?
Linda, I’m awaiting a reply from the contractor. There were several layers that went into the paver bed preparation. I think the first layer was gravel but I will get back to you when I hear from them, OK?
The contractor said the pavers were Belgard and you would be able to find all the info you needed for the bed prep at the Belgard site. I’m sorry they were not more forthcoming with specific info. Hope that helps, Linda.
Beautiful Carolyn’s new looking walkway, Susan! The turtle is adorable, hehehe
Thanks for hosting lovely lady and have a great week.
FABBY
The walkway is fantastic. Thanks for hosting.
What an awesome sidewalk makeover! Love it! Thank you so much for hosting another great party, Susan!
Wow that walkway looks amazing! Thanx for hosting Susan.
This is timely. We want to build a walk way between our pool and back porch. I really like the look of the stone / concrete combo. The dock ties with lights look so cute, too! Thanks to Carolyn for sharing.
Love the walkway with the pavers! The lighting was also unique….something I could use in my backyard! I love all the ideas, antiquing and home tours you provide to us! Thank you! 🙂
Susan,
Oh, dear friend. . .you seem to always have a “heads~up” to the next project as “Mr. Ed” and I are planning a similar change here on the Prairie!!!
Carolyn’s update of her sidewalk and stairs is an amazing transformation!!!
I, especially, enjoyed seeing all the lighting on the steps and the upright lighting along the path.
This post will be “dog~earred” for future reference!!!
Thank you for hosting Metamorphosis Monday, each week!!!
I come away “filled to the brim” with inspiration!!!
Fondly,
Pat
The pavers have given the walkway a more polished look. Nice job!
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
Susan, thanks for the party and the terrific feature of Carolyn’s sidewalk. I’m envious of that beautiful sidewalk transformation! So happy that Carolyn shared it with us, too!
Wow, that is some wonderful makeover! Thanks so much for hosting, Susan!
Beautiful walkway! Very nice details. Thanks for hosting another party, Susan!
Great transformation of her sidewalk. Thanks for sharing it and thank you for hosting. Have a great week!
Thanks so much for the party!!
Hugs,
Debbie
WOW! Stunning………… 🙂
Seeing the original concrete in the after views, it’s amazing people could walk on that narrow before version!
Susan, I’m so glad you shared Carolyn’s amazing sidewalk transformation with us. It’s very impressive!
That walkway is gorgeous…lucky Carolyn. Thanks so much for the party. Have a wonderful week.
That was certainly a step (many!) in the right direction!! It looks marvelous!! FRANKI