THE BACKYARD

Hello! It's been so long I've almost forgot about this little blog of mine. As of late my mind has been taken over by two big things, wedding planning (!!!) and the backyard overhaul. Both are going just fine, but as always I find myself jumping ahead of all the un-fun part (digging, planting, building, more digging) and into the decorating part. Did I mention Pinterest has taken over my life?

So here quickly are a few things I'm eyeballing for the backyard, specifically chairs and bird feeders, as random as that is.

Really though, an update on what the yard is actually looking like is coming, but I want to wait until we have something worth showing, and looks a bit less like a construction site, hopefully that will all happen soon.

SPRING CATCH UP

With the warm weather finally creeping in, the giant project that is the back yard has slowly started. First up is tree removal, which as it turns out is actually quite fun for the first 10% (chopping down the tree) quickly followed by the remaining 90% (removing the stump) which is a giant pain the ass. We've managed to remove two so far, but the cherry tree still remains, as that might require a few more sets of hands. The cherry tree is a tough one, I wanted to keep it at first, and am still a little sad to see it go, but after drafting some rough plans, I soon realized just how in the way it is. Maybe 2 feet further East and I think I could have fought for it, but alas, it's going to soon be a giant pile of firewood.

I do have actual backyard plans to share, but they are in crappy sketch form, and so I'm going to wait until Will beautifies them. In the mean time, here is the short list of upcoming projects:

• Remove the 3 main trees (two down one to go)
• Rip up the brick patio / pressure wash bricks
• Build planter boxes on East side, and fill with bamboo
• Remove old greenhouse
• Rip out old chain link fence
• Lay new patio

This list is actually quite humorous as it's just scratching the surface, and there are about 20 more things to add, but I've realized we need to start with small goals and not overwhelm ourselves with giant lists.

The other tree we removed was more of a shrub, which was right next to the cherry tree. Again, nothing that exciting, just a home depot plant randomly placed in the grass. Of course my before picture is from the house listing, so it manages to make the yard look sort of nice, but trust me, it's only getting better. They even managed to make that arbor we removed look good, which was falling down and rotting...


Before:

During:

After:

Next:

So that's it for now! I will have more updates once we get the plan hammered out a little better, which I'm very excited to share (chicken coop!). I also plan to be better at documenting the process along the way, which seeing as how it's been a month since I've last shared anything, can't get much worse. 

Sneak Peak

This is the smallest house tour ever, as I was so excited when we got the keys I ran around like a mad woman with my camera but only managed to take about 8 photos. I will however have a million more to share after this weekend, as we're going to be painting and other fun things, and I'll be sure to have camera on hand.

In the mean time, look! We have a house! Ahhhh! A few things to note off the bat;
1 - The color of the outside, holy cow. Some people hate it, some love it. I can honestly say it's growing on me, but it's not our taste, and will be changed next spring.
2 - Hardwood floors! Original fir floors from 1928, can't tell you how happy that makes me.
3 - Kitchen - big and open to livingroom = awesome. Everything else = not so awesome, I'll have more photos of this area in the near future, but for now know that it will be redone. Sponge paint and checkers are not really our thing...shocking, I know.
3 - Original hardware! I'm obsessed with every door handle in this house, aren't they pretty?
5 - Big back yard! We somehow managed to find a house in Seattle with a huge yard, hell to the yes. Again, this picture does it no justice, but trust me, it's big and awesome, and Moe is happy.

That's all for now!

 

SUMMA TIME

Though it doesn't feel much like summer today (wamp wamp) it is officially the first day. So here's to a summer filled with sunshine, boats named the lazy mule, and the occasional drink.

photos via my instagram

HANGING

As the weather gets nicer I'm getting inspired to spruce up our backyard. Hard as I try I just can't find a good spot for a hammock, but something like this little guy might do just the trick. Now the challenge of finding one that isn't crazy expensive...

I N S I D E + O U T

A large portion of my dream home wish list is having some sort of inside/outside aspect. I just love the idea of opening a (giant) door having inside meet out. Yes, I'm living in the wrong climate for this dream, I realize this.

Regardless, this tickled my fancy today and I thought I would share.

Found here

drying herbs

I got my new Kinfolk magazine in the mail last week, and went straight to the deck and read it cover to cover. I was obviously influenced by the story on drying herbs, as after reading it I wandered around the house clipping what we have left and hanging them in the sauna to dry. All I was able to scavenge was lemon verbena, sage, a little lavender and a tiny bit of mint. I'll be on top of it better next year, and this little bit is a good start.

tomato success

Our tomatos finally ripened this week and I feel like a proud parent. Not that I honestly did much, they're much more Will's babies than they are mine. They were taking forever to ripe and I was frantically looking up fried green tomato recipes, but a little tip from a coworker made all the difference. We cut back all the extra leaves allowing more energy to go towards the tomatos, and presto, ripe and delicious.

an apple a day

Or 40 really, at this rate. I better learn how to make apple pie asap because we have hundreds of these guys in our backyard at the moment. Pie party anyone?

speaking of vertical gardens...

This is pretty sexy.

Yes, I just used sexy to describe planters.

via dwell

free-standing vertical garden

I saw this today and thought it might just be perfect for our new place. Out backyard is pretty large, but only has one raised bed, and on the top of our list is to add another. I've always been fond of how vertical gardens look, now I might actually have the opportunity to create one!

And no, we're not in our new place yet, in fact we're 3 weeks aways. I'm obviously getting a little antsy.

via Apartment Therapy