I painted my front porch black the week after my husband asked for a divorce.

For fifteen years, I lived in this house listening to promises—“we’ll fix it up next summer,” “when we have the money,” “we’ll make it the home we dreamed of.” Fifteen years of waiting for permission to make even one decision about the place I lived in.

He moved out in March. Took his clothes, his golf clubs, and apparently every opinion he’d ever had about what our home “should” look like. What he left behind was a porch with peeling gray paint, soft rotting boards, and years of postponed dreams.

So one Tuesday morning, I drove to the hardware store, bought black porch paint and white trim, came home, and got to work. My neighbor wandered over, stared, and asked, “Black? Really? Isn’t that a bit dramatic?” I just said, “Perfect,” and kept rolling.

I painted the ceiling black, the railings white, hung plants, set up rocking chairs, strung lights—turned that tired, forgotten porch into a place that makes me smile every time I walk through the door. Three days. Less than $200. And I still can’t believe I spent fifteen years waiting for someone else to approve my choices.

I posted the before-and-after photos in a home décor group on the Tedooo app to celebrate. Within hours, people were asking where I bought the rocking chairs, the lights, the planters. Funny thing is, half of them were handmade pieces I’d collected from Tedooo sellers while I was rebuilding my space—a woman who sews custom outdoor cushions, someone who makes macramé plant hangers, another restoring vintage porch furniture.

Now I’m thinking about opening my own Tedooo shop to sell the things I’ve been creating while reclaiming this house—hand-painted welcome mats, refurbished furniture, and home décor that says you don’t need anyone’s permission to build a space that feels like you.

My ex drove by last week and texted that the porch looks “really different.” I didn’t bother responding. I was too busy sitting in my black-ceilinged sanctuary, sipping coffee and scrolling through Tedooo, admiring the people who stopped waiting for “someday” and started crafting the lives they wanted.

Sometimes dramatic is exactly what you need.