Home Decorating and Renovations Thread

[ilovetotravel1977]

I just thought I would create this to keep the Air Miles one clear from my musings LOL

How do I move posts from other threads?

 

[Donald - my hero]

Easy-peasy! Just hit the "+Quote" thingee at the bottom of any post and then when you get to where you want to add it -- either within the same thread or another one just hit "Insert quotes..."
I went thru the AM thread and found these for you. I think there's one in the Optimum one as well

Off topic (again!):

I saw this at Home Depot the other day and immediately regretted not grabbing it for $50:

View attachment 500305 View attachment 500307

It's a patio umbrella holder and you can flip the top over and it becomes a little table too!

$68 on Wayfair.

I plan on making a tray on wheels (picture a rolling planter) so I can move it around on my deck.

Yup! I have to order from Nike, but going to wait for the Bonus Boom offers.

Is it just me or did Wayfair used to be on AM Shops? When I ordered my umbrella base, I checked there first and I didn't see it listed.

Bought my new patio umbrella (has a tilt feature too) yesterday from Home Depot and my base came from Wayfair. I am so pleased with both! They had a teal and this yellow and glad I went with the yellow, makes outside cheery.
View attachment 501426

We are going make a rolling plant stand for the base so we can move it around on the deck.
View attachment 501425

Plus, we are getting a new deck, side of fence and patio doors in the next couple of weeks! Deck is being taken down tonight/tomorrow and I can't wait!

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Well, this thread might as well close. DH put me on the "not allowed to buy anything else for the patio" list...LOL

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Getting our new patio doors and having our deck framed in today! Sooo exciting!

 

[Pumpkin1172]

We will be redoing our next summer. We will be revamping our whole backyard. I'm already in planning mode! The hubby better get his rest now, because we will have many projects to do next spring/summer!

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

@Pumpkin1172 I will post pictures once it's all done and everything is set up!

 

[mshanson3121]

So far this summer we have renovated our gardens. Doesn't sound like much, but it was a massive undertaking. We turned our messy 30x15 veggie plot, into a neat and tidy garden full of raised beds. We built a border around the whole thing, and built 7 raised beds within it (6 smaller ones and one that spans the whole length of the garden), all out of repurposed wood (tore up a bunch of old hardwood pallets), and built a rock walkway in between the beds. FYI - shovelling and lugging 10 yards of soil and gravel is an excellent way to both lose weight and get in shape! Just have lots of Epsom salts to soak in each night, lol.

Then, at the end of that garden, I used to have a small bed full of blueberry bushes, and a rose bush. Got tired of seeing the ground hogs destroy my blueberry bushes, so I ripped them all out. Added a second rosebush, a peony, some hens n chicks, added a lot of mulch. Then, we are setting up a beautiful bird feeding station in it as well.

As for upcoming projects: we have 2 windows we are replacing, and a major repair job to do on our garage (a 12x24). It was poorly built (not by us!) and has been sinking for a few years, and has some rotted areas as a result due to water running into it. So we have to jack the whole thing up, rip off one exterior wall and half the floor, and replace the rotten wood. Then we plan to side the whole thing in vinyl (currently just thin, flimsy OSB). Then, if there's time left (DH goes back to work Aug 24), we plan to replace the siding and 4 more windows. But, whether that gets done this year depends on how long the garage project takes. It's just DH and I, so... kinda slow going.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

So, I had a major meltdown last night after half our deck was completed. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but we both weren't loving it. Everything about the new deck is a big change - brown wood vs dead grey/black wood, 6" vs 3" deck boards, size was larger and different shape, deck boards going horizontal, and it is around 4-6" higher (it's a ground-level floating style deck). Builder used 8" joist vs 6" and he made it level (all of which are GOOD things).

I texted our builder and asked if we could chat about possibly changing it (yep, I'm THAT person!). He said no problem. I just had to know that we weren't stuck with something we didn't love. We dragged our parents over to talk out loud our concerns and analyze it to death (yep, I'm THAT person!). We all just sat there staring at it for like an hour LOL I measured our picnic table, etc and tried to visualize everything back on the deck.

Finally, MIL comments on how it's higher than the last one, which it was essentially almost on the ground due to the uneven earth and smaller joists. Pretty sure that was what was bugging us. We just couldn't see it.

We wake up this morning and are feeling much better about it all. Builder popped by to chat, but we decided to stay with it as is, much to his relief, I'm sure.

Lesson learned? I will never EVER build a house!

 

[Madame]

So far this summer we have renovated our gardens. Doesn't sound like much, but it was a massive undertaking. We turned our messy 30x15 veggie plot, into a neat and tidy garden full of raised beds. We built a border around the whole thing, and built 7 raised beds within it (6 smaller ones and one that spans the whole length of the garden), all out of repurposed wood (tore up a bunch of old hardwood pallets), and built a rock walkway in between the beds. FYI - shovelling and lugging 10 yards of soil and gravel is an excellent way to both lose weight and get in shape! Just have lots of Epsom salts to soak in each night, lol.

Then, at the end of that garden, I used to have a small bed full of blueberry bushes, and a rose bush. Got tired of seeing the ground hogs destroy my blueberry bushes, so I ripped them all out. Added a second rosebush, a peony, some hens n chicks, added a lot of mulch. Then, we are setting up a beautiful bird feeding station in it as well.

As for upcoming projects: we have 2 windows we are replacing, and a major repair job to do on our garage (a 12x24). It was poorly built (not by us!) and has been sinking for a few years, and has some rotted areas as a result due to water running into it. So we have to jack the whole thing up, rip off one exterior wall and half the floor, and replace the rotten wood. Then we plan to side the whole thing in vinyl (currently just thin, flimsy OSB). Then, if there's time left (DH goes back to work Aug 24), we plan to replace the siding and 4 more windows. But, whether that gets done this year depends on how long the garage project takes. It's just DH and I, so... kinda slow going.

Could you possibly post pics of your gardens!! I need some inspiration for raised beds & would love to see!

 

[mshanson3121]

This is the veggie plot. We still are going to add a layer of blue crusher dust to "pretty" it up. And it'll look better once stuff is growing.

We've since planted pole and bush beans, carrots, peas, lettuce,.tomato, cucumber, zucchini, and pumpkin

I don't have a photo of the other garden yet since we're still waiting for the bird station, but will post when it comes.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

That is so well done @mshanson3121!

 

[Madame]

View attachment 502406

This is the veggie plot. We still are going to add a layer of blue crusher dust to "pretty" it up. And it'll look better once stuff is growing.

We've since planted pole and bush beans, carrots, peas, lettuce,.tomato, cucumber, zucchini, and pumpkin

I don't have a photo of the other garden yet since we're still waiting for the bird station, but will post when it comes.

Thanks! So jealous of all the outdoor space. I grew up in the country, but am now « in town » and cannot stand it. I can almost smell the fresh air

 

[mshanson3121]

Thanks! So jealous of all the outdoor space. I grew up in the country, but am now « in town » and cannot stand it. I can almost smell the fresh air

Here's a pic from this morning. A few green things growing! We are actually in a village, so have a couple businesses right across the street. We miss the country too (we used to have a 3 acre piece of land), but, this lot is nice because it is right on the stream, so we can pick fiddleheads in the spring and blackberries in the summer and the land across from it is, and will remain, undeveloped. Had to share the iris' - I think they're so pretty lol