I may be setting a summer pattern... getting a post published every other week is about all I seem to be able to have time for... but that's probably all you have time to read as well! Summer is such a few short months, to waste it indoor is just that... a waste! In this post I'm going to share with you 2 pergolas and a garden update... one of the pergolas is at ... Keep Reading...
SIMPLE DECORATING TIPS
Before & After Formal Cottage Garden
In the summer it is so hard for me to stay inside long enough to write a post! (sorry I missed last Monday's post!) I love being outside in this weather. Gardening and landscaping have totally taken front and center for me this spring. The gardens at our house were in desperate need of garden work. Last year we were so preoccupied with the renovations to the ... Keep Reading...
Raised Bed Container Gardening
***UPDATE: To see an update on how these planters have worked so far, check out this mid summer post. I haven't been able to put in a vegetable garden for a few years, and now at our new house, I really wanted to have one again. Then I stumbled across these raised bed planters, (see shopping link for them at the end) and they really looked like the perfect ... Keep Reading...
Before and After Terraced Garden
This has been a great spring for getting the landscape and gardens redone, at least for me. It's been cooler, and I like that for working outside... hot weather fatigues me! We bought our house a year and half ago, and immediately started renovating both levels inside and the outside of it as well. The wait for landscaping has felt long, so it's been fun for me ... Keep Reading...
DIY Brick Edging
An angled brick edging adds a nice cottage charm to the planting beds, but also serves a purpose. As you can see in the 'before' picture below, the soil and mulch of the circular garden I just finished re-doing, (you can read that 'Before and After Circular Garden' post here) easily spilled over the edge onto the sidewalk before I put in a brick ... Keep Reading...
Before & After: Circular Garden
Looking at the 'before' it's hard to believe how cute the 'after' of this 'before and after circular garden' could be! I've added shopping links for you in the post as well as all grouped together at the end of the post. A few weeks ago I shared how antsy I was getting to be able to get out and start the landscaping around our home. (At that time I was ... Keep Reading...
Transplanting Stella D’Oro Daylilies
To transplant Stella D'Oro daylilies is super simple, in this post I'll show you just how easy it is. A few weeks ago I shared that now as the whole house renovation dust has settled, I had time and energy to focus on the gardens and landscaping... (you can read that post here) then it snowed LOL! That was a momentary set-back... Spring has finally sprung and ... Keep Reading...
Kitschy Aquarium
This is a totally fun, kitschy aquarium DIY project that you have to have just the right spot for. I just happened to have that exact spot in the lower level hallway wall by the kid's playroom/family room. Here's a little background to this project... if you want to just skip ahead to the actual project, roll on past this paragraph. :) We used to have a ... Keep Reading...
Shutters (do’s & don’ts)
Thinking of sprucing up the exterior of your home with some shutters? (get ready... here comes a 2 minute rant!!) Please, please, please read these shutter do's and don'ts before you start! Hopefully then you can avoid the same mistakes so commonly found with shutters in the Midwest!! I've traveled across the USA, coast-to-coast, East-to-West and ... Keep Reading...
Sew a Dog Kennel (Bunny Hutch) Fabric Cover
Have a dog kennel that needs a little dressing up? Maybe this dog kennel (bunny hutch) fabric cover will work for you too! One of our granddaughters has a very sweet, indoor, pet bunny. (By the way, bunnies can be litter trained and this one is...) When our granddaughter comes to visit us, she'd love to bring her bunny. We finally figured out a way for that to ... Keep Reading...
Vintage Wicker Planter Spring Arrangement
Here's a quick half hour project... Making a vintage wicker planter spring arrangement for the front porch! The vintage wicker planter is a little distressed. It was that way when I bought it, and I kind of love the vintage-ey feel of that distressing. I actually bought it from a friend, back when we lived in our last house, a 100 year old house, (here's the ... Keep Reading...
Garden & Landscape Inspiration
We've had a wickedly long and fierce winter this last year... but the snow has finally melted and the hope of spring garden and landscape work is just around the corner. I've done no gardening since we bought this house and I'm looking forward to it! I have some ideas of what the design could be, but I'm still searching for garden and landscape ... Keep Reading...
Before & After Living Room
Here is the before and after living room renovation post! Finally, I'm able to be posting the before and after posts of our whole house renovation. A few months ago I started with the front hall and the closet transformed into a library, (here is that hallway/library post). Then, a couple weeks ago was the front entry before & after post, (you can see that ... Keep Reading...
12 Tips to get Mustard Yellow into Your Home
Are you a fan of the ever growing in popularity mustard yellow? Me? Well, I am, and I'm not! I've gone through the color mustard yellow a few times in different formats in my house, same with the color red... I'll think I love it, fully embrace it, but then if I made too big of a commitment with it, it seems to wear me down and I don't like it anymore. In this ... Keep Reading...
Before & After Front Entry
Finally, I can start to show you the end results of our whole house renovation... starting at the front entry! We bought a late mid-century house that lacked character, but sits on a wonderful double lot, (on the edge of town) that borders 2 ponds. It's a sweet location and the house being an empty slate, (in my mind) was a bonus. Here is the page where you can ... Keep Reading...