On Memorial Day the only plan we had was to hang a flag pole. It’s been a long time coming and I really wanted to display the stars & stripes on the outside of our house.
After thirty minutes of discussion (and when I say discussion I mean my darling boyfriend suffering through numerous shoulder cramps as he held up the flag pole in every possible position as I walked around the house to see it from every possible angle). We considered hanging it next to our front door, over the garage, over the front door, on the corner where the house meets the garage, even on the large oak in the front yard. Finally, we decided that the best place was the most simple…right next to the garage.
Installation was a snap. All it took was a drill and literally one minute to screw in the pole support bracket.
As soon as it was attached, the flag just slid right in.
The location ended up being perfect for us…it’s directly over the rose bushes (we try to stay away from those thorny things anyway) and it doesn’t block our motion sensitive lights or get in the way of us pulling out of our garage. Patriotism never looked so effortless. And I love the little punch of color on our colorless house. It makes me want to paint our front door barnyard red. Don’t be surprised if that happens. Jeremy – I’m talking to you 🙂
Now that is one simple $15 improvement that honors the men & women who have made priceless sacrifices.
And because it wouldn’t be a Bower Power post without a photo of Will…WaBAM! That’s his evil eye for all terrorists.
So now that you know one of the latest quick fixes here at the ABP home, I wanna know if you have recently made any improvements. Anybody? Anyone hang a flag or planning to for the fourth of July? Or maybe you already have a flag on your exterior? Where is it? Is it a decorative one or are you sporting the red white and blue too?
Will has a very Jersey-licous stare down going on.
I hope he’s learning how to fist pump too.
LOVE the picture of Will fighting the evil terrorists! I agree–get that door painted red. You’ll love how it looks every time you pull in the driveway.
Do you even know how hard I laughed at Will’s evil eyes to terrorists? Seriously made my night.
I sport the Red White and Blue everyday when I put my uniform on 😉
But in all seriousness, we will be getting a Flag for the house for the 4th. My Husband and myself are both Iraq Vets so it’s kind of a Mandatory thing for our household, to represent the rest of our Military family, past and present.
Love your Flag location and I bet your front door would look awesome Red 🙂
OK is it just me or is Will seriously a mini-you??!! 🙂
I love the US flag and really don’t think any home is complete without one! Don’t forget to take it down at night or have a light shine on it! Love where you put it!
Our flag has flown for Memorial Day and Flag Day already and will DEFINATELY fly on the 4th. (We got ours as a housewarming gift 7 years ago; wasn’t that clever of the giver?) We have the nation’s largest Flag Day parade here in Appleton, WI and due to street construction in town, this year’s new route took it right past our front porch! For the first time, we hung bunting off the flower boxes too. the house never looked so summer-y. In fact, our block got gussied up nicely in red, white & blue for the occasion. Unfortunately, our next-door neighbors never learned the proper way to hang a flag and haven’t been mindful to take it in after dark. 🙁
“His evil eye for terrorists” I love that, ha! That is one born American baby!
How funny – I just got my hubs a flag for Father’s Day! He said it was his favorite gift yet (only his second Father’s Day – haha!). He’s a Navy vet, so it has a special meaning for our family. I made sure to get a spotlight to shine on it at night… only $20 at Home Depot. I love love love how an American flag looks on a house! We decided to hang it next to our front door, on the opposite side from our house number. We’ve also talked about getting different flags for different holidays – Colonial style for 4th of July and Canadian for Canada Day (a nod to my heritage!).
Great choice and thanks for supporting our nation’s heroes!!!
I’m fairly certain that the terrorists are quaking in their boots!
I actually have been leaving my flag out at night! Unlit! Is that bad? Our mayor who lives a few doors down the street also has his flag displayed, but not illuminated. So hopefully nobody’s been giving my house the evil eye in the meantime!
While we’re on about flag rules – the one rule I am sure of is when the flag is displayed vertically, the blue field should always be in the upper left hand corner. (It seems weird at first, but it is the official stance of the US flag rule making folks.) So you might want to flip the photo of Will 🙂
oooh, paint the front door! paint the front door! 🙂
Agreed x12: Paint the front door! My favorite color scheme for a house is white/black shutters/red door. If you paint, I can just enjoy your pictures until I have a white/black/red house of my own!
Also, love the position of the flag. It does add a nice bit of color.
Ideally you might take it down at night/get a spot light, but I wouldn’t fret it if you don’t. So few people even take the effort to hang one, I think that in itself is a great thing, even if you don’t follow all the formal rules.
We have a flag pole in our front yard & have Old Glory up at all times. It never rains here so we never have to take it down : )
I love the american flag! I am not even born in this country, but I am so in love with, and proud of my american husband that I think I am growing more patriotic every 4th of July.
Thanks for posting the awesome photo of Will!
It just shows that our new, upcoming generation of kiddos won’t tolerate any violence = just give it the evil eye!
I love this picture of Will. He has such a fun personality.. must take after his mama! We have a flag and we hang ours off our side porch.
My vote is for ya’ll to paint the front door!!!
Ooooh definitely paint the front door red!!! Seriously, if I lived closer I would come help you do it. It will look fantastic!
Could that little boy be any more adorable? I don’t think so!
Here is my favorite flag story. My birthday is June 15. As a little girl my grandpa, along with all of the neighbors in the hood, would hang their flags on June 14, Flag Day. When I was about 5 yrs old I asked my grandpa why everyone had their flags out and he told me, in all seriousness, that it was because my birthday was the next day.
Well, of course I believed him. What 5 yr old would not believe the world was all about her? I grew up and when my grandpa died I was 10 yrs old. I was devastated, and the next Flag Day I commented to someone about everyone hanging their flags for my birthday. I was so dense. And that someone set me straight.
To this day, my husband brings me flowers on Flag Day, and we ALWAYS hang our flag, and leave it up for the day after 🙂
I love where you hung your flag. It does look great on a black and white house. Be sure to put Flag Day on the list next year. And think of me 🙂
We have a little red bungalow so we currently have a snoopy flag flying since his little red house matches ours!!
I’ve been wanting to hang a flag on our house for a while too. But what are the rules? Do you leave it out at night, in the rain? Is that bad? I’m so afraid I’ll disgrace the flag that I haven’t got one at all. But ooo, paint the front door, I love a red door! You can say to people when giving directions… “we’re the house with the red door!”
I love the flag! It looks great. I’ve been wanting to get something just like that but I cannot for the life of me figure out where to put it. After seeing how nice yours looks though maybe I better think a little harder!
Red is such a welcoming color for a front door, and will add soooo much contrast! DO IT!!! lol!
not to get too emotional here, but i want to thank you for showing your patriotism! my younger brother {26 yrs old} was a green beret and was killed in the phillipines last september by terrorists there. he was helping bring supplies to build a school when his vehicle hit an ied. he and another guy on his team and a philipino marine all lost their lives that day.
Love that you did that! We have 2 flags that hang 365 days of the year, our Country’s flag and the Marine flag. We are the ones on our block that people say, ” the house with the big flag pole”
Will is adorable.
The American Legion post where I grew up always hosted a Flag Code Contest. They have a great resource for those looking to display the American flag properly. Here it is: http://www.legion.org/flag/code
We hung a flag out just like that for a year or two but no matter what, windy or not, it always got wrapped around itself on the pole and got smaller and smaller. Then I’d have to go out and unwind the thing every few days or so and it got to be a pain. I’d be interested to know if that happens with your flag too, or if ours was just an anomaly.
bahaha love the evil eye comment
Definitely paint the front door red! I love red doors on houses!
I need to go buy some more patriotic things right now. I’m sure the 4 small children in our house will fend for themselves for a little while!
Red door, please! (I mean- Please, Jeremy!)
When my husband and I were looking for our first home I told him it didn’t have to have a red door, but that whatever house we got I wanted to paint the door red as soon as we moved in. It was a happy discovery to find out that the house we ended up buying already had red doors . . . front AND back. I LOVE it. C’mon, join the club. 🙂
I love it! I have been waiting to move onto base (my husb is in the Air Force) and out of our duplex before I hang a flag, so I’m a little jealous you just got to walk out your front door and do it (hehe).
I have the flag that hung at my Great-grandmothers house, and I’m trying to decide where I want to display that. I think I’m going to make a frame for it, and hang it somewhere in our house, but since we’re moving, that has been put off for now too.
We don’t have a flag on our house but my parents have their flag hanging in the same spot as yours. Great idea! And I think a red door would look so cute on your house. Lastly your baby is too cute!
@Laura D.
You definitely take the flag down at night, unless you have a light, but neither my husb or I know the rules about rain. If its on a pole, it stays out through the rain, but I’m not sure if you use the attachment Katie has.
Also, just make sure you pay attention to which days the flag needs to be at half-mast, and as long as you follow those rules, you won’t disgrace the flag! And don’t let it touch the ground 🙂
Your home looks so beautiful! And patriotic. 😉
Loving the ‘evil eye’! We forgot to hang our flag up for Memorial Day (oops!) but I’m gonna do my best to remember next weekend. I’m also planning some more festive decorations!!
I say go for the red door! The flag placement is perfect! We fly an American flag off our deck all year long and a decorative flag that I switch with the seasons and holidays on our front porch column.
-heather
Love a red front door! Love the pic of Will–you should do one every year as he grows-sooooo cute!
@ Mallory and Laura D,
Mallory is right about flying the flag at night – make sure it is illuminated – but I think the flag is supposed to be taken down in the rain unless it is an all-weather flag.
Abi, thank you for sharing that story and for your brother’s selfless sacrifice. My husband also served in the military and is familiar with the situation in the Philippines. I am sure he would have been proud to serve alongside your brother.
This looks great! Love the flag on your house. Your colorless comment made me look at your house for color. I think window boxes would be ADORABLE on your house!! Lots of color there! I love your blog and look forward to reading it.
Such a cute baby. Since 4th of July is less than 2 months from now, I’m now thinking where to hang our flag.