Pea Gravel In!

We did it! decided to go with pea gravel. After doing the calculations, a small patio to the side of the deck in paving stone would have cost approximately 400 dollars. Yikes! If you have a kind friend with a truck, that same area cost about 40 dollars cash at a local aggregate place (plus a husband complaining of a sore back for 4 days). We are pretty excited with how it turned out so far!

We decided to put stone edging to contain the gravel, which cost about 26 dollars. Now hopefully the weather stays nice this weekend so we can keep working on our little yard (next step, sod, stain deck, and paint!)

Fence Progress!

If you were wondering why I've been obsessing over backyard spaces lately, it's because over the winter months my backyard has looked like this:

Err...kind of embarrassing. You see, when we moved in, there was a fence up. Then, the church tore it down. And told us they did not have to rebuild legally, only if they wanted to for moral reasons. *Ahem*. Whatever, we won't get into that. I'm sure whatever they built would not be as fabulous as my soon-to-be-fabulous fence!

Woohoo! Of course, don't mind the pool o'crap, and the swing set. Henry agreed to let it go in place of a sleek motorcycle tire swing spray painted a la Novograts. Anyone else seen that episode? There is still some trimming to do on the top, strapping on the back (and a few more panels to be built). I have yet to decide whether I want to trim each individual panel down the seam or leave it flat and exposed. Also, to stain or not to stain? What's your opinion?

Horizontal

I'm feeling the need lately to enclose my wee backyard space, and create a tiny sanctuary back there to have coffee or a glass of wine on a summer eve (sounds divine since all late nights lately have been watching re-runs on my couch with a big ol' bowl of popcorn, I won't lie). I know this may be a little boring to some, but I love a good fence. It's amazing how many fence options there are out there that look so cool compared to those pre-fab panels we all have:

Dwell

House and Home

Style at Home

Apartment Therapy

Desire to Inspire

Landscaping Network

You can see I have a strong preference for a tall, horizontal fence. It just looks so much cleaner and "wall-like" to me. What do you think?

Chair Makeover: Before and After

I have been wanting to tackle this project for a while; unfortunately procrastination (not going to lie!) got the best of me and the fabric sat in my cupboard for quite a while. I probably could have recovered these myself, but the funny thing about being nine months pregnant is that you can convince your husband to do things he would normally put off himself (honestly I am so relieved he was willing, if my present wrapping skills are any indication about my re-upholstering skills, you would know why). So this weekend we took these gross chairs:

From dingy to fabulous!

 

That mustard colour has become one of my favorites; since the seat padding was in good shape, this whole project cost 13 dollars thanks to some nice, upholstery weight fabric from IKEA! (and the cost of making a cheesecake for my husband, I'm sure). Happy Monday, everyone!

Pink Pineapples

When I first saw these two, I wasn't sure how I felt about them...but decided the chance was worth the dollar.

 

I love pineapples, but hated the contrasting stains. They were in horrible shape as well. Lucky enough a quick coat of spray paint and a bake in the sun (finally!) and these were worthy enough for Holly's room...

They still need a few touch-ups with a little brush, but not bad, considering I had the spraypaint! Now if only I could get the rest of that girl's room done...

Mini Director's Chairs Makeover

Yesterday was an unusually warm day for spring in Ontario. The whole neighborhood was a bustle with people in shorts and t-shirts biking, walking and gardening. All of the yardwork and deck-prepping reminded me of a project for my kids that unfortunately I didn't get to last year with all of the renovations; these adorable (but not well loved) director's chairs I found for five dollars at a yard sale:

Chairs Before

I decided these chairs needed to be freshened up, so I gave them a few coats of white spray paint and some new fabric. I chose a punchy outdoor fabric so that spills from my kids would just drip off and I could wash them easily. Luckily I had the former covers to use as a pattern for cutting the new fabric...

Chairs After

Chairs After

Close-up Chair After

What do you think? I love that my kids have their own stylish patio chairs and they also serve as great additional chairs for playdates because they are so lightweight and portable. It was also a great introductory makeover project to get me motivated. Now on to tackle the rest of the shed full of neglected garage sale items!