May 2012 Archives

May 31, 2012 by carin

Knew it–as soon as I saw this cart tucked away in the garage at a local estate sale it was coming home with me! Following our thrifting rules, Nicole and I always head straight to the basement and garage where the coolest stuff can be found…shhh,don’t share that tip with too many friends .

We weren’t sure who wanted the cart more, but after some serious rock, paper, scissors I ended up with it. Hey, that’s the way it works when you go with someone who has the same taste. It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last that we “negotiate” over something.

Here’s the cart as we found it…

Looking rather boring-kind of garage like…lack luster–dying for color and to be someplace other than the garage!

With Nicole’s encouragement, I was entertaining the idea of color. I love color, however I tend to follow the neutral trail while enfusing bits of color into accessories. I love the fact that Nicole is more bold in her style and willing to “go for it” with color…that’s where we’re different and why working together is so much fun!

I debated what color to go for…first, I needed to decide where the cart would take up residence in order to make a color choice (it also had to work against the light yellow exterior wall of our house). It was an obvious choice to use the cart on our screened in porch for the summer. It would make for a terrific entertainig piece as well as much needed extra storage. We live on our porch and entertain a lot…I was already envisioning a bar area, dessert bar and so much more.

Without any hesitation I decided orange would be THE color! Yep, that’s right, orange baby!

Taking the color plunge I couldn’t wait to get started. Seriously, I squeezed spraying between a quick dinner and getting all three girls to lacrosse practice. Gotta strike while the iron’s hot-right?! Also, I get crazy when it comes to working on a project that I’m excited about…like OCD crazy(Nicole knows this all too well)!

Gotta say, I wasn’t so sure about the orange at first…then it kinda, sorta grew on me. Then, just then, my daughter said,”That looks just like a Home Depot cart.”

Ugh, my leap of color… a FAILURE!

I thought, she’s right–it looks like I accidentally took the Home Depot cart home with me. Back to the drawing board…it shouldn’t be so hard right? I kept wanting yellow, but it was going to be against the yellow…hmmm….what’s a girl to do who is incredibly simple with color?? That’s it….WHITE is the way to go! I could just hear Nicole now, “White???Are you kidding??? What’s the matter with you???” Although, it may seem boring and predictable I knew for me it would be just right. Keeping it light and bright would allow me to add punches of color with accessories.

I took these pictures just before my girls had a few friends over for ice cream. I love how the colors pops against the white cart. There’s plenty of storage on the bottom two shelves that I will utilize with baskets to hold table linens, sparkling water etc.

Here’s what I learned:

-Take a risk even if it doesn’t turn out the way you had planned.

-We’ve heard it time and time again, but; ” It’s only PAINT”. In this case spray paint-so super easy and inexpensive.

-In the end, go with what feels right to you and your space.

Over the long weekend my new and improved cart got so much use–from a dessert bar to beverage center-it’s the perfect addition to our outdoor living space.

Do you have a favorite summer piece?

Let us know…share you ideas and pictures in the comment above.

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Raised Garden Update

May 24, 2012 by carin

This raised garden bed idea sounded great a few months back–this was before all three girls became knee deep in sports, homework, extra curricular activities and life in general! Over the past few weekends we’ve used pockets of time to work on the gardens-we may not get veggies, but it’s done–not 100% finished like my inspiration pictures…but the hardest part is over-phew!

Check out what we’ve done so far…

My husband doing what he loves–anything that involves wood, saw and music blaring.

Cutting all the sides for each bed.

With all three beds made we laid down plastic to keep out weeds and the ever dreaded walnut tree toxin-after all, this is why we had to do raised beds.

Did you notice how the center bed is higher? We did this so it would accommodate veggies that needed deeper growing space.

Now came the grueling work of hauling what seemed like 400 wheelbarrow fulls of soil into the beds. Surprisingly, the girls were willing helpers-they did great and were a huge help.

Check out that enormous pile of dirt in the background.

With the compost mixed in we laid out what seeds and plants should go where–the fun part.

I can tell you that our backs and arms were sore for days…but we’ll be one happy family when we can walk outside and grab our own fresh veggies. Each day the girls water and keep their eye out for growth-it really was a fun family project and something the girls can take pride in.

We still need to get some stone work put in between the beds and possibly a fence if it looks like critters are having dinner on us. We’ll keep you posted on garden developments.

Have you put in a garden this year? We would love any tips you have for a successful bounty!

Happy Gardening!