My Creative Blog:
Outdoors

Spraypainting a chandelier is REALLY easy and it's a super cost-effective way to change things up in your home. Back in January we shared our home goals with you, and one of mine was to start redecorating our dining room space. ALL of the furniture pieces in this room were bought on clearance (hooray for a $60 dining table!), through Craig's List (the hutch was $100) or from a family member (the red chairs were my grandmas!). Even the art was upcycled! Anyway, it's just not fitting in with that lighter, brighter, coastal-cottage look I'm going for, so I figured it was time to get moving.

I have had a light fixture in mind for this room for months, and I guess I've gotten stuck on that idea. Because it's not in the budget right now, I had just resigned myself to wait until the time was right. Then, inspiration struck after seeing Kelly's pinteresting home, and I realized that taking stuff I already own and making it better is what I DO! Duh. So, you guessed it, I took that baby down (by myself!) and spraypainted it. Here are my go-to tips:

1. Take your chandelier outside and find a tree with a low-hanging branch. Throw a dropcloth down under the area you'll be painting.


2. Using rope or wire, tie the chandelier firmly to the branch. Hanging your chandelier allows you to spraypaint the entire thing at one time. No spraying the top, waiting for it to dry, doing a second coat, waiting for it to dry, turning it over, painting etc etc etc. (I'm such an idiot and forgot to take before pictures of the process, so you'll notice my chandy had already been attacked by spraypaint!)


3. Stuff cottonballs down into the stems (where the lightbulb screws in), so you don't damage it with paint.


4. Pick your poison favorite paint and start spraying! I am embarrassingly in love with this color I found from Valspar called Hacienda Tile. It's a mix between pink, red and orange that is absolutely perfect, and satisfies my longing for an infusion of coral in my home. Also, this spraypaint is awesome for this project because it can spray at all angles, so you can easily get down under the chandelier to spray the undersides. Spray 3 light coats, with some drying time in between, for the most even coverage without drips.

5. Hope that your neighbors don't turn you in to the association for being white trash. (Yes, that is my FRONT yard!).

I'm thankful I have such nice neighbors. Anyway, I can NOT wait to show you how this has one little change has inspired a major makeover of our dining room. Yay for more projects!
How many of you spray painted something this weekend?


Well, Spring is in full-force here in Bucks County, with trees and flowers beginning to bloom like crazy (although this weekend we experienced a bit of a set-back with 50 degree-gasp!-rainy weather!) A great way to enjoy Spring, especially when the days are still a bit too cool to be outside, is by bringing the outdoors in. A nature walk with your kids, husband or on your own will provide you with loads of opportunities for adding some spring color to your homes. For me, it's not enough to just look at Spring through a window, I've got to get that stuff inside my house!

Probably my most favorite sight in spring are the millions of forsythias that bloom in all their mustardy-yellow glory. As soon as I saw buds on our forsythia, I cut a few branches, plunked them down in a vase and they immediately brought sunshine to my new white kitchen. {Sigh}

Remember my Garden Wall? I felt that my house was in dire need of greens last spring, and guess what? These little fellas are still going strong. Hooray for me!

Centsational Girl

Don't even get me started on all the things I dig in this picture. Let's just focus on those beautiful pink (don't quote me on this) peonies. Am I right on the flower, anyone? Whatever they are, they're lovely.

Source: brittanyanddylan.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest Ever thought about making your own terrarium? Not sure why, but these things are mega-popular right now. It could be that it's almost impossible to kill succulents, which is awesome for plant-killers like me.

I am in love with growing your own wheat grass. It sounds super easy to do, and is a really versatile spring decoration. I'm thinking I might give this a try this week! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blog Name Update We're making progress very slowly. So slowly, in fact, that it's been a torturous process for us. Thank you all for your support and suggestions for names. We so appreciate you taking the time to give us your thoughts! Since we are two extremely decisive girls, not being able to decide on a name has thrown us for a loop! All day long we call each other with new name ideas. We think we've narrowed it down to a few that we like, and now we need your help! Please vote on your favorite name (FYI- they're very similar to each other!), and if you're so inclined, leave us a note with why you voted for that one!

We've toyed around with a million variations, like: BC Design (for Bucks County), Designing Reality, East Coast Creative, just to name a few. Do any of them jump out at you? Argh! It's driving us crazy. Help a few girls out, will you?; )

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Again, thanks for all your help! Now, go outside and bring some of that glorious Spring inside!; )

It's officially spring! Although, it has been feeling like summer with the weather we're having in Bucks County lately! I'm loving it! We thought we'd take a few posts to get you all ready for the season. We're talking spring cleaning (gag), Spring decor, Spring mantles (mine is so NOT springy yet), Spring landscaping, and more ("more" means whatever we feel like on a given day!) So, whip out your flip-flops, pull on some cute crop jeans, and let's get moving with Spring Things! (and I by no means am trying to suggest that you only wear flip-flops and jeans… a shirt is highly recommended too!)

Spring Thing # 1: Outdoor Plans

As most of you know, we finished building our house 16 months ago. As with lots of BIG projects, when you're finally finished you're kind of ready to be done spending money for a while. So, we decided to wait until the fall to do landscaping. I'm not really sure what happened to that plan, I think it had something to do with the craziness of a certain show that rhymes with"Late Smirkus"… but the landscaping didn't get done. Now it's spring and we're ready to attack the front of the house with all things green and planty. (I'll talk more about landscaping for a serial plant killer next week)
Before the hubs breaks ground, I wanted to tackle the porch. Here's the sad looking state of my porch… (and no, my grass isn't that green yet, it's an old pic)

I have plans to add some fun furniture, but first there's a BIG question at hand…

Forgive my terrible sample pics, but I wanted to try and get an idea of how different colors would look. I think a pop of color on the door will look awesome and make me happy every time I come home! Here are some awesome inspiration pics that got me motivated to start with the door!

Source: centsationalgirl.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

I'm loving this color blue, but I'm not sure it would work with our sand/grey/blech siding. (FYI We couldn't pick our siding because we bought a partially started home from the bank and finished it. Siding was already on. Boo!))

Source: maisonsblanches.tumblr.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Source: google.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Source: number-2-pencil.blogspot.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
So, what do you think? I need some input on this one. I asked my hubs and he sarcastically said,"How about we paint, the door, then all the shutters, Oh, and add some chevron!" Grrr… I gave him the stink eye for sure! Since he's NO HELP, I'm leaning on all of you. Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.
Thanks for your help! I'm excited to get working on the door and the porch furniture this weekend. Here's a sneak peek at some bistro sets that are in the running. (I scoured craigslist and thrift stores for one I could DIY and people are just insane with their pricing. Most were more expensive than what I could buy new and they were hideous!) Now, don't be swayed by the yellow, these just happened to catch my eye!

Source: target.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Source: target.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
Thanks for your help! I can't wait to share my NEW porch with you!

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So, last week I gave you a little peek into our newly organized garage with the easiest DIY coat rack known to man, but I saved my most favorite part of the makeover until now. Really, I was just going for a new functional space that corralled our junk, but the one thing I decided to do was add some personality to our garage door that leads into our house with a little leftover chalkboard paint.  

Isn't it cute?! We also painted the wall with paint we had on hand, painted the trim white, added a cute, super easy set of hooks for bookbags and coats, and organized our shoes and everyday paper products. I've had this chalkboard paint FOREVER, and it has served me well through many projects!

Once I did three coats on the entire door using this method, I then seasoned it using a big piece of sidewalk chalk. Make sure you use the side of your chalk, instead of the tip, so you don't leave any permanent marks on the door.


Definitely not the prettiest look after it's been seasoned, but never fear!

Once you wipe it down with a damp cloth and add your text, the door starts looking a whole lot better! I was inspired by this vinyl from Belvedere Designs, so if you don't want to make a big statement like this, but still like the sentiment, you can buy it in smaller form.

Some of the phrases make me chuckle every time I walk in the house like"Down Boy","I'll sign for that" and"What are you doing here?". 

I had an old frame laying around that I spraypainted and added heavy duty magnets to. I love the pop of color on the black door.

I can't even tell you how much a transformation this area has undergone! Now, I don't feel stressed every time I pass through. Makes mommy happy.

And the chalkboard step I added makes the kids happy.

It's a win- win for everyone!: ) What crazy things have you painted with chalk paint?

Well, this isn't really a project we had planned on doing right now. Especially since we're still trying to finish the baby's nursery, put the finishing touches on Charlie's room and mentally prepare ourselves for another baby. But, sometimes (ok, lots of times, in my case) we get distracted and something else begs for our attention. Back in May, I posted this picture on instagram saying I didn't know what to do with our deck…

It was a hot mess. Then the arbor thingy you see above broke in a storm, which led us to begin our deck transformation. I'm not kidding when I say I really wanted to tear this deck down because I didn't think it could be redeemed. I mean, we had done some cute projects to spruce it up, like these DIY shutters and window box, but even that couldn't hide the fact that this deck was ugly.

We decided to go ahead and try power-washing it before burning it down (haha-kidding…sort of) to see if that would help at all. It was really beat up, graying, splintery and just plain ugly. Oh wait, I mentioned that already, didn't I? Just take a look:

In the picture below, you can see that the top of the arbor had been removed, but the posts were still there. Plus, there was that one giant bush that was all up in the deck's business too. The first thing we did was cut the posts down and cut back the bush. You wouldn't believe how much that opened things up on the deck.

We borrowed a power-washer from Kevin's grandpop (who owns a painting business) and went to town. Immediately we began to see a major difference!

Ewwww…that gray grime is just disgusting. But the wood underneath was in beautiful shape- I seriously was beyond shocked. Who knew that was under there?

Again I went to instagram to post the progress. Why did we wait six stinkin' years to do this?? And if you don't follow us on Instagram, you totally should. I mean, two posts about a deck should have you banging down our IG doors, we're just that exciting. Follow us at Jess_ec2blog and eastcoastcreative for lots of fun, juicy stuff like deck cleaning.

Anyhow, look at our gorgeous deck now! It's like she was just built yesterday!

Without that big bush and the trellis/arbor thingy (what WAS that thing?) the other side of the deck is wide open…just one big open slate!

(Pssst…did you notice how well my flowers fared in my window box? Ha. They didn't stand a chance.)

Ahhh…I'm in love. With a deck. It's just not right. But it's the truth. The next step is decided what to do with the deck now that it's so fresh and so clean, clean. I'm leaning towards staining the deck a nice gray to go with our gray shutters and painting the railings white. Sort of like this:

Source

Source
Pretty, right? Kevin's grandpa swears by Sherwin Williams Deckscapes, so we'll probably go that route just because we know it's good stuff. I really like the idea of a semi-transparent stain so that some of the wood grain shows through.

What color would you choose? Have you ever used Deckscapes? Has a power-washer ever changed your life?
I'm hoping to finish this bad boy up this week…that is, unless I get distracted by something else.; )

I've already confessed to you that yard work is not really my thing. I pay way more attention to the inside of my house, and tend to neglect the outside. Unfortunately, my hubs isn't really into working outside either. But, I started to feel really bad for our neighbors because the front of our house was sooooo not welcoming. A few years ago, right before my daughter was born, I had Kevin paint the shutters and front door of our home a nice neutral brown. It was a major improvement over the faded blue that was there when we bought it, and for awhile, I liked the look. But not anymore. Now that I know what style I'm going for in my house, it wasn't fitting the bill. Not unique enough, not coastal/cottagey enough and not"me" anymore.

Oh did I forget to mention that we also have a jungle of a flower bed right outside our front door? Ugh. This flower bed is the bane of my existance. It's very large and overgrown with weeds. I figured that if we were going to add some curb appeal, the weeds had to go. We'd really like to put some low ground cover (suggestions, anyone?) in the entire bed so that we don't have to worry about it too much, but for now, we did some much needed cleaning out.

Our house is only about 15 years old, but the paint was peeling badly on the columns, so we added that to the facelift list.

It really just didn't scream,"Hi! Come on in!", did it?

I had slowly been accumulating paint chips to find the best front door color, and finally narrowed it down to Deepest Aqua by Glidden. Since I got my paint at Home Depot, I had them color match it for me in Behr Ultra Exterior Paint + Primer (you can see the code below, if you're interested!). I chose Behr Ultra Exterior Paint +Primer in Dark Granite for the shutters. No joke, this paint was amazing! It went on soooo smooth and covered really well on the first coat. I highly recommend it! We ended up only doing two coats, and they look perfect.

All of the trim on the porch and both columns got a fresh coat of white paint, as well.

I'm so impatient that I had to snap a picture of the house after the door was painted but before the shutters were painted. Loved it immediately. That blue is spot on and the perfect color for my front door.

I had Kevin take the door knob off because it had seen better days, and sprayed it with a dark bronze hammered metal spray paint. What? You don't spray paint on an old tree stump? Why ever not?!: )

That simple step made a world of a difference, and was free, since I had the spray paint already. Score!

After weeding, painting, spray painting and a lot of sweating, here's how the house looks now:

The house feels more calm to me, if that makes any sense at all. And the colors make our house look more white, when actually it's an off-white, pale yellow. I'm a big fan of that, as it was completely unplanned!

We didn't take down our shutters, because they're a bear to do so. My hubs just used a step ladder and his mad painting skills to get them done.

To dress up the porch a bit, I brought my DIY floor mat from the kitchen out. I was never really a huge fan of it in the kitchen, and with the addition of my new rug, I liked it even less. It matches perfectly out front, so there it sits! Much better.

This chair was one of my grandma's (I have two of them) and a while ago I spraypainted them in Krylon Pimento Red. I thought it would be fun to paint our house number on the back of the chair, but before I commited I wrote it on with chalk. One of these days I'll get around to painting it for real…or maybe not.

I'm really digging the non-traditional mix of these colors.

I'm planning a few more little touches to the front door and then I can't wait to get my Fall on in the next few weeks!

And just for posterity's sake, let's take one last look at the before and after:

Can I get woot-woot?!: )
Are you guys into working outside? What can you recommend for the giant weed-fest going on in my front bed? P.S. Do you follow us on Facebook? If not, you totally should because we're always posting in-process pics and teasers about the projects we have going on. Plus, you'll get an inside look at our craziness!: )

Recent Facebook Spoilers

There's nothing like a good, old-fashion upcycle, is there? Remember when my hubs and I recently renovated our kitchen and in the process took down some of our cabinets to make room for open shelving? I know I could have sold them, but I love the thrill of coming up with a new use for something rather than having it sit around waiting for a purpose. Planters are soo expensive, and so the thought occurred to me that I could use one cabinet to make a planter box! A virtually free project makes me one happy girl.

The cabinet was nothing special to begin with. Can you see why I wanted to get these things out of my kitchen?! First, I removed the door and all of the hardware;

and then lightly sanded down the entire cabinet. I just wanted to rought it up enough so that the spray paint would"stick" to it. If your cabinet is really glossy, make sure you give it a good sanding before painting. Next came the spray primer. I used this red one because it was all I had on hand.

I used my favorite shade of blue (Rustoleum Ultra Cover 2x in Satin Lagoon) and lightly sprayed the box with three coats.

I wanted to make sure it had good drainage, so I drilled several holes along the bottom of the box. The holes are small enough that dirt won't easily fall through, but large enough for the water to seep out. There is no perfect number of holes, so drill away until your satisfied!

I also added castors to the bottom because this thing was bound to be really heavy once I added potting soil and plants and I wanted to be able to move it around whenever inspiration struck (which happens really often at my house!)

Polyurethane is your best friend when it comes to protecting any surface from water damage. I applied several coats, letting each coat dry in between. My poly is well-loved, can you tell?I've had this planter sitting on my deck for about a month now. My cabinet is partially made of particle board and is beginning to show major signs of wear. Make sure your cabinet is solid wood OR coat both the outside AND inside with at least three coats of poly. Trust me- I know!

To protect the inside of my box from damage, I lined it with heavy plastic sheeting (found with the dropcloths in the paint section of Lowe's or Home Depot), and secured it with duct tape. Then I poked holes in the bottom of the plastic sheet, again, to aid with drainage.

Then came the fun part! Filling it up with potting soil and gorgeous flowers! I love how it came together and the way it adds a pop of fun color to my deck.

For less than $15, I had a brand new planter box! Even better, I repurposed something I already had and gave it new life.

I love it even more now that the flowers have grown in. So pretty! What would YOU do with an old cabinet?

Most likely you've seen washi tape on Pinterest, in home decor magazines, and even in the stationary aisle at Target! There's a full-blown washi tape frenzy going on in America. So for those of you living under a rock, what is washi tape? It's basically super pretty masking tape that you can use for all kinds of crafts and home decor projects. Washi tape isn't new to me, actually I spent some time in Japan in high school and fell in love with it WAY back then (yes, high school was a long time ago… side note, I actually served my kids brussel sprouts last night. That was a major Oh my word, I'm old because I'm doing something I vowed never to do moment. Sorry, I digress) When I was in Japan, I feel in love with their awesome paper products including washi tape. I hadn't bought any since my time in Japan, and I decided it was time to have a little washi fun!

I jumped on Etsy and found that Pretty Tape had a great selection and totally reasonable prices. I went with a two-toned grey stripe and a yellow and grey floral. Aren't they cute together?

Since I have a patio now (almost) I plan to be eating a lot of meals outside. I was at JoAnn Fabrics and found these white trays 70% off. I think they came down to around $4.00 each. While white is nice, I thought it was time to whip out the washi! Hi-Ya!

These couldn't be any easier to make, so I'll keep it short and sweet. Put the tape on the tray and leave a little excess, so that you can trim it later.

I fully overlapped, because I wanted to cut a nice, clean angle where the two tapes met.

Scissors work fine for washi tape, but I prefer using an X-acto. I'm way better with an x-acto than I am with scissors… maybe it's a lefty thing?

Did I mention that this was simple? Yup, that's all there is to it. I love the little bit of style it adds.

One cool thing about washi tape is that you can remove it really easily! Since I plan to use mine for serving I'm sealing it with a coat of Modpodge. It won't be dishwasher safe, but I will be able to wipe it down by hand.

There you have it, one of the simplest little face lifts that brought some cute style to my outdoor serving trays. Having a party on the 4th? Target sells washi tape- you could do a little Red, White, and Blue action on some pieces for your festivities and remove it when your bash is over!
Happy 4th of July!

************************ Don't forget to set your DVRs… Craftwars is on TLC again tonight! We're all jazzed up because one of our gal pals, Mandi from Vintage Revivals is on tonight's episode!

Yesterday I showed you my summer porch makeover that included this cute rope wreath. I love wreaths of all kinds (even anti-wreaths). It's the first thing your guests will see when then enter your home, so it's the perfect opportunity to make an impression! You don't have to pay big bucks for a gorgeous wreath, either. I made this one for right around $10!

Isn't that super cute? Perfect for summer!

Here's what you'll need to make your own: -Wreath form, rubber hose or pool noodle -Multi-color braided rope -Natural-colored rope -Hot glue gun -Masking or painters tape -ribbon for hanging

Step 1: Cut your hose or pool noodle to size, if using. We are big fans of using what we have. Not only does this keep the cost down, but it's environmentally friendly, too! I found this hose laying in my basement and decided it would be perfect as a wreath. Don't be afraid to scout out your house to see if there is something you could use before going to buy a traditional wreath form.

Step 2: Attach the ends together to make a circle shape using tape.

Step 3: Place hot glue on the back of your wreath and begin wrapping with the first color rope. This project uses a lot of hot glue, so take extra caution not to burn yourself. You'd be surprised at how hot that glue can get!

Step 4. Wrap, wrap, glue, wrap, wrap. Repeat. In order to keep my rope secure with no gaps, I used hot glue every time the rope wrapped around two or three times. I actually counted how many wraps I did with each rope to keep a uniformed look. I wanted to make sure that both color ropes were used evenly.

That's it! I love the simplicity of this wreath and the way it gives a nod to nautical style without being over the top. It gives a pretty good glimpse at what my house is going to be like inside- simple, a little bit nautical and laid-back.

We love non-traditional wreaths and have made several others that match our style and were easy on our budgets!

Wood Slice Wreath

Outdoor Instagram Wreath
Dressing up your front door is so much fun, so go on and get crazy with your creative, wreath-loving self!

You guys, it was time. Remember that I added some much needed curb appeal to the front of my house by painting the front door and shutters a gorgeous blue and gray last summer? That made a huge improvement, but it was still sadly lacking…mainly because of the ugly, stained concrete slab that we call our front porch. Well, you can't call it ugly now!

When 3M Tekk Protection asked if I wanted to do a project that added some curb appeal to my house in time for the Fourth of July, I knew immediately that it was time to tackle this concrete mess.

Ugh. I decided that since removing the concrete wasn't a possibility, I would paint it with what else? Stripes! Painting concrete is not difficult, but you need to make sure you prep the surface well and get the right materials.
Here's what you'll need to paint your concrete step: - Concrete Primer -Patio and Porch Paint in your desired colors (I got mine from Home Depot) -Scotchblue Edge Lock Painters Tape
-Paint Odor Valved Respirator -Paint brush -Paint Tray -Roller -Broom -Hose

I hadn't ever tried this painters tape with edge-lock but had heard good things, so I was excited to give it a try!

I'm not usually one who worries about painting while pregnant, but I have been doing so much more painting than usual for Knock It Off that I've been super careful and have been wearing a mask. I really like this one from 3M TEKK Protection- it's comfy and light and does the trick, especially with the special epoxy primer needed for concrete.

I love that I can actually breathe through the special valve, instead of feeling like I'm suffocating.

Cute, huh? Anyhow, let's get started:
1. The first thing you need to do is prep the surface. Make sure you sweep away all dirt and debris from the step and then spray down with soapy water. Let dry completely,
2. Roll the primer onto the step, making sure to cover the entire surface. Concrete primer is really thin, so keep this in mind as you roll it on. It's designed to soak into the concrete, not sit on top, which actually helps the paint to adhere to the concrete better. I actually poured the primer right onto the step and rolled it out instead of putting it in a tray. Less mess! Don't skip this step! Trust me. Otherwise you'll be scraping paint off the concrete instead of enjoying your pretty new front porch. (Not that that happened to me or anything…)
3. Roll your base color onto the step. Repeat with a second coat, if necessary.

4. Determine the width and placement of your stripes and place the Scotchblue tape in the appropriate places. I liked the look of the stripes coming out from the door, but horizontal stripes would have been fun too! Run a credit card along the edges of the tape to create a nice seal. Then, using a paint brush, paint the edges of the tape with the base color (in my case, white) so that if any paint bleeds under the tape, it will be the color that's already there. This is our fail-safe way to get perfect stripes every time!

5. Roll your second color over your pre-taped areas. Repeat as necessary. Then pull that tape back at an angle and take a look at those crisp lines! I'm telling you, there is no better feeling out there.

Finally, I added some new house numbers, a DIY wreath, a chalkboard American flag and some pretty potted plants to complete my porch makeover.

I made a little video for you guys to explain the whole process for you and show you the end result. Three things to note: 1) I'm huge and I know it. I still have 3 months to go and it looks like I could pop any day! Be kind. 2) It was buggy and I couldn't stop itching! 3) Clearly the camera should have been turned the other way. Sorry, folks!

Oh my. Well, my legs are still skinny.; )

I'll share the tutorial for this rope-wrapped wreath later this week so stay tuned!

I'm thrilled with the way it all looks, but still have one more ummmm, kind of big, item on my house exterior to-do list: paint the siding! I've never loved the yellowish siding and would really like to go with a darker color (maybe gray?) and white shutters, but my hubs is not quite on board. Don't worry, though, I'll convince him soon enough!; )

How about a little before and after action for you?

I'm so relieved that our guests don't have to look at that ugly concrete anymore when they come to my front door. Now they get a taste of what the rest of my house looks like!
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For lots more DIY inspiration and information, following along on the 3M DIY Twitter page and Facebook page!

*This post is a collaboration with 3M™ TEKK Protection™ Brand, but all words and opinions and extra baby weight are my own.

Ok, so I've already admitted that I'm a landscaping idiot. I'm not ashamed. Part of growing as a person is admitting it, and then calling in someone who DOES know what they're doing. I'm all about DIYing when I can, but sometimes you just have to ask an expert. A while ago I asked on facebook if anyone knew a good landscape designer, and we got a note from Candice saying she has her own business doing that exact thing (appropriately named Candice Price Garden Designs)

She said that she would love to draw up a plan, just for fun, to show us her skills, if we were interested. Yes, of course! Since Monica's house is relatively new without much landscaping, she decided to draw up a design for her front yard.

This is pre-front porch makeover!
Candice is an artist by nature, with a passion for gardening and her designs are absolutely beautiful! I seriously think you could frame her designs for some really cool art.: ) One of our favorite things about her was that she came to Monica's house, walked around outside and then asked if she could take a look around inside to gather some insight on Monica's design style so that she could incorporate that into her plans. Love that! Within a day or two, we received an email with her plan- we were so excited!Here's what she came up with:

Gorgeous, right? Even without knowing what the heck the plants are!: ) She even included a front elevation view so Monica could envision exactly what she meant.

Candice does a ton of work getting these plans ready: she measures and measures and measures some more, conceptualizes a design plan, creates it on paper, figures out which plants would work best in the given area. Her plans include a plant key, with descriptions of each plant so you know what the heck to look for. If you're not up for DIYing the entire thing yourself, Candice can do the install herself! Impressive.: )

Isn't that so fun? To see Candice's full description of her plan including all the juicy details, click here. Man, it's so nice to have someone do the design for you! Candice has done a ot of work in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. Just take a look at some of these other beautiful designs of hers:

Lovely, right? Now I definitely know who to call to help me with my jungle! If you need some help with your landscape design, call Candice Price Garden Design! And make sure to follow her on facebook to see her current projects. Seriously- you'll be thrilled you did!
How do YOU go about planning your landscaping?
Have you ever considered incorporating your indoor style in your outside design? PS. We were not compensated for this post! We just like to share local talent with you when we get the chance.: )

I will be the first to admit that my husband and I are absolutely clueless when it comes to landscaping of any kind. Our home came with well-established flower beds that we we had no idea (and still don't!) how to care for. Up until this year, I really didn't care that much, but this year, enough was enough. We plan on making small (as in, very small) updates to our yard and outside of our home this summer and of course, I'll share them with you! The first job we tackled was rather big and ugly:

Isn't that awful? We've been living with it like that for almost five years. Blech. Our poor neighbors. That out-of-control tree/bush/thingy is hiding a corner of our house, a small stone-filled flower bed, some decorative grasses and who knows what else.

The worst part is that our deck directly overlooks this area, so whenever we eat outside this crazinesss stares back at us. And I'm not joking when I say that that tree/bush/thingy actually blocked sunlight from coming in the dining room window. Can you see my hubs hiding in the jungle below? He got to work cutting it down, which was no easy feat.

Once the tree was down, I had the pleasure of clearing out the remaining weeds, which, unfortunately for me, included both poison ivy and poison sumac. As a result, I ended up with a mean case of both and had to go on steroids. It was fun, let me tell you.

But it was worth it! There are lots of things that still need to be addressed in this area, but the difference already is unbelievable!

I literally couldn't believe it when, early the next morning, I went into my dining room (which is the window overlooking this area) and the sun shining through was almost blinding. Ha!

Next on my agenda is adding some decorative grasses, repainting the bench a fun color, edging the whole area, and deciding whether or not to fill the area with more stone, or wait and go for a paver patio later. Ideally, I'd like to remove our deck and put in a paver patio, which would encompass this area, but that's just a dream, at this point. And oh yeah, we definitely need to powerwash the side of our house. But for now, I'm just enjoying the open space and extra sunlight. Let's take a look at the before and after side by side, shall we?

Ahhh…so much better.
So, are you a landscaping idiot, like me? Throw your ideas at me for finishing this area off- I need all the help I can get!

I'm so excited to introduce you to one of our biggest DIY Projects ever! Over the next weeks we're going to be taking you step-by-step through our DIY Patio Project. I was thrilled when Stone Depot and EP Henry decided to partner with us on this crazy adventure.

So, here's the plan, each week I'll be giving you an update with info and tips on what we've completed. You're going to be amazed at how do-able this DIY really is (just LOTS and LOTS of work- husbands, please don't send me hate mail!) and don't worry, for those of you that definitely don't want to tackle this as a DIY, I'll hook you up with the pros at Stone Depot and they can help you out.
I'm way impulsive, so for a Big-Mama DIY, I needed a plan to keep me focused and doing things in the right order (or I would drive my hubs nuts!)

Step #1- Plan Patio Layout This was honestly very, very tricky. I learned a few things… As I planned, my patio mysteriously got BIGGER and BIGGER and planning is not as easy as I thought it would be. I had a few requirements 1- A large space for a BIG Dining Table (I feel another DIY table coming soon!) and 2- An area for a fire pit and sitting. Here was brainstorm number one… Now, remember I'm NOT an artist or a landscape designer. This looked pretty on paper, but having an opening for stairs off the patio only about 3 feet away from the opening for the walkway was weird.

Brainstorm Number Two looked like this… Still had the weird stairs/walkway combo and I also added a bump out area. Why you ask? Well, I love sitting in the sun! The way the sun crosses our house, that little area would have sun 24-7 (Well, not really, but you get the idea). Eventually I talked myself out of that because it was weird and made me seem a tad vain (enter the Carly Simon music).

The Final Plan is different than both of our initial ideas, but it's clean, simple, and big enough for all my requirements!

Now, it looks kind of small in these pictures, but it's about 600sq/ft and will be perfect for parties and lots of outdoor fun.
DIY PATIO TIP: Use leftover spray paint to draw out your design on the grass to make sure it's what you really want. I had about 7 colors going on at one point.

Step #2- Choose EP Henry Stone from Stone Depot Once we had our plan, we headed off to Stone Depot in Perkasie. They have a HUGE selection and their guys know their stuff! We were able to walk around outside and see actual patios and samples of each of the different paver options and colors.

Here's what we picked! Bristol Stone in Blue Spruce. I think the color will go really well with our house.

Here's a better picture, but in a different color. We're going to have sitting wall, like this, along the back and we're going to add fun lighting too!

I love how the stone sizes are varied and I like that they're larger than traditional pavers. At our old house we had Old Town Cobble, which is nice, but the Bristol Stone has a more contemporary feel to me.
The next step is measuring and planning outside the house. Here's a picture to give you a general idea. Next week I'll give you all of our tips for the measuring, trust me we learned a thing or two along the way! DIYing with my hubby is a tad different than DIYing with Jess! HA!

So be honest, are we CRAZY for taking on this DIY? Any tips or advice?