george-proofing, cont.

The mulch and groundcover approach to the shady side yard was disastrous. It ceased to look like the photo in my previous post after 24 hrs, with $100 worth of periwinkle and a newly uncovered (from beneath holly leaves) patch of creeping jenny being mercilessly relieved upon and paw-tilled daily. In trying to make the path to the backyard less muddy I had somehow created the zoomy-and-poop heaven of boxer george's wildest dreams. So I opted for more rocks. As a new gardener, rocks are my new bff. Every piece of rock is a piece of yard that will stay where I put it and won't ever harass me again. So I bought 18 more flagstones from HD and broke my back. This is probably where we still stay through winter. Next stop....front yard!

and the perfect end to a long successful day in the garden - summer pasta with zucchini, onion, garlic, fresh mozzarella, cream, kalamata olives - and tomatoes and basil from our backyard.

shade garden progress

our side yard is getting a makeover. grass isn't growing well in the shade so we are replacing it with flagstone walks and ground cover. today i spent a grueling 5 hours taking out the grass, tilling the soil with my new bff (electric tiller), and laying the stone and mulch.

side yard - BEFORE

side yard - will be planting hostas around the bird bath...btw it was $39 from home goods! love!

side yard - view from gate

side yard - view from shed

electric tiller bff, which helped a ton with breaking up the sod

side yard - that stone landing on the left is where doggies will jump out once we get the doggie door installed under the window!

dining room pendants

love these pottery barn harlowe pendants with filament bulbs! really dresses up our quaint dining area and the chicken wire and handblown glass fits perfectly with our raw pine table. phil and his dad had quite a time putting them up - replaced a flush mount and had to move everything over a couple feet and add a dimmer. mom already patched the hole from before so now we just need to paint. thanks m and d!

deck garden

so here was our cute little backyard when we bought it:

  

and here is our backyard as of this morning, one week after move-in:

 

the deck was built while the sellers were renting back (we are eternally grateful for their willingness to work with us on that, it ended up being more trouble than we expected) and this past tuesday jk enterprises delivered one pallet of pennsylvania fieldstone and one pallet of topsoil.

on friday those piles were gone and we had surrounded our new deck with gardens!

now THAT is a nice place to sip on a mint julep while george darts by with his ball. and i definitely think some relaxation is in order. we are glad that we did the project ourselves despite our angry muscles and heat exhaustion. they don't call it sweat equity for nothing!

independence day - progress report

we have been busy bees...here's our home at the end of day 5.

fireplace before and after

living/dining in sticks and stones by sherwin williams

i love our rug - a thomas paul design! coordinates so nicely with george :)

den before and after - paint is urbane bronze by sherwin williams

mudroom before and after

cozy guest room featuring oceana print by thomas paul

backyard transformation in progress...rock wall, ground level deck, took out sand box and filled with sod

by cocktail hour on the fourth it was definitely time to relax with mom and the dogs.

The raw pine table

So we made one big furniture purchase - a raw pine table from Restoration Hardware. It goes with our worn-in, semi-utilitarian vibe and we were sold on the butterfly leaf. We can sit 6 comfortably with the leaf in but the table is only 36" square for every day. Perfect for our tiny dining room.

The wood looks warm in my photos - here's a website shot, which is more accurate:

It's to die for. And it's very, very raw.
We spill wine a lot.
I was concerned.

After looking into every possible finish, I bought two pieces of laminated fabric and cut them into tablecloths with pinking shears, and we followed Restoration Hardware's advice and used only clear furniture wax to protect the table. I used a bit of Minwax Polycrylic on the underside to make sure I'd hate it (it made the ashy pale wood warmer and darker, as if it was damp). I applied Table Wax from www.thefurnitureconnoisseur.com/ and after 2 coats I'm thrilled - the wood has the same soft feel, just a bit slicker. It smells nice too!

More fun with spray paint

I had sore muscles in my forearm from spray painting so many things white last weekend. The big white-out extravaganza helped me update old furnishings to make them pop in our medium taupey-gray living/dining area and our dark gray den. The white is particularly important in the den - we are using Urbane Bronze from Sherwin Williams, not Iron Mountain as shown previously...)

I painted so many things white in the last week...a lamp, an easel, sconces...but one of my favs was this old picture frame. It's an odd shape and I wasn't sure what to put in it, but my awesome MIL suggested painting the glass with chalkboard paint. Voila, supreme cuteness! It will hang right outside the kitchen as our shopping list - then I'll take an iPhone photo when I'm running to the store.

My MIL gave me something else, too - the top of an old secretary. So I stuck some $10 legs from Home Depot on that sucker and sprayed him to death. He will REALLY pop against the den walls now! Rather small for a desk but this will work until we save up $$$ for a "real" one. And then this guy will be relegated to some sort of closet nook that I have yet to devise...

One more thing. As someone who has gone through 12 bottles of spray paint in the last 10 days, let me just say that I will never buy Krylon again and am a huge fan of Rust-Oleum.