Backyard Progress Sneak Peak 2.0

This weekend we put some more time and sweat into the backyard.  Here are some shots of a few things we managed to complete:
In the distance you can see Michael put the plants in the ground!  They were pretty desperate to get in to the ground.

Here is a close up of his hard work.  He used some of the old bricks we found in the backyard when we took the ramp down.  They keep showing up in the most random places.  He even found one 1 foot deep in the soil when he was making a hole for a plant! I think the border looks beeaautiful! If you look closely you can see we also put in some fun solar lights!

Here is a shot of his veggie garden.  He got these bamboo stakes for the snap peas yesterday at a beautiful local nursery called Flowerland.  I wish they had a website that I could link to because they had some beautiful plants and garden things.  Maybe I will go back and take some pictures....

Lastly, I finally painted the shed!  We thought we would do a fun color for now and some plants would stand out nicely against the dark color.  I was also able to paint the fence yesterday.  I'm not crazy about the color and wish it was just natural wood, but for now it was the quickest and most budget friendly way to get rid of the red. 

Hope you like the updates!  Sorry the pictures are a little dull I was rushing to take them before it rained! More to come as we finish up.....

Backyard Progress Sneak Peak

Michael and I have been busy bees trying to get the back once junk yard into a garden. Now that the warm weather is upon us we have been working every weekend trying to complete it so that we can enjoy some of this lovely weather.  The last few weekends have made a huge difference and Michael has worked so hard hauling the heavy stuff, getting rid of the junk, and tending to his vegetable garden.  Here are a few shots of the progress so far, hopefully we will have some new updates after the weekend.

Michael pulling weeds.

We rented a pressure washer and gave the concrete a nice wash.  It made a world of difference.  I knew it was dirty but really check out these before and afters.  Both sides are still wet.  But the left side is before,  the right side is after.  I think the concrete was glowing when we were done!  It was so satisfying to wash.  Next time we will power wash the driveway.

 

 

Sadie supervising the activity from her perch.

Next, we brought in some beautiful plants.  This one is called a smoke bush.  I love the deep purple color.  Now we just need to plant them.

We also put in many many bags of D.G. (decomposed granite) in this beautiful deserty color.

 

Last but not least we finally got a few pieces to sit down proper.  Can't wait until we are done!!  More updates to come.

Weekend Projects

In my spare time I have been turning this palette wood from this:





into this:





I'm working on a little project and distressing this wood is pretty time consuming but I am pretty happy with the results so far! I got a little 6 piece wood carving set this weekend and just started carving out grooves and holes and adding gashes. After that was done I sanded all the edges to give it a soft aged look and then rubbed some dark stain in to it. The pieces still need a second coat but that will have to wait until next time. I will post more pictures as the project progresses or when it is complete. Just wanted to show you a sneak peak!

Also, this is what Michael has been working on. We were busy woodworkers yesterday. This is his dream finally coming true. A veggie garden for our backyard! He made the box this weekend and I just took this picture of him putting in this special soil he ordered today.





Our garden still needs a lot of love but we have a plan in place. Hopefully we can complete it before the summer begins. I will post some good before and afters when it is done! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Our Sunday Project

We planted these beautiful grasses a while ago and with time and lots of rain the weeds were completely overgrowing the plants. I think it was actually starting to become a bit of an eyesore, definitely not the effect we were going for! We decided that this weekend we would finally finish our project that we had started some time back. It took us a lot longer than we had anticipated but I think the results were well worth the effort! After tying up the grasses into little "ponytails" we first cleaned out about 2-3 inches of weeds and dirt. This part was the most time consuming. Next, we laid down a paper made of corn to prevent weeds from returning. Lastly, we poured in the limestone gravel, which is actually very fine and sandy. The result is much cleaner and I think highlights the beauty of the plants. The limestone kind of glows and it has definitely improved our little area of the block! Next? On to the yard!!! (That one's gonna take us awhile!)

Blue to Brown

Remember this? I painted this room probably around the beginning of the year. After I painted the room I thought I just needed some time for it to grow on me. Turns out it never grew on me. I have recently repainted the room to a soft brown color and what a difference it has made. The room feels so much warmer and welcoming. As much as I love blue for rooms I just did not get the right shade and I think I'll be needing a break from the color for a bit. Here is a shot of the newly painted room taken this morning. It's hard to capture the true shade on camera but you can get an idea. Note: Sadie in the exact same spot, what a Sadie! I also finally got around to framing some photos I had taken in Italy many years back during Angel and Heidi's wedding!

Hallway Redo

I also repainted the little hallway between the office and bedroom yesterday. It was kind of a weird purplish color that just never felt right. I repainted it in the same color as the back room, and definitely think it has a more striking effect. Today I am going to work on a little before and after project on the hallway closet. I think it is going to take me a little longer than planned. I will post before and afters when I complete it! Wish me luck!

New Roof

Here are some pictures of our roof. Before, during, and after. Last winter, our first winter in the house, we had some leaks in the house. Every time it rained I had a little more anxiety. There was also a random chimney still left on top of the roof. A big pile of bricks just adding to the not so great roof definitely did not help ease the nerves. Well, the pile of bricks is finally gone, and all the patches have been fixed! We even got new skylights! I definitely think this is going to be a more peaceful winter and rainy season! Our next step will be to paint the exterior of the house. I think we will start with the trim. The new roof looks oddly out of place now...

Last Touches for Kitchen

My parents came to visit and were here for close to 5 days. With their help we were able to put some final touches on the kitchen! I am so excited that we finally have these shelves in place. It helps give a little extra counter space. Michael and my dad worked on setting up the studs for the shelves for a few days. They had to cut the wall out and reinforce with wood! And I am sooo excited that we finally finished the counter extension behind the stove. With some tips and pointers from my dad I was able to give this piece of wood Michael and I found, a natural stain and several coats of a water based satin finish seal. For the legs we had purchased several different legs to try from IKEA but none seemed quite right and I just couldn't get the idea of using the galvanized plumbing pipes out of my head. After a little elbow grease, a lot of measuring, and trips to home depot I think we got it just right! We were even able to make a foot rest for when you are sitting at the bar. (That was my mom's idea). My dad thought of the cute idea to use the reducers as feet! I love the end result!! I'm already thinking of new things I can make with the plumbing and have a little list going on in my head.

Let there be Light!

After close to a year, we finally have lights in the kitchen! The wiring was super wonky here but in the end it worked out and i can't believe they are finally in place!

the ramp comes down!

after a long hard day's work with the our extreme gratitude for yoni and cynthia's incredible help, the ramp has come down and the backyard has been liberated! Sadie had a ton of fun exploring all her new nooks and crannies and even had an adventure in the crawl space. check out michael leaning against the fence we could barely even see before! Thank you soooo much cynthia and yoni!! (also, cynthia had the incredible idea of saving part of the ramp as seating! see below were we are enjoying a nice rest after a long day!)

fresh paint

We finished up a few more spaces with fresh paint, more to come....

So here are some pictures of the new living room color. It was hard to get a good shot that showed the color accurately but it gives a good idea. Also note the beautiful bentwood chair I scored at the flea market the other day! I have been looking for just this forever! Now if only I could find 3 more....