Finishing What We Started

The long weekend was just what Steve and I needed to finish the many projects that we have started but haven't had time to complete. We have a tendency to start with the most exciting part and then move on to another exciting project.  This weekend we were able to tie up a lot of loose ends.  We took a ton of pictures to share the transformation.

Saturday:
Steve and I have been obsessed with yard sales.  We found an incredible estate sale that had tons of good stuff.  We found some file cabinets that we are going to turn into a desk.  Here's what they look like now.  Not very exciting but just you wait.

They aren't very pretty now but I have big plans for these.

My mom was nice enough to help me with the preparation and painting of the garage doors.  I've wanted to paint the garage doors since we looked at the house for the first time.  The right garage door (my garage spot) started out with chipping paint and the old faded dark green color that matched the front door.  We got our black paint, brushes, rollers and got ready for some serious scraping and sanding.  The prep. was rough but the end product was worth it.  Thanks to my mom for helping me with a project that I couldn't have done by myself.

This is what the door looked like when we started. 

This is in process.

My mom and I were so surprised how well it turned out. (This is obviously before we painted the other door to match.)

I finally got the fabric to finish the chair and table for the master bedroom.  This furniture makeover was the perfect one for me to start with because it was so easy and I really think the transformation was pretty amazing!  Here's the before and after...

Saturday night, Steve and I went to his mom's house for dinner and a competitive game of whiffle ball.  Thanks to a generous offer and two grand slams, I won gardening help from Marianne.  Score!

Sunday:
Steve and I finished the other garage door in the morning.  It felt good to finish both doors. It's amazing how much this increased the curb appeal. 

This is even a sneak peak of the garage doors and the regular door painted.

 Last week we picked out the front door color and painted the front door.  This was a huge accomplishment and made the house feel like home.  The second part to this project was painting the side door to the garage the same color.  I love the color and now that the two doors match, the front of the house is looking very crisp.

This is my attempt to show all of the newly painted surfaces.  (Garage doors, front and side doors and shutters.)

 During our daily trip to Home Depot, we spotted a barn sale.  Steve slammed on the breaks before I even had a chance to say anything.  Thank goodness we stopped because we found a dining room table that we love and it came with 2 benches.  I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to re-finish this piece but it's going to have the character and the seating that we need for the holidays.  Right now, I'm thinking that I will sand and stain the top and either white wash or paint the bench and chairs.

Sunday night we went to a Memorial Day party on our street.  We are so lucky to have great neighbors that have already made us feel so welcome.  Not only do we love our house but we love our street and everyone in our neighborhood.  

Monday:
Today was the day for gardening.  I did some serious weeding.  Thank you to Steve's mom for taking care of the front driveway garden.  It needed a little more TLC since the last time we had worked on it.  She cleaned it up, added some pink flowers and mulch and now it looks amazing.  The front and side gardens look much better now after removing the excess weeds and plants and adding some mulch.  I finally feel like our gardens look like they have some element of design... rather than complete chaos.  Success!
 

The front garden before.

The front garden after with mulch... what a difference!

Thank you Auntie Ev for the beautiful baskets of flowers and herbs.

Here's a reminder of what the side garden looked like before.  No wonder I was nervous.

 

I thought this side garden was a lost cause until the mulch arrived.

Hopefully, someday this will be a veggie and herb garden.

 Here are some odds and ends that I just haven't gotten to posting about...

The Cape Cod oyster shell on the front door completes the look.

The decking is almost complete.  The best part about this is that we can start using it.  It's obvious what we are doing...grilling and sun bathing!

The mini deck has been designed.  This is exactly how I envisioned it.  It's the entrance from the deck into the back yard.

This is the piece of furniture that we got for FREE when we were yard sale-ing.  It even makes out into a bed!

 I think that's it for now.  If I think of anything that I missed, I'll post this week.  The changes are going to be migrating back inside very soon.  The kitchen cabinets are due in the first week of June and Steve and I are going to pick out the counter-tops on Thursday.  I cannot wait for a new kitchen!!

Jill