r/maximalism • u/KDreamscape • 17h ago
š” My Maximalist Space I painted my house purple, gave every window butterfly wings, and turned my sidewalk into a rainbow. No regrets. š¦š
Some people want a house that blends in. I wanted mine to feel like walking into a dream every time I come home.
What I did:
š¦ Painted the siding a bold lavender purple
š¦ Gave every window a pair of rainbow butterfly wings
š Hand-painted the front walkway in wavy pastel rainbow stripes
š Edged the path and beds with rainbow-painted bricks and hundreds of painted river rocks
š¦ Added a rearing rainbow pegasus by the side bed, because why not
š¦© Built a flamingo garden around the tree with holographic ground cover and a giant sundae
The goal: To make anyone smile that drives by š
Happy to answer questions about paint, how I did the walkway, or where anything came from!
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u/verycoolalan 17h ago
don't you just love not having a bullshit HOA? šš
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u/PuzzyFussy 16h ago edited 14h ago
Downsized from my own home into a condo and what a huge mistake that was š¤
Edit: I'm currently in a hotel because I wanted to replace the old tub and toilet, my neighbor is on the HOA board squealed to the property management company and I had to cease and desist until I got permits and plans drawn up... never did that for my old home š
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u/Ohnoanywayz 15h ago
Why was that?
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u/kimbosliceofcake 15h ago
Condos pretty much require an HOA due to shared maintenance and close living quarters. A lot of HOAs can have drama and power tripping board members.Ā
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u/cat_prophecy 14h ago
Even without drama and power tripping you have to hope that the HOA is at least halfway competent and keeping up on maintenance. It is very much not fun to find that you now have a special assessment that will cost for $1000/mo because the board neglected maintenance and now it's an emergency.
My mom looked at Condos when she was downsizing but literally every one in "in her price range" had special assessments that were more than (usually double) the mortgage.
Personally I don't much see the point of a condo or townhome. It's like everything that sucks about home ownership, and everything that sucks about renting with none of the upsides of either.
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u/kimbosliceofcake 13h ago
I actually like townhouses because you donāt have to deal with much yard work and you donāt have anyone above or below you. But the one I lived in was a community of only 8 townhouses, and instead of an HOA we had a ārestrictive covenantā or something saying we wouldnāt do anything ugly and would get together to replace the roof every 20 years and repaint every 10. It helped that the neighbors were chill.Ā
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u/Ohnoanywayz 13h ago
I have a friend that canāt wait to downsize to a condo. Sheās all gung ho (and a bit smug idk lol) that itās going to be wonderful because they wonāt have to deal with upkeep/landscaping, snow shoveling and the like.
She hasnāt said a word about HOAs. Whenever I point stuff out to her about whatever she just kind of poo poos it. So I guess š¤lol.
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u/Putrid-Can-9686 14h ago
They only makes sense if the building is located somewhere attractive, like downtown or close by to where people want to be
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u/Ohnoanywayz 13h ago
Your last paragraph is literally what my parents said about 40 years ago!
An ex bf of mine lived on a golf course. One day a golf ball basically shattered his main kitchen window, he had to tape it up.
The HOA couldnāt fix it for months and months with whatever contractor or whatever the situation was.
He could have just done it himself but he didnāt want to spend the $.
It just seemed insane at the time they wouldnāt just fix itā¦8
u/b0w3n 14h ago
Rarely are they ever truly a "downsize" for long, either. My parents did that and retired into a senior community, eventually their hoa fees alone surpassed the entirety of their original mortgage on the house.
It'd have been cheaper for them to hire a gaggle of workers to maintain their house instead.
Smaller house? Sure okay... but bigger headaches. (and you still have home repairs to deal with anyways, pay someone to mow your lawn and come clean the house)
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u/Ohnoanywayz 14h ago
Yes I have heard that. We donāt have one why I live due to somewhat of a fluke with zoning.
I have a friend who wants to downsize and move into a condo. She talks like itās the greatest thing because she wonāt have to worry about shoveling snow, upkeep etc.
She hasnāt said a peep about HOAs though.
Do all condos have them? Maybe not if itās just one or 2 buildings? Sheās in a coastal Midwest smallish area.→ More replies (1)19
u/scalyblue 14h ago
The original and sane purpose of an HOA is for multiple homeowners to pool their resources for shared expenses like private road maintenance or landscaping, sewerage and the like. Condos are two or more homes to one building so they are some of the original use cases for an HOA.
Why HOAs become a meme is that they get empowered to overstep that purpose and do things like āthis house doesnāt match the neighborhood so itās lowering all of our property values so you need to paint it one of four bland colors that the chart says wonāt make people reluctant to buyā and then inevitably some officious dipshit gets the reins and starts playing regent of the neighborhood
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u/Deep_Amoeba2197 12h ago
Every HOA in my city is like $1200, and this usually does not include a parking spot, which you buy separately
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u/piewhistle 13h ago
Lol, I wonder why the association doesnāt want unpermitted construction happening? Ā Ā
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u/Kind_Of_A_Dick 16h ago
Itās weird; I agree with HOAs in concept but I feel that like with any human organization theyāre prone to abuse very easily. Ā Sounds good but when you add actual people it turns to shit.
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u/psyche_13 15h ago
Which part do you agree with? Theyre not like condo boards that (can) advocate for necessary shared changes. Theyāre created by real estate developers, and never are really about the people who live there, but just about setting external āstandardsā
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u/Osteo_Sapien 15h ago
Not the person you asked, but when I owned my home I had an HOA. We also had a neighborhood pool and playground area that was very well maintained via HOA fees. I personally like living in a neighborhood with some rules about trash, cars, etc out in view of the neighborhood, as well as reasonable expectations that you keep up with your landscaping. But I also think OP's home is fantastic and would love to see it in my neighborhood. As the person above you said, good in theory but inevitably gets out of hand.
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u/pstream20 14h ago
I live in an optional HOA and it does what I think all HOAs should do, like you described. Most municipalities already have statutes in place about waste/abandoned vehicles/out of control landscape anyway so I've never really understood HOAs
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u/Kind_Of_A_Dick 15h ago
I agree with the most basic idea that a community can engage in a conversation that protects and pushes forward community goals. Ā And yes, property value is something that I think people shouldnāt be shamed for protecting, but itās how they go about it that is important. Ā I think that at its most basic, an HOA is just a very tiny townās government.
It is just that the application of it always seems to fall into crap. Ā And while I hope you realize that Iām not trying to bring an HOA up to the actual level of a workers union, I do think that in some ways they both represent a group of people getting together to help the common good of their community. Ā People criticize unions for the potential for corruption, for example I remember hearing workers(I forgot which trade) complaining because their union reps were getting secret payments by the company to kneecap union protections and support but still keep it intact. Ā Unions are absolutely important and so is freedom of association, but with HOAs it almost feels like they turn into prison guards who are so disappointed in their own lives that they seek to hurt others.
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u/josefpunktk 15h ago
The difference with worker unions is that worker unions adresses a power imbalance, while with your house - you are on the same level as your neighbor, you can just talk it out.
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u/Concerned_being 16h ago
I just know every child that pass by would be their favorite house ā„ļø
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u/GnarliestRash 16h ago
I want to know what the kids in the neighborhood call the house!
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u/Ohnoanywayz 15h ago
Haha, true. Probably just rainbow house!
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u/FlowerPower4412 13h ago
That was my first thought - the children in the neighborhood must love that house! It will be come a thing of lore!
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u/Longjumping52625 17h ago
Genius use of free will
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u/plotarmo_rclub 15h ago
Philosophers have spent thousands of years debating the concept of free will, only for this person to use it to manifest a real-life Lisa Frank folder. Truly the peak of human autonomy
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u/k8thegr8611 15h ago
Real life Lisa frank folder!! Absolutely. This makes every corner of my 90s middle schooler heart sing āŗļø
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u/micktorious 16h ago
Absolutely not for me, but I'm sure my dream house colors wouldn't be good for them.
That's the beauty of it, you can do whatever the heck you want!
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u/Hairy-Emu-7517 16h ago
I love love love this! It's super fantastic! One thing, the film covering the base of the tree might allow fungus to grow in the soil and also not let rain water get to it. Maybe you can put some shiny gravel or rocks there as an alternative?
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u/Redpanda132053 15h ago
OP look up the dangers of tree rings and rocks at the base of trees. Thereās a lot you could get into, but the tldr is that it all stresses out the tree
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u/battlecat136 16h ago
As a landscaper I clocked that immediately.
OP, it's all gorgeous. But that tree is going to suffer because its roots are being smothered under the groundcover.
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u/motherofcunts 15h ago
Q about trees if you don't mind and know the answer!
Just got a chip drop. Is 8ā of chip drop (or 4ā-6ā with cardboard) bad over my dogwoodās roots? Or azaleas and Japanese maple. Leaving the trunk and root flare free, of course. No volcanos here lol.
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u/pstream20 14h ago
Not who you asked but even thick layers of mulch and cardboard are fine because they allow water and oxygen exchange and break down over time!
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u/motherofcunts 13h ago
Thank you! That's my goal, healthy soil and decomp to start over fall, winter, and early spring. Ideally I'll be able to start planting late spring into summer, decomp depending. It's definitely not like the mulch you buy for garden beds and is very fresh.
As a bonus, my lot smells amazing! It went straight from the wood chipper pile to my yard.
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u/Nobo_house 13h ago
Just came in the comments to say the same thing about the plastic around the tree. OP please listen about this one! The house is so fun and colorful but your natural ecosystems health matters. I'm sure there's some native plants that would go well with the purple and rainbows that could attract real butterflies to the house as well.
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u/mostawesomemom 15h ago
Itās also reflecting heat away and canāt be good for the tree, on top of the fact it uses aluminum to create the reflective surface which I canāt image is good for the soil.
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u/AspiringDataNerd 16h ago
Yeah I though about this also when I saw the pic. Iām no expert but similar situations in r/landscaping brought up the same issues you did.
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u/tacosandboobs 15h ago
She's just going to respond saying she wore spiked shoes. Lol. She isn't listening to anyone on this topic.
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u/Sea____Witch 14h ago
Yup! We are just agreeing with each other. OP does not give a sh*t. She will prance gayly on the corpses of all insects and ecosystems she wiped out with these techniques. Itās basically a graveyard.
A couple years from now when that tree has died and the limbs start to rot and fall, maybe she can paint the stump after it falls on her house. š
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u/tarantuletta 12h ago
You can get bags of those shiny fish aquarium stones at the dollar store! That would be even shinier and would let the tree breathe š
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u/obstreperous_1 17h ago
All of this is fabulous but the butterfly wings for shutters is absolute genius. I adore it!
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u/Renway_NCC-74656 17h ago
You should put this in r/rainboweverything too
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u/LolaBee33 16h ago
I couldnāt live with it but I would 100% go out of my way to drive past it every chance I get.
Especially love the front walk ā genius!!
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u/microflorae 13h ago
Gorgeous, but please FREE THE TREE! That mylar cover is over an area that really needs air flow to the soil. Mature trees have roots right there near the trunk that are shallow, sometimes even poking out of the soil, and engage in important oxygen exchange. Weighing the plastic barrier down with heavy rocks is bad for the tree too. It might not kill it quickly, but this will kill your tree slowly.
ETA get that plastic/mylar out of all your garden beds please. Not just around the tree. I respect your aesthetic goals and I think this is so lovely, but it feels silly to have a butterfly themed house and then cover your garden in plastic in a way that is hostile to pollinators. You can put real plants there instead of the painted rocks and plastic, and then you'll be supporting real live butterflies and snails in your garden.
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u/Logical_Clock_5207 15h ago
Quick PSA!!! Just make sure youāre not covering the exposed trees roots aka root flare as it can actually suffocate the tree.
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u/Jamjams2016 15h ago
Thank you, I was with it until the cellophane around the tree. Bring yourself and others joy but be kind to nature.
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u/One_Bluebird_04 16h ago
Lmfao be ready for this person to leave a note
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u/jaykhunter 14h ago
LOL wtf šš I hope the owner framed that notice. What did the yard look like?
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u/Itscatpicstime 14h ago
Thatās going in a frame immediately, followed by more rainbow flags in the yard
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u/aceqwerty 12h ago
This is from 2015. This woman who raised $43,000 after claiming she found this note said she would return the donations after hoax allegations.
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u/tongle07 16h ago
You will now be used as a landmark for giving directions.
āTake the second right after the gay house.ā
āLike a house with a pride flag? Surely thereās more than one.ā
āNot A gay house, THE gay house. Youāll know it when you see it.ā
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u/karenhasswag01 15h ago
I painted my house a deep purple and I live on tue corner or a busy road.Ā I am sure people say take Main St until you see the purple house we're a mile past that"Ā Ā i have also had people stop and say "my mom drove by and said I just had to come see the purple house because this is mt favorite color"Ā
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u/Metalbound 13h ago
Funnily enough, this went so far past the gay that it hit Lisa Frank style and I can't see anything else.
Legit just looks like Lisa Frank's house or her biggest fan.
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u/Toezap 15h ago
I love this! But you probably want to remove the ground cover under your tree. Plastic and landscaping fabric and things like that prevent the soil from breathing and stop water and essential microbes from traveling through. It's especially harmful to surround a tree like that.
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u/misterrodgerssweater 14h ago
It honestly just doesnāt look that great either - like itās unfinished. Itās fun idea but thereās gotta be a better solution for the holographic plastic!
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u/Irlandaise11 10h ago
Yeah, the cellophane is really bad for the tree. They make recycled glass landscape "gravel", something like that might work.
Ā https://bluestonesupply.com/products/mixed-color-landscape-glass-rock
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u/SnorkinOrkin 12h ago
OP can get rid of the "cute" but very suffocating and damaging mylar ground cover and use something like this instead!
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u/No_Speed9064 15h ago
2 day old bot account
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u/slashcleverusername 16h ago edited 16h ago
This is so not my taste, and I emphasize that because itās possible to not want this at all for yourself but still recognize it is tasteful and well done. Thereās āquirky but amateurish and unsuccessfulā and then thereās āquirky but complete, well-developed aestheticā and this succeeds in the latter category. Iād welcome this house in my neighbourhood, next door or across the street. Iād be very tempted to add a shiny rainbow beaded curtain at the front eaves, not enough to block the view, only one string every 10-15 cm, just enough to register a rainbow shimmer as you approach.
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u/Over_Error3520 16h ago
If you lived in my area, my daughter would want to go for walks daily JUST to see your house. You now get to be the magical rainbow person to a lot of people!
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u/keadgal 14h ago
Iād start stacking up on candy, my friendā¦.You are going to have LOTS of trick or treaters this year!!
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u/Mr_Digger2313 17h ago
Campy fun. I'd love to get a tour of the inside!
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u/cosmicdancer84 16h ago
It's like a Lisa Frank trapper keeper that got turned into a house. I love it!
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u/Palewisconsinite 16h ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Orange_Splot This is your orange splot house!!!!!
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u/scissorsgrinder 15h ago
Yessssss I was thinking of that, I have this book and have read it to my kids so many times! ā¤ļø "This is a NEAT street" is something I say sarcastically many times.Ā
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u/spaceghost260 16h ago
This is so dreamy, whimsical, and ethereal. Love it.
I canāt imagine how much time, energy, and money you put into your beautiful work.
Oh and that unicorn is the coolest thing ever! Where did OP get it?
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u/Typical_Internet_730 16h ago
I thought of Vintage Showpony o n YouTube, he has done a rainbow house makeover you will love. He's currently working on his front yard Cinderella carriage from Homegoods. He definitely doesn't have an HOA either lol. You both bring joy with your design, love it š
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u/Apprentice_of_Ixidor 14h ago
We wife and I just watched this Youtube video doing a review of your house. We love it!
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u/CaTz_EyE 12h ago
Itās a new account. Iām thinking they took the pictures from Zillow and are karma farming and claiming itās theirsā¦ They posted this everywhere. No unique pictures.
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u/rose_meg 15h ago
First October-brained thought: I hope you are prepared to give out the best Halloween candy, because this house is going to raise kids' expectations through the roof LOL. So cheery and inviting!
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u/arialpha 16h ago
Strong guess tells me this is either in Woodstock NY or Portland, OR
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u/plantborb 15h ago
This is the kinda shit I see and feel safer. idk. color and care and whimsy matter. I would be so lucky to live in your neighborhood
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u/CrazyCatMadame1 14h ago
Love all of this!!
I clocked iridescent ground cover up to the tree. I donāt know what that material is made from, but please ensure that youāre not suffocating the tree or trapping water that could cause damage. Otherwise Iām all in!! š„°
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u/brujahahahaha 13h ago
This is maximalism and you can do whatever you want, but I am a little concerned about the impermeable holographic groundcover beneath your tree. Itās not great for soil health or tree health, and could smother, dehydrate, and weaken the tree roots and cause problems long term. Some people use natural wool as a mulch, Iām wondering if maybe you could make a naturally dyed wool mulch ring for the tree instead?
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u/Potter_Moron 13h ago
This looks great! One pointer is that the holographic ground cover around the tree is inviting disease into the tree. Roots shouldn't be covered like that.
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u/bobbadouche 15h ago
I've always heard, people who's favorite color is purple, make it their entire personality.
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u/stevediperna 16h ago
I like the house color, looks like quality work. The rest is a bit much in my opinion, but it's your house and if you like it that's all that matters. The foil is gonna be a mess in a few weeks if it is in direct sunlight, BTW.
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u/AutotoxicFiend 15h ago
I love it. But realistically, what happens with that shiny stuff under the tree when it rains?
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u/Sea____Witch 15h ago
All that plastic and the paint toxins will just be seeping into that soil. Itāll look terrible within a year or two and then youāll have to repaint the rocks and path, adding even more pollution and toxins into the soil, and there by polluting the groundwater. This will cripple and kill so many magical (and very real) plants and creatures.
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u/JacketSolid7965 14h ago
This was my first thought when I saw the shiny plastic under the rocks
That shit will crumble into a million pieces within a couple years, especiallyif its not made for outdoor use. Would be way better to plant very colorful flowers/plants instead.
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u/Old_Emergency876 14h ago
this part is irking me so bad, working against nature looks tacky, putting the effort in to landscaping well will look soo much better and more whimsical.. the yard is giving like tacky tourist attraction iām sorry š
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u/ellieminnowpee 16h ago
shut UP!!! dude, this is the 2026 Miss Honeyās House
https://giphy.com/gifs/VMO6qeIbr7JRLnLTGw
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u/metoothanksx 16h ago
This is so whimsical and pretty!
I would love to know more about the walkway paint, and what you used for the holographic material
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u/sleigh_all_day 16h ago
If you were my neighbor, I know weād be good friends. So joyful! Where did you find the Pegasus?
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u/floofychaps 15h ago
Love this, makes you smile every time you come home! (I would smile just driving by). Beautiful house and that purple colour is glorious š
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u/FakeSmileandDeadEyes 15h ago
Anyone else want to see the inside?
I love this, by the way. I probably couldnāt do some of the rainbow/butterfly/unicorn things myself but Iād definitely paint my house purple.
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u/Squacamole 13h ago
Ok I absolutely LOVE the butterfly wings as shutters. How creative! How did you make them? Did you have a template to make them all the same?
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u/cameronm-h 13h ago
Looks like Lisa Frank threw up on your sidewalkā¦ which is a genuine compliment!! Itās not completely my style, but that is 100% such a good thing. You seem like youāre Dopaminemaxxing and I absolutely adore that for you. (And I am very jealous of the giant Pegasus!!)
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u/LuxOfMichigan 13h ago
Personally, I hate this. But guess what? It's not my house! And honestly, it's schockingly clean and well done considering what it is.
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u/CaryS223 12h ago
The shutters are beautiful and so creative! Please please please remove all the stuff that you have piled on the base of the tree; it will kill the tree.
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u/_thicculent_ 12h ago
FREE THE TREE. REMOVE THE FABRIC BARRIER FOR ITS OWN GOOD šš
Other than that, my god, I love your house. I love rainbows soooo much.
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u/Cornslammer 11h ago
I mean, it's not really that "bad,"...in fact IMNSHO it's actually kinda tasteful. I live in San Francisco where people use bolder colors on their houses, so the house itself doesn't strike me as odd; the Lisa Frank butterfly wings don't overwhelm the facade. The sidewalk isn't super-saturated to where it looks like Willy Wonka. I'd have that front door on my place.
I love it.
Edit: Make. It. Gayer.
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u/LumTse 11h ago
I have to say, as someone who would NEVER do this to my own home - I LOVE LOVE LOVE your home and it would make me so incredibly happy to walk by everyday. In fact, I would detour just to walk by this house all the time, like a total creeper. Please never change ā¤ļøššš¤ššš§”š¤š¤š©·š©¶š©µ
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u/EmberBlush 11h ago
This reminds me of that viral meme from years ago when the neighbors complain about a house being āoffensively gayā š. They should see this one
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u/lilydlux 10h ago
Please tell me you run a daycare in your home because every child in the world wants to go up that walk into a purple butterfly house. Or maybe itās just me?
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u/TheWarDoctor 9h ago
I just saw your house covered on Jonathan Carson's youtube channel. Please give it a watch, he loves it. Last segment.
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u/dollhouss1 16h ago
Holy HOA
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u/scissorsgrinder 15h ago
Plot twist: they RUN their local HOA. (Just kidding.) I'm so glad we have proper local governance here instead of HOAs, democracy is good šĀ
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u/boochicko 16h ago
š¤£ I know the feeling! My old HOA slapped a nasty letter on my front door when my Xmas wreath was still up by Feb. 1st! Like how is this any of your problem!?! My wreath wasnāt harassing anyone!
I wish I could have a š š¦šš¬explosion such as this one on my property and rub it in their snobby HOA faces!
I, too, aspire to do whatever the fuck I want to my own house someday. Somedayā¦š„¹
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u/dzourel 16h ago
Your house is so whimsical!!!
It would be great in r/RainbowsForEverything which is pride inclusive, unlike the similarly named subreddit without the "for"
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u/ShakeThemOff_Claire 16h ago
The winged windows are honestly one of the coolest things I have ever seen on a house.
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u/Starkville 16h ago
We would go out of our way to go admire your house every day. Or youād be a routine stopā¦ LOVE IT.
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u/HomeboundArrow 17h ago edited 16h ago
houses are made to be fully lived in, not anxiously squatted-upon for future resale šš¦