Lane's Creations: Shelves/Desk

I am completely impressed with Lane. He had a vision in his mind of what he wanted around the fireplace and then he built it from scratch. I think he did an excellent job with putting it together. After many hours, here is the final project!

Just a reminder of what it looked like when we moved in...

 



Pre-nursery Projects

If you have been to our house, you may have noticed that our front door sucked. It was ugly, scratched, let in a draft and easy access in for insects, and didn't exactly shut all the way ~or you at least had to slam it shut a few times~. We were definitely due for a new one, but they are so expensive! We were at Lowes one day and saw one on super clearance because someone had it custom ordered but it didn't work out. It was basically sitting on a throne calling our name. So...we bought it!

Here she is! If there's a word to describe it I would use "gorgeous." We still need to paint it but it still looks 1000 times better!

Here's the old one, from the inside. It might not look so bad, but trust me, it was.

See? So much better!

Lane decided to build a desk and shelves to go around the fireplace. Part of that process included covering the mantel and staining all the wood upstairs to match. It's starting to look beautiful. This was the mantel before:

Here's the desk and new mantel. Excuse the mess; he is still working on the shelves. We also need to figure out how to contain all those cords! (Better picture to come)

The only other update on our house that I can think of is that we have grass now...and weeds. We've managed it well enough for now. We just fertilized it so it can sit over the winter and we can get going on it and landscaping come spring. Also, our next updates will probably include some nursery projects! We're havin' a baby!

And Cue the Yard!

We have finally begun the process of putting our yard in! We rented a trencher from Home Depot for a few hours so that we can put in our new sprinkler system. While Lane worked the trencher, his dad and I dug up weeds, cleaned up the dirt a little (oxymoron) and sprayed weed killer all over. We removed tennis balls, pool parts, plastic, cans, bottles, tools, dog toys, rocks, weeds, and diapers. About 5 hours later this is what we got it to look like. You may just see dirt, but we see the outline of our yard and where cement will be, and an organized mess instead! Hopefully by next weekend we will be able to get sprinklers in so we can hydro-seed.

We will also by pouring concrete. The irrigation system is in that back corner (above) so we will pour some slab there for a shed and box. To the left will be more concrete for our patio area and garden boxes. In the picture below, that area is on the top left.

Here's Lane working the trencher.

Here's the side of our front yard.

Front yard.

                                        

Next on the list:

-sprinklers

-curbing

-hydro-seed

-pour concrete

Some More Organization

Well projects have digressed. I'm getting to the point where I just want to put more stuff on walls or buy little things to fill space and organize. It doesn't help that I spend hours on Pinterest... I see SO many smart, beautiful, and fun ideas on there that it now completely consumes my mind. Here is one idea from Pinterest. We have a hallway closet that I have concluded makes our towels smell. We didn't paint over the shelves and I think it just has the old smell of the house. So I decided to use this idea and bought three baskets, screwed them to the wall, and now I have my towels in there, along with t.p. and (for now) just beach decor. It's nice because they store stuff and you can use the top as shelves. I love it!

I know this is boring but our entry way was driving me bonkers, especially when it started to snow. Lane piled his coats upstairs on the couch, counter, and table. Shoes were kicked off in all areas of the entry way floor. So I cracked down and we purchased a coat hanger and shoe rack. Solved so many problems (with my OCD).