Privacy Fence

YOU GUYS. I thought my happiness couldn't get any greater after Z jack hammered the concrete obstrocity. Apparently it was possible to get greater! 

Z designed and built a horizontal fence and gate that faced out to the main street where our house faces. Since we are the second house from the street and our neighbors do not have a fence up, we were lacking privacy in our backyard. Each time we were outside, it was not uncommon for someone on the street which our yard faced, to be looking at what we were up to next, or bluntly asking what we were up to. At the same time, they also gave compliments which was very sweet. But, we were craving a bit more privacy in our backyard without feeling like we were on the "Truman Show." 

I was out of town this past weekend, but Z and his mom assembled this part of the fence! It looks SO good. I was so impressed with the work that was put into it! The only thing that I helped out with was gathering lumber at Home Depot and helping to space some wood pieces. Not nearly as much as they did. 

I already am pinning ideas of what I may want to plant next year, picking out some hostas, and looking at ideas now that the fence is up! 

CORNER OF THE FENCE

FENCE BUILT

 

HANGING BRACKETS FOR BASKETS

Although this is the last night of my summer break, I still have a few projects that I hope to accomplish in the upcoming weeks... finishing painting our bed platform, organizing closets, touching up our bedroom and bathroom paint.I was hoping to have finished them over break, but sometimes, you just need some rest and relaxation! 

Really a Recap

In this post before Labor Day, I had briefly listed the projects that we had been working on throughout the house. Unfortunately, with school (being the teacher) and school (being the student), our projects are becoming more limited to the weekends. Did I mention, I do a lot of school?! Selfish self promotion.... check out my portfolio as it develops...  In the first weeks of school, we were able to get a few things marked off our list. While the list continues to grow and the ideas run wild, here's a little update on what we have accomplished.

This is what I wanted to touch base on during that initial post:

1. backyard updates
2. front door / stoop paint
3. guest bedroom update
4. gardening this year

And, this is what this post has evolved to since that ambitious post:

1. backyard updates *include some gardening*
2. front door / stoop paint
3. guest bedroom update
4. gardening this year  happenings aside from the house

Backyard Update
The backyard was supposed to have been a work in progress next year. However, we couldn't resist and started a few projects. Better to start now because in a few months, projects will be limited to indoors.

Prepping the back door (1 of 2)

Door taped & prepped ready to go! 

After two thick coats of Valspar's Outdoor Spray Paint in brown.

Sod placed between the metal edging and mulch around tree. We removed bricks to create a more consistent feel from the tree to the patio.

Z made this table! 

Daylight view of backyard / patio area

Night view of backyard / patio area. (Looks awesome at night!)

Fountain we picked up on clearance at Lowe's!

Front Door / Stoop Paint
It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint can and will do to a place. 

Sanded and ready to be painted! (What is at the front of the stoop was how it was before we started.)

Ready to paint!

Left from the previous home owner. Apparently pineapples are good luck. We'll take it!

Two coats of later!

View from our driveway looking up to the freshly painted doorway. 

Guest Bedroom Update

I have a confession. I love estate sales, garage sales, First Friday sales. Love them all. You never know what you'll find and what price you'll find it at. The excitement of possibility lurks around every corner.  One morning in the last few months that Z was driving to work and out of our neighborhood, he noticed there was an estate sale on a neighboring street to us. He called me to tell me about it, so I decided to check it out. I walked out with a nice dresser from this sale. It was painted a whimsical/shabby pea green color. Within seconds of setting eyes on it, I was picturing it in a rich coral color and in our guest bedroom. Fast forward months to where it is now; completed and in our guest bedroom. Here's a quick insight into it. I am saving a fully dedicated guest bedroom post until the room is officially complete, cleaned, and things finished up a bit more.

Z skillfully found a way to hang the drawer pulls that I was spray painting. 

Spray painted in a silver metallic. (MUCH cheaper than purchasing new knobs and pulls for the whole piece!)

Knobs painted and installed on dresser.  

Drawer pulls painted and installed. 

Happenings Outside of Home Projects

Z and I went apple picking! YUM!

Irish Fest

Estate Sale / First Friday exploring & finds! 

Home away from home. My classroom and beloved SMART Board.

And, again, some selfish promotion for my graduate school portfolio.

Well, that is a glimpse into a few of the things that we have been working on! Once the guest bedroom is cleaned and finished, I will be posting photos of it! Very excited to share them! In the upcoming months, I'm really looking forward to Fall (boots, chiminea fires, pumpkins...), trying to plan a trip to STL for a weekend in the upcoming months, and starting new traditions in our home. What are you looking forward to in the upcoming Fall months? 

No Sugar Coating!

When I started this blog to share with family, friends, and strangers (Hi!) what Z and I had been up to on the house, I was not going to sugar coat everything. It would have been impossible to! I will say this though - home ownership so far has been very rewarding, stressful, and enjoyable. The exciting, yet frustrating, part about home ownership is when something goes wrong. Something that you didn't think would go wrong. Something that was not in your overly specific home inspection report. Something that you think is going to be a quick fix. And it is not.

So, within the last few days, here are a few of the mishaps that we have run into at our house. Trust me- there have been many more! But, here's just a glimpse! 

Z had noticed a few mornings ago that there was some water leaking from the stand up shower in our Master Bath. After taking a closer look, it appeared that it needed to be re-caulked. Simple fix! We purchased caulk and he got to work on it. As he was removing the old caulk, he noticed some mold and mildew. No biggie - it is a wet area anyway. So, he cleaned it up, and continued on around the tile. When he got to the tile pictured above, the tile fell out! After closer look, it was mold. YUCK! After a bit more investigation, it appears as if there is much more than just pictured. 

After the mishap in the Master Bath, we decided that we would utilize the guest bath (hallway bathroom) to shower. After we had both taken showers, we had both noticed that there was dripping coming from the faucet. No problem! After a few YouTube video tutorials and Home Depot worker questions, we were set! Seemed like a quick and simple fix! NOPE. A can of WD-40, tools from Home Depot, and pulling as hard as possible, we were unable to reach the part that we needed to get to. It is still leaking.

There was a risk of severe weather tonight in our area. We're in the Midwest, so it happens. However, this morning was peaceful and sunny. As I sat at our breakfast bar eating oatmeal and drinking coffee, I heard a "chhhhhhhh--crrrrrrrrack-snap!" Out of nowhere, a huge branch fell in our backyard! Of course, it wasn't one that was dead. It was full of beautiful, green leaves.

SO... NOW WHAT?

We find ourselves at the same point, I assume, many home owners find themselves at - now what? This is our game plan for these unforeseen issues that came up this week:

Mold in the Shower

 We could go a few ways with this one. It basically came down to two options - do we fix it? Or, do we deconstruct the bathroom and slowly redo it? After discussing it, we decided to take our time and deconstruct the bathroom. We will start by tearing out the shower and cleaning the mold. We will slowly be working on this project. We still have 1.5 bathrooms, so it is something we can take our time on. We figured we might as well redo it like we wanted it to be, instead of settling and wanting to redo it within years. We already have ideas of what we want to do in it! I can't wait to share the process with you all! Redoing the bathroom was something that we were wanting to do - eventually - but it seems as though we will be working on it sooner than originally thought. 

Leaky Faucet 

We are letting this one slide for right now. It seems impossible for us to be able to fix it right now. The pipes seem to have a lot of calcium on it, which doesn't help. Perhaps we will hire a plumber at some point, especially if we have someone come out to do other things. In the meantime, I think we'll put a bucket underneath and water plants with the water that has dripped out. Eh, it works! 

Huge Branch Falls

Considering that we were supposed to get possibly severe weather tonight, we were proactive with contacting some tree services to get some bids. If a tree branch would just fall with calm winds, what would happen in severe weather?! We had one person come out today and will have another bid or two tomorrow. But, we were able to get rid of that huge branch! We met a very kind neighbor today who offered to come over with two chainsaws and help us chop it up! Him and Z cut it up in 10 minutes! We'll use the wood for our chiminea and when we get our fireplace finished (Oh goodness.... that's another one for the list!) we could use it for that, too.

So, that's where we stand right now. It looks like we have a few projects ahead of us! Even though these things were unplanned and a bit frustrating at times, I must say that it was fun to add the text and doodles to the pictures. I took the photos with my iPhone and added text with the A Beautiful Mess app. Check it out if you haven't already! 

Have you run into any problems with your home, a place you live, or your apartment? What was your experience? 

-E