I have been done with household updates for quite awhile. In fact, this spring marks a whole year since I started to update the kitchen. I thought I was a little crazy for undertaking that project with a newborn, but I am so glad I did. My newborn was pretty chill at the time, and now she is a fussy attention-hungry almost one year old. I would have never been able to prime, paint, etc. with my Addy baby screaming at me and getting into everything!
Since the kitchen, I have done a few smaller projects. The starburst mirror; which went into our slightly updated master bedroom. Then there was the paint stripe that conveniently covered the previous owners' terrible spot job. Lastly, I did some bargain shopping, and fancied up my foyer. All these things have been minor, in my opinion.
I truly love making, creating, updating, and designing in my home. If I go too long without doing a project, even a minor one, I become antsy, fidgety.
Therefore, I have a couple things I am planning.
The first is a redesign project for the study/school room. This one is taking awhile. Funds were needed for home repairs and the right furniture was hard to find, but things seem to be falling back into place with this adventure; and hopefully I can give an update on this project soon.
The other project on my mind, is the backyard. I am not much of a "lounge around outside" person, mainly because it's only pleasant for about 3 months out of the year here, and partly because there are bugs and allergies that attack me the minute I step outside. My girls (and husband), however, love outside. So, I am trying to put my own feelings aside, and make it a more pleasant place to play and relax.
Right now, spring is creeping in, but things are still quite...well, dead. Chris has already been cursing the weeds, so I have been trying to rip up a lot of those so he doesn't have a meltdown. Ideally, we need to sand our deck, stain it, and seal it. Should I do that this spring? I think I should. I want to, but I don't know if my family wants me to be tied up in that...we'll see.
We have some patio furniture that is in good shape, a nice firepit, and we recently bought an outdoor rug. Plants will help a ton, but it's hard to find inexpensive, drought-resistant, heat-tolerant, thriving plants that I like. I want something tall and umbrella-like to plant around the deck for shade and privacy, but I don't know if that would look too crowded, and therefore, make the rest of the yard look sparse. We have a long, but shallow yard, so we don't have too much space to work with. I think I am leaning more towards shrubs and green plants and less towards flowers. I like flowers, but they seem fickle and die fast on me. Plus, they tend to attract bees and wasps which is not preferred in a relaxing, kid-friendly play area.
We have a small, collapsible grill that resides halfway under a bench outside my bedroom window. It's in a great location to collect all the rainfall off the roof, and ping loudly off the the aluminum cover. This would annoy me more if it rained here more often. Though, either way, this guy needs a better residence. I found a nice deck storage bin that should fit it with room to spare. I ordered it, and am crossing my fingers the measurements check out. If not, it will still be great for some tools and outdoor toys and double as a sitting bench if we toss some outdoor pillows on it...though we'll need a plan b for the grill.
I was also thinking of a wall mount flower planter, though I think the poor plants would shrivel up and die into week one of summer down here. *shrugs* I am still thinking about that one.
How much will all of this cost? Will it last more than one season? Will it look like the picture I want in my head? Will I still refuse to sit outside past June? All valid questions I am still pondering over. I do know we need to spruce it up, no matter the usage...it needs some love. This will be my semi-big project this spring. Even with it's uncertainty, I am looking forward to another upgrade. :) Updates to follow (hopefully with pictures)!
M.LEWIS
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