Finally finishing... random projects

Over Spring break we started the deck project. I painted the first coat of the floor at that time. Not really realizing how much time this project would take. Generally I like to paint.  I find it therapeutic and painting outdoors is nice for many reasons, mess worry being primary. Who knew it would take me all summer to work on this project. You make recall older posts about this.

Painting the deck floor was super easy and the first coat went fast. Chris had to reinstall the railing before I could start the rails and the second coat. Due to schedules and such it took us a couple of weeks to get the railing back on. If we had all the money in the world we would of replaced the railing with something a bit more contemporary and perhaps metal. I decided to try and make the railing look a little different from the deck by painting it a slightly different shade. It looks nice but in certain light you can't even tell it's a different color. In hindsight not really worth the extra time and care. It took me a couple of weeks (one to two hours at a time) to finish up the railing.

Kid note: Nicholas helped "paint". My friend Paula had this great tip to give him a paint brush and a cup of water.  He water painted ahead of me most days and enjoyed helping me.

I finished the second coat on the deck floor and the stairs over labor day. It turned out great and should last for a couple of years (longer hopefully).

Dog note: Lucy's claws are annoyingly long and mark up the floor a bit.  I knew this would happen but it's still annoying.  If you can't tell I am a bit dog frustrated lately - guess I'd better get her claws trimmed or learn how to do it.  Good thing we love her.

Since we had to move all of the deck furniture in order to paint the deck I decided to sand and spray paint the furniture too. This was a quick and easy project that only took a couple of hours from start to finish. The grass worked great as a drop cloth. Steel wool and elbow grease removed all the rust and old paint. Three cans of Rustolem black paint and the furniture looks knew again. Love it.

landscaping the backyard - phase 1

It's funny the things you think about (or don't) when you buy a new house. When we bought this home we thought very little about the yard. We knew we wanted to plant a few trees and create a space for gardening. After living here almost two years it has become more and more apparent that our backyard was not very functional. In fact, we have spent most of our yard time hanging out in the front yard. Our two major backyard problems are concrete jungle and sloped yard. You can see the mass of concrete in these photos. The yard does not look as slopped as it actually is.

Last summer we hired a landscape architect to work up some drawings for our ideal yard. He provided us with a plan (and a quote) for the dream yard. Well, it turns out landscaping, especially hardscaping can get rather pricey, fast. We held off starting the project last year so we could plan how to tackle, or until I meet the Yard Crashers guy at home depot. We've decided to break it into financially feasible phases.

You can see in this amazing plan that we are eliminating a lot of the concrete (we will leave enough to park a trailer, boat or other gear if needed). We will be sinking the trampoline into the ground, and attempt flatten the yard a bit with a stepped retaining wall. We have a beautiful spot laid out for raised gardens (which Chris will build) and 3 fruit trees. There will be plenty of flower beds adding much needed personality to the yard.

Chris has spent the last three weeks gathering many bids from various contractors to see if we could cut down costs from the original bid. We landed with a great company who has agreed to help us in phases.

Today we started Phase 1 = hardscaping. This phase involves the tear out of all the concrete and grass. Sinking the tramp, leveling the yard and building the retaining wall. Once the groundwork is laid we will plant new grass, build the garden boxes and plant trees. This entire phase should be complete in 2-3 weeks.

In the fall or next spring we will start phase 2. This phase includes changing the deck stair orientation, refinishing the deck and changing out the railing. Planting perennials and shrubs (plants are $$$). The plan calls for over 60 shrubs.

Phase 3 = covered deck, & yard lighting & ornamental trees.

Phase 4 = paver patio & water feature, if we make it this far...

We are excited to tackle this project and hope to enjoy a summer with a nice new backyard. Bear with us for the next few weeks as I post pictures of the progress.



Today's progress. No turning back now...

Somewhere on the horizon is a swing set... KSL here I come.

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Day 2 of our spring break staycation...

We set to work on the deck project. We removed the railing; sanded down the entire deck and put a first coat of paint down; and built new stairs (additional) coming off the west side. Tomorrow we will tackle the second coat of paint and figure out what to do with the railing.

I took pictures of the process. I might get up the energy to post them... A real blog post, imagine that. We will see.

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More staycation projects.... We swapped out our very dated light fixtures. Much better.

I continued to paint the deck today but it was too windy. I'll finish it tomorrow.

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A great weekend full of baseball, ball games, barbecue, city pool, blow up backyard pool, deck painting, yard work and house work.

I also cut the boys hair... And colored mine. Yikes. Color 6w turns out to bit a bit darker but the gray is covered.

I have a ton of blogging to do, updates and such but it's been so nice taking a break from the computer that I have had a hard time sitting down to "work". You've probably noticed I'm slacking a bit on posting daily photos. I haven't missed a photo a day but that extra step of posting has been delayed. Nothing wrong with a 2fer.

Bear Lake, View from the cabin deck

Nesting dreams - dining room

I've been evaluating our home a lot lately and trying to imagine each room in a little different light. I'd like to infuse more our our style into this house. I found this great book, Decorate. I have grand ideas for a few room and this book is providing great inspiration. I am also budget conscious. Grand + Budget = possible?

I figured if I document what I want to do with these rooms then I'll have the starting of a plan.

1. Dining area
TABLE: First we have a table that is a bit too large for this space. I have been hunting, for a few weeks now, for the the right table for this room. I am thinking we want a round table, glass or white (so it looks smaller in the space) and four-six high back chairs. The table needs to have a leaf so we can expand it for seating when entertaining. A round table with space around the back door. We find that we are constantly opening the back deck door into the current table.

WALL: The east wall opposed to the table is currently larger, green and boring. I am thinking I will wallpaper this wall with a fun but subtle pattern. A great resource found here. And here. I must have expensive tastes but I will not spend 150.00 on one roll. Ouch. So I'll need to find something similar for less. I'll need two rolls. Any resource suggestions?

HUTCH: After the wall is papered I think we should find us a side boy or a hutch for additional storage. Currently I have cake platters and other kitchen garb stored downstairs and on tops shelves of closets. Not too practical. I'd like this stuff more easily at my fingertips. If it is easier to grab I am hoping to use them more - this is the goal. This wall also houses a rarely used intercom system. I'd like to swap this out with an intercom/ipod playing station so we can pipe music throughout the house. Leslie and I saw a few ideas like this last year at the parade of homes. I imagine it's rather expensive but I can save my pennies.

Big ideas around this project. Since fall and winter are just around the corner it seem like something fun to tackle indoors.

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Still painting that deck!

We took a day off today to hang out with cousins at the zoo. The zoo was crazy crowded. The new polar bear exhibit is very nice and might have been the reason for the crowds. We sat down for a few minutes to watch the bird show, the photo below shows only 5 of the 9 boys (cousins)

Deck the halls

We did a little decorating (and dejunking at the same time) this week. We got our tree trimmed, stocked hung and house decked out!

I tried to put out all the decorations this year and got rid of anything that we didn't use. It seemed to work and the house feels less cluttered.

I'm taking an online class (12 artsy ornaments) and have made this cool star for our mantel. Nicholas helped and he made this smaller version.  

Deck the tree... Some more

The tree has been up for a month but we keep on adding ornaments. The boys received personalized Christmas ornaments from Aunt Julie today and they make a nice addition. Thanks Jules!