Who Says Print Media is Dying? Just Use it For This:

I just wanted to let you know that I took this photo today, a month and a half after my last post about using newspaper as a week block. I have not pulled a single weed out of the newspapered bed in that time and...

Look! One of the Hostas is blooming! (The darker green one toward the left.) So exciting!

The newspaper is working beautifully to block weeds! There were a few random ones that popped up in more open spaces, but for the most part the only places with weeds in the entire bed were right next to the hostas and agapanthus we planted. So, do I recommend using newspaper instead of buying weed block sheets? Absolutely! Just be sure to put it ALL the way against the plants you just planted. For comparison, I also haven't pulled any weeds out of the rest of the landscaping. You know, the part we didn't newspaper, and it looks like this:

Yikes.

Our Saturday Project

Surprise! We aren't dead or anything. Wow, it's been nine months since I wrote a post for this blog. My apologies. So what have we done around the house since then? Well, not much which is why I haven't posted. We started a few projects but didn't finish any of them yet. The reason I'm writing today is that we spent the day freshening up our landscaping and I've got some delectable before and after shots for you, as well as gratuitous chicken glamour shots because you know you want them. Here are the three flower beds we worked on before (Well, kind of before. I did not take photos of the horrible amount of weeds that were in here before I pulled them this morning. Some of them were almost as tall as me. Yikes.)

We went to a local nursery called Harb's Oasis because I had a coupon and because I like that place even though it's a bit of a drive. We came home with a Jeep full of plants.

These lucky guys got to ride up front with me. 

We got Coleus for the two beds around the Crepe Myrtles, and Coleus, Hostas, and Agapanthus for the big bed in front of our dining room window on the side of the house. We also picked up two kinds of basil and two kinds of mint to plant in the planters that sit on our patio railing.

 These are the planters I'm talking about.

 Planting the Basil.

Mint.

Basil.

Of course, while we were on the patio working on the planters/taking pictures, the chickens came over to see what we were doing.

First, we placed the pots where we wanted the plants to go. I couldn't really place the coleus because it came in six packs.

Harley is convinced there are squirrels in this tree whether there are or not.

We've been saving up newspapers and sales ads for a while to use as a weed blocker in the landscaping beds. 

 We didn't put cat litter in the flowerbed. We were just using that container for mulch.

Close up of the newspapery goodness.

Are you ready for the final results? Okay, drumroll please...ta da!

There wasn't quite enough mulch to completely cover the newspapers.

 We didn't do newspaper in the smaller beds because the plants were closer together.

So there you have it. I think that's a pretty good day's work, don't you?

Update: I woke up Sunday with the backs of my thighs just KILLING ME. I realized that spending the day in the garden basically means you are doing squats all day long. Owww.

Low Maintenance Landscaping

    I've discovered that as much as I really love a good garden, I'm not so great at keeping plants alive. This realization is pretty disheartening for me because I would love to be able to plant all kinds of wonderful things and have them flourish around me, but that is not going to happen - at least not until I take some sort of gardening class or something. Everything I've tried so far has failed pretty hard, so I decided to try a new approach.
    Our backyard has two flowerbeds outlined with pavers right next to the patio. This area was overgrown with grass and ferns when we moved in, so we removed those and just had empty flowerbeds until about a week ago. I knew I needed to plant something that required little to no care, especially in the backyard where I don't spend a lot of time. I saw a post on Pinterest recently about using newspaper as weed block instead of buying the annoying sheets of that stuff, so I figured I'd give that a whirl and then top it with rocks instead of dirt and mulch.

 First we sucked up the existing mulch with the Shop Vac to be used in the front landscaping later. Waste not, want not. :)

Here are the two beds with newspaper.

    In case you're wondering, the stairs were taken down because we wanted to remove one step in the hopes that it would keep the chickens off the patio for good. I'll keep you posted on how that works out for us.

    After the newspaper was put down, we placed a one foot square paver in the middle of each flower bed. This is where the planter will sit on each side. We borrowed pieces of the monstrous, never-dies-no-matter-what-they-do-to-it aloe plant that has been growing at my in-laws house forever. I really hope these don't die on me. Then I would know for sure that I've got the black thumb of death. Anyway, we put one aloe in each planter and we were done! How's that for low-maintenance?

Let There Be Light

So about a week ago, we went to Home Depot for some landscaping items. We popped by the lighting section just for funsies and came home with three ceiling fans and a vanity light. I swear home improvement stores are the only place we impulse buy, but when you impulse buy there it's a bit more pricey than a candy bar or whatever other unnecessary item we might decide to spring for. I can't say I regret the decision at all. Upgrading the lighting in the house was definitely next on my list. (Well, painting was next, but getting Alton to paint is like pulling teeth, so that will be a drawn-out process I'm sure.) Anyway, here's the good part. 

Before and After: Living Room

Before and After: Craft Room

I don't have a before of the office because Alton took it down while I was at work, but it was essentially the same as the old one in the craft room. The after is the fan that used to reside in the master bedroom, so this next photo is both a before (master) and an after (office).

 And here's the new master bedroom fan. I'm thinking we will probably go with a sort of modern zen feel in there. Inspiration board to come.

There's also no before photo of the vanity light in the hall bathroom due to Alton's eagerness, but you can see it in some previous posts if you've forgotten about its golden-hued horribleness. Here is the new one:

The new vanity light needed to be placed higher than the old one, so there is currently a hole in the wall above the mirror filled with wires that needs to be patched:

I'm really hoping the hall bath will be the next thing to be painted. I'm sure we could knock the whole room out in a weekend if we would just get to it already.

Our Newest Addition

Remember a while back when we pulled up the plants and pavers that formed a jellybean shape in the corner of our front yard?

Well, we decided to plant some sort of fruit tree in the hopes of balancing that corner out with the rest of the yard, which has two Bradford Pear trees on each side, and hopefully producing some fruit as well. I really wanted a Granny Smith apple tree, but after checking online we were iffy on whether it would thrive in our climate. The choice then became either pear or peach. Peach trees get gorgeous pink blossoms reminiscent of cherry blossoms in the spring, so we went with a little peach tree. It will probably be a few years before it actually starts to produce any fruit, but hopefully it will at least grow and flower in the meantime.

Bringing home baby.

Harley has to check out the new guy.

No, we didn't fill the hole with kitty litter. Our compost is in there! This is the first project we've used it for.

Harley supervises Alton as he puts in a layer of compost.

All done!

It's already taller than me! Not that that's saying much...

Hall Bathroom Inspiration, Revisited

A while back I mentioned that we decided not to go with the beachy feeling for our hall bathroom, but instead decided to go modern. I showed you our new bath accessories, but I thought I would go ahead and share our new inspiration for that room. We are painting the living room, dining room, and hallway a neutral grey and we want to bring that into the bathroom as well. Since it is a pretty small space, I figured we could do a fun wall treatment in there without all the taping and measuring being too much of a pain. So, I saw this photo of a shower curtain on Pinterest and decided that it would look great as a paint treatment for the walls:

Photo from here: http://cupcakesandcashmere.com/updated-guest-room/

Those are pretty much the exact colors that will be used for our bathroom walls and probably about the same size stripes. Everything in the room will be either white or grey, with the exception of the black tissue cover and soap pump, plus I would like to bring in a punch of bright color through either a bath rug or some art on the wall. I haven't decided if I want to hang anything over the stripes or let them be the centerpiece and bring the color in with a rug. I think I will have to wait and see the stripes before I know if I can bring myself to cover them up with art.

This is what our vanity currently looks like:

We are going to eventually paint it white and get a new countertop, sink, and faucet. We also need to replace the vanity light. It is a brassy gold fixture that really needs to go. We were thinking something like this light would work nicely:

Photo from here: http://www.quoruminternational.com/index.cfm?do=app.productDetails&product=5084-2-65

We are also thinking that a white porcelain vessel sink would look great in there. Not sure what shape we like best, but here are a few ideas:

All three images found at www.modernbathroom.com

I'm also thinking that since there isn't a lot of floor space maybe we could splurge on a fun mosaic tile of some sort. As for the countertops, I am definitely thinking either quartz or recycled glass. Quartz especially has a really nice, clean, modern look to it. Here are a couple of examples of quartz in both grey and white:

http://www.caesarstoneus.com/gallery/modern/

http://www.cambriausa.com/our-collection/photos-and-videos/

So those are our lofty goals for the front bathroom. Aside from perhaps painting and getting a new light, I doubt any of this will be done any time soon, but I will certainly keep you posted.