Laundry Room Countertrop

In the new (how long can I keep saying that?) house we have a laundry area between the kitchen and the half bath. It is sort of in our pantry, mud room, garage entrance area. I don't mind it being in the open so much, but I've always wanted to put a counter over our washer and dryer so that we can use the space more effectively. Soooo many things had fallen behind the washer. 

Here's what we were working with. See how we liked to store things on top? 

We needed to find a work around the water hookups and the electrical outlet. 

I pinned a bunch of images and had an idea in my head. Fortunately, Bryan was patient enough to see out my vision. 

First up a trip to Lowe's where we purchased this:  

We also purchased crown molding for the guest bedroom that day. 

Bryan and I installed 2x4's to be the support. 

Make sure you tell the Lowe's employee the right measurements. Doh!

Another trip to Lowe's we got the right size board cut. 

This is post staining, pre poly.

And here she is! 

After taking these photos we decided that the counter was too pretty to store our recycling, so it's been bumped to the garage. 

I definitely need to work on styling, but we are so so happy with the finished results. The cost was around $70 total. Not bad for such a large counter. 

Pruning the Azaleas

Our house came with some beautiful, mature azaleas bushes. We adored them from the beginning and couldn't wait until the spring to see them bloom. They were gorgeous, but were way way way overgrown. So after the blooms had died off it was time to prune. Who doesn't love a good before and after?!

In the driveway:

It's hard to tell with the shade, but there is a ton more play and parking space now! 

And in the front: 

You can tell we have windows now! It's amazing the difference in person, both inside and outside. 

While it doesn't look amazingly better right now, when they start putting out new growth they will be more manageable. The mail lady can actually use the walkway now and get to the front door. 

Charlie in the Azaleas

Our new house has many mature azaleas and ever since we bought it last year I've been so excited to see them bloom.  When we moved in at the end of May last year they had already dropped their blooms. So this spring is the first we are seeing them in their full glory. 

The bushes in the driveway have already bloomed and are slightly past their prime. But the overgrown bushes in the front yard are in their full glory right now.  I took this as an opportunity to get some pictures of Charlie. 

The sweetest little thing. Probably need to frame this one. 

After getting these he decided we needed to take pictures by ALL the bushes. So the rest are with the nandinas. 

What a goofy, but fun boy! 

Happy Spring!!!!

New Raised Garden Beds

So you know how I like to garden, right? It's a sickness really. One of the things I've missed about our old house was our established garden and established herbs. Sob! I'm still a bit tender about that loss. 

When we were looking at houses I knew I would need space to garden. I guess it wasn't so much a deal breaker as good schools and two bathrooms. But it was always a consideration. We also wanted to make sure there was yard space for play too. And this house/yard delivered big time. We even got a pool as a bonus! 

Anyways, my February goal was to get our gardens up and running so that I could get my herbs started early. (Most herbs can be started before your first frost date, FYI.) I wanted to do higher raised beds here. I've always liked the look of wood ones so that's what I started planning on. I looked at the ready-made kits and do to what I wanted to do (2 8'x4' beds) it would be about $300 before tax. When I priced out treated wood it would be over $200 and then tax.  

I really love the look of wood raised beds. But the problem with wood is that it rots. And I don't really want to go to all the trouble and expense to build the beds only to have to replace them a few years down the road. 

My mom suggested we price out cinder blocks and we did. They came in at $100, with tax. So yeah, that's what we went with. While not the most aesthetically pleasing, they are durable, inexpensive and will last us until we are tired of the beds. 

Here we are in process.  It took us two trips to the Lowe's to get all that we needed. 

Before dirt we removed the top layer of grass and put down a bunch of cardboard as a barrier. The cardboard will breakdown and enrich the soil over time. 

We called Yardworks, a local company we have used previously, and they delivered three yards of dirt the next day. 

I thought Charlie would love this, but he was mostly freaked out. Oh well... 

He helped with dirt distribution though.  Based on calculations 3 yards should have been the perfect amount,  but we had a ton leftover. We're slowly adding more as the dirt settles and will put some in other places too. 

I planted parsley and spinach seeds right away. I also started my pepper seeds inside. Is it already garden season?! Yay! 

Next up: fruit bushes! The City of Germantown had a fruit sale last Friday which we took advantage of. After redoing the shed last fall I had planned to plant some berry bushes around it.  I'm glad I waited as we got some good deals.  I'll do another post on this later when I have pictures. 

So, what kind of garden beds do you have? In the ground? Wood? Cinder blocks? Pots? 

Master Bathroom: Phase 1

The master bath is one of those things that has bothered me about the new house since we first saw it.  Purple walls, avocado green counters and accessories, boring beige floor, square white tiles in the shower. Ugh. It's a mess. 

And while I still feel very lucky to even have a master bathroom, it was very much a bummer. 

One of my goals for the year was to work on the bathroom in the month of January. We do not have the budget for a full reno, so taking my cues from Young House Love, I thought a Phase 1 redo would help me live with it for the time being. Lord knows when we'll be able to do the full reno. 

First order of business: Tearing out the avocado green accessories: the toothbrush holder, soap holder, and toilet paper holder. A previous owner took out the towel bar at some point and left it poorly patched.  I also switched out the towel rack that was there and installed an Ikea double hanging towel rod. 

For patching I decided to try these things. I don't even know what they are called. But I will say, they were a poor choice for this project. I think they work well on smaller holes (like an outlet I covered in the guest bedroom), but on larger ones where you need the 6" or 8" patches it takes a LOT of work to get it to look okay. 

Even Charlie got in on the action. 

Last week I entered in the Chris Loves Julia makeover with Lowe's. I highly doubt I'll get chosen, but these photos I used do make it look rough. HA! 

I spent all day Saturday priming and painting and by the end of the day got the light fixtures and pictures hung. I did some more trimming on Monday to have it finished. 

The bathroom is sort of done for now, but I want to buy some white towels and mats to make it a little bit more complete.  Will do a separate post for the "After" pictures. 

Hints of Spring

Lately I've noticed a few hints of spring. This is doubly exciting as we are in a new house and totally new plants are springing up in places I didn't expect. I'll spot some new growth and ooh and ahh and Bryan will roll his eyes at me. I can't be the only one who gets excited at these things, right?

So while Charlie and I were outside the other day playing I snapped a few hints of spring. 

A sedum (I think) in a container on the back patio. 

Daffodils!!!! I've always wanted daffodils in my yard. There are several clumps of these in the front and back. 

Blossoms on the tree.

I have no idea what this is. I don't remember there being anything here in the summer or fall. 

Daffodils and hellebore. 

This bed is half weeds, half daffodils, irises and daylilies. Can't wait to see it all in bloom. 

The delights of a new yard for a gardener! I'm so excited to see how things shape up for the spring and summer. Thank you, Lord, for new life!