I heart Pinterest

So much has happened since my last post! Over the weekend we tried various paint swatches on the walls while removing wall plates, window treatments, and giant home office systems.

Don't ask me what color is what. I wrote it on the wall in pencil. All you need to know is that Revere Pewter ain't worth all the hype. I'm liking Benjamin Moore's Edgecomb Gray and Sherwin-Williams Modern Gray a lot; we'll see what Ryan thinks.

The popcorn ceiling removal guys started Monday, and WOW what a mess that is! But it's already a vast improvement!

We own a house!

We just closed, and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! We should be able to go over there by later this afternoon (former owner is finishing her move-out), and then the fun really starts! We have popcorn ceiling removal guys starting on Monday, and hardwood flooring going in on the 25th, and then we officially move in on March 2nd. In between all that I have to get the whole house painted, rip out the front shrubs and plan a new front garden, and evaluate what other immediate work needs to be done. (No idea what state the kitchen cabinets are really in on the inside.)

I've been trying to pick paint colors and make other decorating/renovating plans as much as I can without having access to the house. I suddenly understand why Pinterest is so popular! As for sharing my plans/ideas, I figure I'll just start from the outside front and work my way in.

Here's the current front exterior:

Photos: MLS listing

The giant looming shrubs are all going. [Mini rant: why do you plant something and then spend money (or time) to cut it into a shape in which it doesn't naturally grow? Don't cut square hedges. Don't make goofy balls out of your shrubs. If you don't like its natural shape, don't plant it.]

I also hate how dark the front porch is. Obviously better lighting would help, but in the short-term I plan to paint the ceiling area a white color to match the siding and brighten it up. I also plan to repaint the front door:

Which brings me to the front plantings. I love the idea of a blue garden, which would include succulents, agave, and other plants with glaucous foliage. [This blog is fun AND educational!] And of course, I WILL have roses. Here's a collage of plant ideas:

Please forgive the ghetto collage using MSPaint: I just don't have the patience for Picasa today. Or most days, really. All of these photos and their original locations can be found on my Pinterest page here.

I think the occasional orange aloe bloom will coordinate with the orange-ish brick nicely, and since blue and orange are opposites on the color spectrum I'm feeling pretty designer-ish.

Photo: author's own

I'm also considering California poppies for both their blue feathery foliage AND their orange blooms, but when they die they look so ratty. I don't want ratty in the front of the house if it can be avoided.

The tricky part will be the watering requirements. Some of these plants will rot if they get too much, and others (like the roses and palms) will need it fairly consistently (especially in the hot summer). Our new house has a sprinkler system which is SUPER exciting for keeping the lawn alive, but I don't yet know where the sprinkler head placement is. Obviously that will be key to optimal plant survival.

I might bring my old blue pot collection to the front porch as well:

Photo: author's own

Exciting things happening, at least in my head!!

Hello...?

It's a tentative greeting because we made an offer on a house, but we're still in the option period so things could go off the rails at any moment. We've had what feels like a ba-jillion people out to inspect the house or give us quotes on work needed/wanted, and we've been on the phone with twice as many people or responding to emails going back and forth like lightning. We're both exhausted by it and it isn't over yet, but we're also excited about the home we found. We/I have grand plans, and since I can only make him listen to me yammer for so long before his ears start to bleed, I figure I'd better use this blog for what God intended.

[Side note: I'm saying "we" and "us", and you might be wondering who the other half of that is, since I haven't mentioned Jason in a while. Jason and I parted ways in early 2011. I met a wonderful guy on Match.com, and we've been shacking up since February of this year. I haven't decided yet if I'll share his name on the blog. Maybe he'll be like Norm's wife on Cheers: you never see her or hear her; the only window you get into that part of Norm's life is what he says about her when bellied-up to the bar. Well, and you know her name is Vera, so I guess I'd have to share his name if I'm really going to parallel Cheers.

The more I think about it, the less sense it makes to look to a sitcom about a bar, and specifically an obese alcoholic who frequents said bar, for guidance on how to blog around my relationship. Frankly I've already spent way more time on it than I planned. Now it's awkward. Sorry.]

Um, yeah, so a new house!! Maybe. Hopefully. I'm nearly bursting at the seams to get in there and start planting and painting! I've been making Pinterest boards like...like...well, I can't think of an analogy for something that collects pictures on the web and groups them by theme on virtual cork boards. But whatever it is, that's me (or I'm it)!

I figure I'll just start posting about the various plans I'm pondering by area/topic. Hopefully it will help me work some stuff out so I can move in and hit the ground running! And if the house doesn't work out, we'll have bigger problems than me being massively disappointed: we have to be out of our apartment by March 2nd. Yikes! I could be sleeping in the park instead of blogging about gardening my own!

Goodbyes (part 2)

When I finished the floor I still wasn't certain I'd be selling my house, and I was still agonizing over the backsplash. When I made the decision to sell I knew it wouldn't fly to have the hardibacker as a backsplash, so I tried to find something neutral. What I chose was kind of a cop-out, frankly. If I had it to do all over again I'd have gone with something coordinated better with the floor. I had to outsource it though: I didn't have 3 weeks to spare if I did it myself.

Fast-forward: here are the pictures my wonderful realtor took of the house when posting it for sale!

 

Goodbyes (part 1)

Sorry I've been away for so long, I've been kinda busy. I sold my house and my beloved garden in Feb 2013. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. As scary as it sometimes was to own a house all by myself, I loved it dearly. I think it turned out pretty well and I hope the new owners love it as much as I did!

Anyway, I'm now looking at buying a new house with my BF, so I thought it was time to catch things up before I start posting things about my new house!

Here are pictures of the floor as it progressed! It took me about 3 weeks, which isn't bad for my first time and the complicated layout I chose.

Surprisingly, this was the easiest part (and it wasn't easy). My mom helped me match up the edges. It was a little like a puzzle where the whole thing is a blue sky.

The borders were a bit of a challenge. I called my BF in a panic because (in a nutshell) I'd done some bad math. He helped me come up with the design you see here. He totally saved the day.

The finished floor, including the transition to the living room. I'm pretty proud of it!

The grass IS greener...for about 2 months

As as side-effect of living on the sun, my St. Augustine grass did not survive last summer (which went well into Fall, as always). This Spring I decided to spread some grass seed, I think it was Zoysia? I called the little shoots grasslings.

No matter: it was adorable and green, and then it got hot. End of story.

Here are Spring garden pics. This was the first year I didn't do a whole lot of radical planting. It was kind of nice and also sad, because I love that process of creation.

March:

 

May: