Let's Go Out Back

If our first front porch wasn't welcoming enough...then mosey on into the back.

Gulp..

See that screened in porch?  

It actually wasn't even a screen but more like a "cage" built with hog wire.

There were two abandoned raised beds, a neglected paint job, no window screens, no grass..you name it ..it was neglected.

Here is the side yard..Gotta love my pose and the really grainy photo! Photography has come a long way in 10 years for sure.

This is what it looked liked in the middle of our demo of the inside of the house....Talk about gratifying and overwhelming..Nothing classier than a toilet in the back yard;)

And here is the "view" looking back across the yard from the other direction

And here is the transformation!  

We removed the "screened in porch", painted, added solar screens to the windows to cut down on the morning sun(an prevent flying creatures from coming to live with us), built a deck, added an outdoor fan and planted tons and tons of drought resistant plants(and some that weren't native to central texas or drought tolerant that didn't do so well).  We babied what little grass was present and it eventually filled in really nicely.

Through this process we definitely learned what kind of plants work well for us and which don't.  If something wasn't doing well where we put it then we would move it and try again(if it wasn't too late).  Another thing that we learned with this yard is how to "not" space things.  We have a tendency to put things too close together and underestimate how big they are going to get.  I have a feeling this yard is a bit overgrown now..We haven't lived there in 4 years and before we left we noticed that several of our trees were getting a little cramped where they were placed.  Oh..we also added trellis to the top of the fence in order to block the "view" of some duplexes right behind us.  

Here is hubs tilling up the ground so we could add compost and provide a healthy base for the St. Augustine to spread.

You can also see that he added new taller posts to the back fence in preparation for the lattice that we added to block the "view".

Here the lattice is up, we have made a curvy bed along the back fence and planted the big players in the  yard...the trees, rosemary, agaves and such.

Here is how it was looking before we build the deck.

Amazing what a deck can do for a space!

Didn't the hubs do a nice job?  I think a deck makes all the difference in the world..It pulls you out into the yard to enjoy all your hard work!

Sadly I don't have a picture of the side of the yard but I promise we got rid of the toilet and it was looking might fine.  We also had a huge garden on the other side and I don't have a clue if I ever took pics of it or not.  I sure hope I come across them some day.

I did find a pic of this awesome that hubs built as an entry to the side yard.  I'm a lucky girl.

That's a carving of a tree in the circle on the top of the gate..

Cool huh?  

We LOVED this yard and spent many many hours drinking coffee(yep I am officially old and addicted to it) and grilling out here.   Can't wait to see what kind of deck we can design around the new casa in in the near future!  Hill Country View..Yes Please!

Linking to:

Houseography

Savvy Southern Style's Blog Party

Focusing Outside!

Since spring is among many of us I can't help but to want to focus on the great outdoors a bit.  There is a lot of outdoor maintenance and curb appeal sprucing up going on around our current abode but I am going to flashback to our first house again for the next couple of posts.  

I mentioned in this post how the hubby wasn't necessarily thinking that he just had to have this house when we went for our first look.  I can't imagine why??!

Doesn't this front porch just reach out and pull you in?  Now granted this could have been a lot worse and the very fact that we had the opportunity to own a home in our financial situation at the time was an awesome blessing!  Oh but I couldn't wait to get my hands on this little entry that would greet us home from work on a daily basis.  I am weird like this but I like to be greeted by a tidy home that smells good and makes you feel like sticking around for a while.
So to start we had to get rid of a few things like:
 The nice little ceramic kitty welcoming you in or warning you to stay away(depending on how you feel about cats that is).
The metal screen/storm door thingy..I think you can totally pull off a screen door in a classy, cool, or funky kind of way depending on the house and/or the neighborhood but this one just took away from what I think should be a welcoming and really functional(it was awkward and noisy) part of the home.
And....
See that blue post towards the front...this really dated the house and looked like a big turned leg from a piece of furniture in the 80's...unfortunately it couldn't be removed so we had to work with it.

Oh and the blue...For the longest time blue was one of my least favorite colors(if you look through any of my more recent posts you will see I am now a fan of many blues) so we started the whole exterior transformation with lots and lots of exterior paint, gallons of sweat , and some major paint spills from the tops of ladders(we still have evidence of two gallons of paint that were uh dropped and splattered on some of our planters)

After the major paint overhaul of the entire house

 we could focus on the smaller details like adding wood around the column to make it look more substantial and just update it period. We also added some funky fun house #'s that really made a big difference in the look/feel of the whole porch as far as I'm concerned.  We loved the look and feel of all the older smaller homes in central Austin but they were about 5 x the cost so we had to come up with ways to make it "feel" like a cool little bungalow instead.  Isn't it crazy what some house #'s can do?  If you think about it I bet that is one of the things that changes the whole look and feel of the curb appeal and I bet it is overlooked a lot.  Oh and the options out there these days are awesome.  These were just some cheapy home depot #'s but they worked.

 So in the picture above the big changes were of course as mentioned the column, paint, house #'s and the blinds.  The blinds actually lightened the porch up a bit and made it look more finished..and obviously had some function too.

In this next picture you can see that we had stained the porch and the whole sidewalk leading up to it.  We ended up using WOOD STAIN because that is what we had on hand and the real acid etching stuff wasn't in our budget at the time.  It held up really well!  I will say we did this at our current home on the back porch and it isn't holding up as well?  Not sure why? This change helped so much and was one of the best things we did for the whole "warm up" of the front of the house.  Stained concrete can really finish off a space because it takes away that cold gray look.  We also painted the front door black, added some new door hardware, and of course the landscaping changed a ton..It was actually a bit out of control in this picture..We couldn't get a handle on that lavender that wanted to grow right into path leading up to the door but if your going to trip on something it might as well be something that freshens the air as you fall to the ground right?

 And here is a pic of it from a little further away..I think we warmed it up a bit and brought out its "welcoming potential" don't you?

Linking to:

Houseography

Window Shopping

How do you go about decorating your spaces?  Do you go out and try to pick out everything, have a big shopping extravaganza and then play with it when you get it all home?  Did I get a lot of "yea rights" out there?  That really only happens on H.G.T.V. 

So if you could go on a huge shopping spree would you feel totally overwhelmed?  I know I would and that is exactly how I felt when I was trying to put together an inspiration board for our future living room.

So here is what I came up with..I LOVE LOVE the " let's stay home" sign that I found on pininterest which is from Etsy but they didn't have the store listed so I will have to look into that! This was a little difficult for me because I just don't ever decorate a space all at once..If I see something and it is cheap enough, I have room for it and love it THEN I get it.  Actually most of the time I end up taking it back because I realize we just don't need it(we actually don't NEED any of this but it is a fun hobby anyway).  Drives the hubby crazy I know but thankfully he tolerates my sporadic decorating challenges and he goes with it.

That being said..this is "sort of" the look I want to go for..We will keep our current rug shown here but I couldn't find it so I went with this version.  I am also not so sure I want a gray sofa anymore.  Maybe a color closer to the leather accent chairs and then have gray on the accent chairs but overall the color scheme is what I am into right now..(this changes often) so who knows where my mind will be when we actually move in to the new casa.  As for paint...ehhh these colors may work but honestly we might go white or the taupe gray that we have in our current living room.  I have never been a white wall kind of girl but I am craving bright and airy spaces right now so we shall see.  Actually that is one of the reasons I get a little anxious when I think about how I am going to make a decision on kitchen cabinetry...part of me wants white and bright and part of me is afraid I will get tired of it.

I digress ....how do you go about decorating your spaces?  Have you ever put together a mood board..virtual or the real deal? Or do you just go with the flow and decorate over the months or even years?

Sniftastic Surprise

O.K.  It's official I 'm a total dork...I posted this picture on my family blog a couple of weeks ago because I was so exctied to get my Scentsy Welcome Kit!  That was my first uber dorkey move.

And THEN today...I recieved my first shipment from m very first Scentsy order and was still just as giddy!  What is wrong with me?  Am I getting old?  No "funny" answers her please...  Is there something in this stuff that makes me coo coo crazy?

Really..it takes a lot to get me excited...Like Chocolate cake excited without there being a sliver of chocolate cake anywhere in sight..that is when I started to realize I'm really enjoying this new adventure. 

The reality is I have enough to do.  I am anything but bored raising 3 kids 4 and under, working outside of the home 3 days a week, and blogging my brains out until two in the morning.  The fact that I just on a whim decided to sell the smellum good stuff that I got for Christmas totally confirms what I said in my "about me" page about my tendency to dabble in a few too many things.  I have never really been one to not try something if it interests me though and I suppose that can be a good thing.  Right?

So here is my CHEESY picture of my delivery today.

I even went so far as to take out the the full size Hampton warmer just to see how it looked with some of my new spring accessories.   That's not a big deal right?  But then...I break out the camera..Weirdo!

And here is the Hampton in all her glory..I think she looks good for spring!

Anywho..I am just going to accept the fact that I have been won over by all the wonderful scents that are arriving at my door.  It is too much fun and really I don't know a girl that wouldn't get at least a little excited about this stuff!  

In doing my research I have found that not only are these puppies safer because you can enjoy a candle fragrance 24/7 without a flame, soot, or smoke but you can also save some hard earned $$.  Apparently 7 out of 10 households burn candles and the average large candle is $20 and lasts 40-60 hours.  If you burned a candle a month(it would only be lit a few hours at a time) then you could save $137.00 a year using a Scentsy full size warmer and you don't have to only enjoy that yumtastic smell a few hours at a time!  I am obviously pretty impressed by this info!  Giddy I tell ya!

Sunburst LOVE..I have to try this!

Oh look what I came across today! 

 I love this sunburst mirror project that The Nester posted about a few months ago.  There are a ton of great sunburst mirrors out there and many many bloggers that have reinvented less expensive versions of them.  When I was craving one for above our bed in our  mini master makeover a couple of years ago I thought about trying ot get creative and make something but nothing that I came up with seemed substantial enough for the space.  So I ended up buying this gorgeous Nate Berkus mirror.

It was definitely not the thrifty way to go about it but when comparing it with some others out on the market it was a fairly decent price. I had been so thrifty elsewhere that I didn't feel as guilty with one splurge.  Even though I have seen many great DIY versions I am still loving my choice!

That being said I wouldn't mind covering my whole house in sunbursts...I have had a love for them for the past several years that hasn't faded yet!  Just think about all the options of The Nester's version you could make.  With all the different types of paper and/or poster board you could create a gazillion different looks!  If you try this I would love to see what version you produce!  Check out The Nesters link aboce for step by step instructions..Happy Creating!

The weathered look is on my side

A week or so ago I decided to start tackling a little art project.

  I had been envisioning a simple piece of wood framed out, stained a nice gray with some kind of white design painted on.  So off to home depot for their super convenient 2 x 2 piece of plywood($4.77),  some of the cheapest trim I could find which was .68 a foot and it said it was "trellis" trim(1 1/2wide x 1/4thick). So I spent a little over $10 on the wood.

 I laid the trim out and marked where I needed to cut(I didn't miter the corners so two pieces are a bit longer than the other two).  If you lay it out it makes sense.  Then I used some gorilla glue on each piece right before I used the nail gun to attach it.  

I had to have hubby hold the pieces as I nailed them to keep all the edges lined up.  I bought the cheapest materials I could so I didn't have a real good thickness to work with when nailing but it worked..Only one nail popped through but hey it adds to the rustic charm right? Here is how it looked once all the trim was attached.  

Here is my sad little nail that came through..

I sanded the whole piece to even up the edges and just take a bit of the roughness off of it.

Then took my minwax water based stain in slate($10) and applied with a sponge brush and wiped away the excess with a cloth. 

I LOVE all the gorgeous stencils that I'm seeing out there but I have been a little shocked at the prices.  I originally wanted to do a rustic looking piece of wall art but I am no artist so I decided I would go the stencil route since I can't draw a good stick figure.  I started researching the ones I really like and they were anywhere from 29.99 to 49.99.  Gulp...that was going to add a penny or two more to this project.  

So after a little research I came across this Free Stencil on the This Old House website.  It was too large for the look I was going for so I minimized it 50% on our copier, cut it out and then played with the design.  Lining up all the points on the stencil made it much easier to just go for it and not have to measure anything.

I traced the stencil on with chalk.  I don't know if this was a good route to go or not but it worked for  since I was painting the design with white and planing on roughing it up a bit.

I couldn't find the white paint that I thought we had laying around so I just used the Kilz that we had in the garage.

 I also didn't have a good brush to use but just went with it because I was determined not to spend $$ on anything but the wood and stain.  After it was all painted I roughed it up a bit with my sanding block .

What do ya think?  I think it turned out pretty good.  I am glad the weathered look is in because it helps hide the fact that I not only can I not draw but I also have a hard time tracing:)

Here it is on our living room wall..Looked kind of blah there with nothing around it..

 So I threw it up on what I call my mantel since we don't have one...I liked it much better here!

 Here is a close up of that shows off the messy rustic finish!

I linked this project to several of the parties in my sidebar on the right and in the "party" tab.

And at the The Lettered Cottage who have a fab big button to post right here but I can't get it to work..Arg.

And:

Nifty Thrifty Things

Laugh Love and Craft

The Artsy Girl Connection

Welcome Home

We went away for a couple of days and came home to spring in half bloom!  I would say full bloom but I know that in the next few weeks our flower beds are gonna be crazy with color!  That is the beauty of wildflowers!

Pictured below is one of our trusty perennials the flame acanthus it's a little hard to see due to the purple bougainvillea in the background

I should know this but I think that purple guy in the picture below is a larkspur...correct me if I'm wrong..I like to know this stuff!  Do you see what I mean about the craziness that is about to bloom in this bed?

 I just really like this view of the beds in the back yard.  We love to mix a little rustic metal in with all of our plants.  There use to be a big rusty metal cactus in the far corner but we removed it so potential homebuyers wouldn't expect it to come along with the house.

 Have you ever seen a red bluebonnet?  Doesn't even really make sense does it?  And...it is more of a maroon color to me.  Why we don't have any bluebonnets(the Texas state flower) in our yard I don't know.  We will have to work on that!

 Oh and these are my favorite wildflowers these days!  Red poppies..they put on quite a show...

 We were a bit shocked to see that we actually had some red strawberries when we got home too!  Only one was ready to eat so the two bigger kids had to split it! Ha!  Believe it or not they didn't mind..they get such a kick out of growing things and reaping the rewards

 Another newer favorite is this flax.  It isn't the show stopper that the poppies are but I love how delicate it is and it gets to be a pretty good size

 Love Love Love our agave plants(huge blue/gray guy in the background)...so easy and so cool!

 And one more poppy picture..Love how they look next to this texas white stone

Now the lawn on the other hand...still a work in progress ....but I just had to share some of the reasons this is my favorite time of the year!