Making it Lovely » Outside

Ideas for an Organized Garage

Making it Lovely — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:17:51 +0000

It is totally unnecessary, but sometimes I think about making the inside of our garage cute. I would add pegboard painted in a fun, cheery color (à la Martha Stewart), and inexpensive shelving painted to match. This is pretty much what I have in mind…

Wouldn’t it be nice to come home to a lovely, colorful, organized garage? Do any of you have enviable spaces like that?

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Evergreens Needed

Making it Lovely — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:09:17 +0000

I took a photo of our snowy backyard this morning, and I’ve been using it to plan for some new additions. The garden has come a long way since we moved in three years ago (it was essentially a blank slate), but it is still lacking the year-round color and structure that evergreens would provide.

I don’t know which evergreens to use, but at least I have an idea of where I want them to go. I love mountain laurel, but it’s not available here. Rhododendrons don’t grow well in my soil. Arborvitae, pine, yew, and juniper seem so common and boring, but I suppose that’s because they thrive in Chicago. I do like boxwood, but as someone warned me when I planted them, they are “going to bite it”. I didn’t heed the warning and indeed they aren’t doing so well (yet I want to add another?). I still have about two months before it will be warm enough to actually plant something, so I have a little time to figure something out.

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Garden Growth

Making it Lovely — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:23:45 +0000

I could tell that the flowers in my garden had grown, but I hadn’t realized how much until I looked at a photo from last year. This is what they look like now:

This is the same area, last July:

A huge difference, no? And here now, from a different angle:

The area to the left of the egg chair is looking a little bare, but there are hydrangeas that just need to fill in. Any idea how long that will take? I’m thinking years and years. *Sigh.*

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Jolly Green Giants

Making it Lovely — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:39:08 +0000

The giant green planters that I had originally bought to flank our front door have found their place on the patio. The first is over by the egg chair.

I love the way the garden is filling in over there, but I think I like it more for the potential I see. There are hydrangeas planted to the left of the chair, but you can’t even see them in the photo because they are so teeny tiny! They’ll be beautiful when they eventually fill in, but I have a feeling it’s going to take a looong time.

The other planter is near the back stairs.

That area needs a little work. I want a boxwood in that white pot, and eventually we would like to close off the opening under the stairs with a gate (so we can still access the space for storage). It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time because it would look so much nicer, but next year it will be a safety issue when Eleanor plays in the yard.

Anyway, don’t the planters look nice out on the patio? I’m almost glad they didn’t pan out for the front porch. Almost.

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Garden Walks, 2009

Making it Lovely — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:50:19 +0000

Last weekend was filled with flowers. The Oak Park Garden Walk took place last Saturday, and I went by myself (very quickly) to six of the nine gardens included. Then on Sunday, I took Eleanor along to the Park Ridge Garden Walk where we met up with my mom and her two youngest, Ross and Francesca. We also saw six (out of seven) gardens on Sunday, but it took a little longer with three children under five along. ;) Here are a few highlights…

This was easily the star of the Oak Park Garden Walk. There were 50′ arborvitae surrounding the property.

When you entered the garden you felt like you had been transported to a different place.

There were glass spheres in the garden, tucked amongst the flowers. This photo doesn’t capture how beautiful they were — they looked like bubbles.

There was also a lovely potting bench and bicycle. I’m sure it looks like this all the time, right?

Moving on to some of the other gardens, here’s an awesome bamboo fence…

A fun bird topiary…

A striking white hosta…

(I want some of these in my garden too.)

An old bicycle as a planter…

And a tooth-shaped toy box that was turned into a planter for the garden of a dentist.

It all just makes me want to do more work to our little garden! Not so easy with a newborn, but at least the planning is almost as much fun as the doing.

p.s. If you want to see more photos of the Park Ridge Garden Walk, my mom has been posting them on her blog.

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Up for the Challenge: We Won!

Making it Lovely — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:27:51 +0000

I wanted to thank you all earlier, but I was waiting until I heard from Better Homes & Gardens…

We WON! Making it Lovely received the most votes in the 48-Hour Challenge at BHG.com and we’ll be the recipient of a $5000 bonus! We’re so excited, and we’re eager to get started on a few new projects around the house that will now be possible. And obviously, we couldn’t have won without your tremendous support. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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Up for the Challenge: The End

Making it Lovely — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:01:45 +0000

Today is the last day to vote in the 48-Hour Challenge. The timing of the challenge was a bit crazy (coinciding with my ninth month of pregnancy), but Brandon and I took it on and we’re so proud to have been a part of it. Thank you to Better Homes and Gardens for asking me to be a part of the challenge, and thank you to the other participants: The Cottage Nest, The Home Garden, The Wood Whisperer, and of course my friends over at This Young House. We were thrilled to be in such wonderful company, and the other four projects were all incredibly inspiring.

Here’s a look back at where we started…

And where we ended…

And during the process we went from a married couple to a family.

Thank you too, all of you, for your support throughout the whole process. There were times when I thought I was in a bit over my head (*ahem*, porch painting), but the end result and your thoughtful comments made it all worth it. And I truly appreciate those of you that took time to vote for us, whether it was once a day, once in a while, or just once. Thank you.

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New Porch Details

Making it Lovely — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:07:51 +0000

Just because we had finished working on the porch for the BHG 48-Hour Challenge (have you voted yet today?), that doesn’t mean that we had completely finished. I love the way everything turned out, but there were a few other items that have since caught my eye…

These green astro balls are fun, aren’t they? I included them in my Great Green Outdoors post back in March, and I had wanted them ever since.

Actually, I just realized that the other two items newly added to our porch were in that same post from March too. The beachcomber outdoor pillow is looking nice on our bench…

And the MYNTA hanging pots look great filled with annuals.

So there you have it. A home-obsessed person’s work is never done. Although our front porch is. For now, at least. ;)

Psst… If you could take just a moment to vote today in the 48-Hour Challenge, I’d be ever so grateful. There are only three days left, and it’s gonna be a close one!

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Have You Voted Yet Today?

Making it Lovely — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:34:23 +0000

Just a quick reminder… you can vote once each day from now until June 12, and we’d really appreciate your support in the BHG 48-Hour Challenge!

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Big Money, Big Money, No Whammy!

Making it Lovely — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:30:05 +0000

There are several big house projects that we’d like to work on, if only we had the cash. Maybe a $5000 bonus would help? (Hint, hint, have you voted yet today?)

We need a new window in Eleanor’s room.

The one that’s there now is actually falling off of the house — yikes! While it isn’t quite at the point of being dangerous (it’s still sort of attached), the gap does let hornets and other bugs in. If we had a proper functioning window, we could actually open it for some fresh air. What a concept!

And I know, I know. I really need to post the finished nursery.

We would like a new light in the library.

The one that’s in there now is just plain ugly, and it doesn’t even cover the hole in the ceiling for the junction box. The ceilings in the library are only 7.5′ tall, so we need something that doesn’t hang down very far.

I’ve had my eye on the Chase Ceiling Mount for a while now, but they keep pushing the availability date back. I’ve been patiently waiting, but perhaps it’s time to find another option.

Our bathroom needs some serious help.

It was bad when we moved in.

We did do a minor update about a year and a half ago with paint and accessories for about $300…

And while it’s much cuter than it was, that was just a temporary fix. We want to make some structural changes and relocate the toilet a few feet over into what’s now a closet space. Oh, and um, maybe we could have a white tub and toilet instead of blue?

The outside of our house also needs some serious help.

At the very least, we need to paint the trim. We also would like to resurface the dormers to match the stucco on the rest of the house, change the color, and add some landscaping. Basically, I want our house to look like this:

Matching seating out back would be nice.

I talked about this not long before the whole BHG 48-Hour Challenge started. Basically, we have a mish-mash of seating around our table.

While I can appreciate that look when other people do it, I would prefer a matching set of chairs.

Eventually, we would like to refinish the basement.

This will probably have to wait, but it’s definitely on our list. I won’t post pictures because it’s too scary. Well, maybe just one picture. Would you like to see our indoor outhouse?

Yeah, we’d like to remedy that (and the rest of the basement) at some point.

Sigh.

A girl can dream, right? Wanna help out? We’re in the running for a $5000 bonus, and I’d really appreciate your vote every day from now until June 12!

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