A call for help!

There is this gorgeous garden plan that I want to build in the old dog run area. The only problem? My husband approved it with the stipulation that instead of rocks, I have to use skulls. Now, of course he was joking (partly, he thought it would be kind of funny)… but what would be even funnier is if I actually did it!

I have been looking online for skulls, and managbunga are they expensive! I found a bunch at Oriental Trading Company, but they were either foam or super pricey. The skulls need to be able to live outside without flying off in the wind, so foam is out. And since I need tons of them, the expensive ones are out as well.

So, do any of you know a good place to find a bunch of skulls? No real ones please (icky) but if you have any ideas how I can pull of this garden prank I would be super thankful!

We have a decision!

Actually, a decision has been made on two things we have been pondering. The deck versus patio question, and the leave the trees in versus taking them out. And the winners are…. patio and trees staying!

That’s right, we will be creating a patio. Most likely we will pour concrete and then stamp and color it to create something gorgeous. I am pretty excited about this because it’s our first time doing a project like that, and the patios that we have seen that use this method are really good looking, so it will be a nice addition to our home. Plus, gaining usable space in the yard to add a BBQ and patio chairs is going to be a lot of fun.

Turns out the trees aren’t as big of a problem as my husband made them out to be. He has come up with a plan that he likes to incorporate them into the yard better, so we are going to do that (more to come when that starts). I thought for sure they would be on their way out, but they provide so much shade to the house, and it would be costly to replace them with new trees along the fence, so they get to stay! I am glad because I really do hate to take out healthy trees.

Another fun thing that I hope we get around to doing this summer is digging our trampoline hole. This might get tricky because of the sprinkling system, but it would be so nice to have the trampoline in the ground. It would make mowing the lawn a ton easier!

So, now that we know what we are doing, it’s time to get started! And of course I will post all about it here when it happens too!

Input please!

We have a corner in our backyard that used to be a dog run. I have thought about what to do with it many times. I made a temporary “patio” there a couple of times while waiting for the final dicision about putting up a shed. Now that we have our Neuton Mower, we won’t be putting in a shed (since it needs a place with a plug and such). So, what would you do with the space?

Here is a photo of the space when I was using it as a “patio”:

And here is what it looks like today after a long cold winter:

Some of the issues:

• there are no sprinklers in this area, so turning it into a garden would be hard.
• there is bamboo growing in the back right corner, this is both good and bad (nice for privacy, bad because it does tend to come out into the space).
• weeds always grow through the gravel.
• there is basically no budget for the fix up (at most perhaps $100).

I have some ideas brewing, but I would love to hear your ideas and feed back too!

Design for yourself.

The above photo has to be the funniest, grossest, weirdest doorbell ever. But hey, at least they are being who they are!

Making your home truly your own is the fun part. Renting was always a challenge because there was nothing at all we were allowed to do. No painting, no changing anything! So obviously when we finally bought our home we were over the moon to be able to finally make our marks.

I think there is a tendency though to try to make our homes look good for other people. There is nothing wrong with that, it’s nice to think of how other people will feel when they visit your house, but what I mean is picking things just for the sake of them being popular or what magazines and websites say looks good.

So, here are a few quick things to ask yourself before embarking on a design adventure in your home:

1. What do you truly want the space to be used for? This is the most important thing to ask. In our house we don’t have “show rooms”, each room has a purpose and use assigned to it before anything else happens.
2. What style do you like? We aren’t really fond of modern, we tend to lean more towards easy, comfortable, natural looking fabrics and materials. Think cottons, woods, leathers, some glass and metal. Everything is simple, but we also are pretty eclectic. It’s good to know what you like most, based only on your own instincts, not what everyone else seems to be enjoying.
3. Is the room cold? Hot? Paint colors can do an amazing job in warming up cold rooms, and cooling down spaces that are too warm. Our family/movie room is a cold room, so we painted a very warm color on the walls. Funny how it helps make a difference, but it does.
4. How easy will it be to upkeep? Personally I don’t like cleaning. I wish I had a maid, but since I don’t I am always conscious about how easy something is to clean and upkeep. For example, I love the look of pebble showers, but there is no way I would ever use that in my home because it’s hard enough to keep smooth tiles clean. This is a good question to ask if you are the one doing the cleaning, it will save you time and aggravation in the long run.
5. What do you want from your home? For us, we love being at home, and we enjoy a lot of activities in our home. So, we want a comfortable, easy space to have fun and relax. Uptight and overly embellished doesn’t work in our home. It sure does look pretty in pictures, but in our reality it’s not what we want. What do you want the function of your home to be? Do you want a “show room” where everything is off limits and is super nice? Do you entertain? Are you home a lot or not very much? All good things to know when designing your spaces.

These are the questions and answers that we keep in mind when we are doing our projects. Of course there are other things, like budget, but before getting to that part of the fun, it’s good to take a hard look at what your home should be… a place that is uniquely yours! Hopefully if you share the space with others, they will want similar things as you (another great reason to actually stop and ask these questions).

Happy decorating!