If you follow us on Facebook, you might have seen that we have been working on a fabulous room redesign for a friend of ours. We spent a few hours hunting for the perfect accessories, paint, furniture, and bedding this weekend at HomeGoods, Architectural Antiques, Liberty Thift store and a great new huge thrift store called Impact. You know how when you have money to spend, and you can't find anything awesome to spend it on? Well, that did not happen to us this weekend! We hit the jackpot at each of those stores and can't wait to fill you in on all the details. But for now, here's a sneak peek at the room BEFORE we attacked it with our mad decorating skills. (Ha!)
Looks like we have our work cut out for us, right? We're totally up for the challenge!; ) We bought this chair for $10 and are so excited to change it up!
Oh, look! Another industrial push cart-thingy. It seems we have a soft spot for these guys (and for only $8, we'd be crazy not to bring it home with us!)
Oh, hello, cute little dog figurine. Life as you know it as a silver dachsund is over, my friend.
Lots more to come about this project.: ) So, fill us in on what you did this weekend! Any hard-core shopping excursions?
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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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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!
Have you ever noticed how incredibly expensive planters are? For about $40 I could get one itty bitty planter, that's not even cute. No thanks. I decided I would DIY planters that would work perfectly with my new painted door and rockin' house numbers. I didn't want anything to frilly, or girly. I wanted my style inside my house, reflected on the outside too! This project cost me $20 each, was incredibly simple, and totally fits my style.
Here's What you'll need to DIY your own color block, tiered planters: Plastic planters (mine were from Target) 2 colors of spray paint 1 color of latex paint Dirt, Mulch, Plants, Etc. I started with these plain Jane planters from Target (find them here). You can't really tell how big they are, but they're pretty big (I can't wrap my arms around the top of the large one- I tried, so that gives you an idea and a weird mental picture. Sorry about that!) They cost $7 for the medium and $13 for the extra large.
The first step was to spray paint the middle color. I used Valspar's grey primer because I love the color.
You don't need to worry about the top or bottom at all. Just get a nice, even coat on the middle. I did two light coats on mine.
I painted the top color block with the same color I recently used on my front door. I'm a bit obsessed with it. I didn't need to tape for a clean line, because the planter had a lip that I was able to use as a guide. Also, make sure you paint down pretty far on the inside. I'm assuming your house guests will be taller than the planters, so they'll get a peek down inside.
The next step, made this DIYer do the dance of joy (remember Perfect Strangers?) because it saved me so much time! I used a paint can opener to pop the bottom of the planters. I'll warn you, it will sound like you're breaking them, but you're not! They'll pop right back on when you're done painting them.
Taking the bottom off, meant no need for tape or cutting in. Just spray paint the bottom whatever color you'd like. This was my little work station (aka messy garage).
Put the pieces all together and you're left with cool, color block planters.
They're nice like that, but I wanted to take it up a notch! I wanted some height, so I stacked them up. I didn't do any permanent attaching or anything, just fill the bottom with dirt, plant your flowers, add the next planter, and repeat. Again, remember the angle people will see them from when they walk in… mulch is a must. No one wants to see this…
I used white wave petunias on the bottom and a boxwood on top.
Here was my porch a few weeks ago. It was a sad situation… trust me, I know!
Take a look now! I think it's just a tad more welcoming don't you?
For a grand total of $40 and less than an hour, I got two color block, tiered planters that perfectly match my style and house colors. (You can see the door and house numbers Here) Now… if only I can keep the plants alive… What do you think of my DIY Planter Upcycle?
**Since my mom loved my planters, she kind of hinted around to wanting one of her own. Here's what she got for Mother's Day! Black and Red to match her house!
