Attack of the creeping myrtle

The weather is finally becoming nice and Jared and I just couldn't wait to start tackling our long list of things to do outside. We started working on our front yard cleaning up all the debris that had collected over the fall and winter.

Myrtle is a great ground cover don't get me wrong. It's low maintenance, spreads quickly and kills almost anything in its path. But it drives me crazy! At some point it will come out but that will be a very long, tedious task so for now it stays.

This little "flower" bed is in between our sidewalk and retaining wall. It leaves a LOT to be desired. We're working on cleaning the myrtle out and letting the assortment of bulbs grow in here for this year. But we do have "plans" for this little area next year….just not sure what those "plans" are yet. 

While digging a little in this bed we found this little guy….well lots of these little guys…it's a wild onion…pretty cool just not in my flower bed! Haha..

So….here's a list of things we need to do outside over the next few months:

-Trim back the ornamental grasses

-Clean out flower beds

-Trim Grapevines

-Mulch all beds

-Edge all beds

-Cut down holly bushes

-Reseed patchy areas of lawn

-Mailbox Makeover

-Plant a garden

-Restore the deck

-Remove old deck benches and install planters

-Paint/repair fence

-Install house numbers somewhere on front of house

-Reseal driveway

-Redo retaining wall

-Resurface concrete sidewalk and steps

-Spray paint outdoor furniture

-Remove "weed/junk garden" on side of house and seed it

-Paint vinyl siding to match rest of house

-Paint/ disguise downspouts

-Plant red twig dogwood bushes on side of house

-Create an herb garden

-Build an air conditioner cover

-Replace Shutters

-Spray paint lamp post and handrails

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What I plan to replace the garage eyebrow with….

I cannot stand that garage eyebrow. It screams IM DATED HELP ME. So I plan on removing that and replacing it with something more craftsman-like such as a pergola. Like this:

Pretty Right?

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Exterior Home Colors

    After much indecision, we have finally come to a conclusion on the colors that we will be using for the exterior of our home. I had to do a lot of research on whether or not I could paint vinyl siding, turns out you can! Yay! If I was to replace all of the existing vinyl siding it would cost me at least $10,000. (ouch!) So I will have a savings of nearly $9,500. Hopefully this project will come without any issues. (Fingers crossed) The colors we have chosen are Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore which can be specially formulated for vinyl siding. The accent color is going to be Mountain Lane by Benjamin Moore and finally the trim will be Alabaster by Benjamin Moore.

Alabaster, Mountain Lane, Hale Navy

Note: If you use any dark colors on your vinyl siding that aren't specifically formulated for vinyl siding, you may experience warping of the panels. So check out Benjamin Moore's specially formulated paint for vinyl siding.

Kind of like these colors….

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Front Yard Checklist

  I love lists because they hold me accountable for the things that I need to get done. Oftentimes lists can seem overwhelming but to me they are just goals that I can achieve when I have time, otherwise, the things I want done may never actually come to fruition.

Here is my to do list for the front yard:

• Replace the gutters and fascia
• Paint the trim
• Paint the vinyl siding
• Paint the shutters
• Install house numbers
• Remove eyebrow over the garage
• Paint the garage doors
• Replace the front door
• Install an outdoor light to the left of the front door
• Make a pergola for over the garage
• Fix the retaining wall next to the driveway
• Update the landscaping
• Fix the concrete walkway and front steps
• Install window boxes

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Exterior Transformation Ideas

      Our first challenge is to add curb appeal to our 1950's tri-level home. Some challenges that we have are that there was an addition added to the right side of the house which creates an odd contrast to the rest of the house. The house looks as if it has three parts, the garage on the right, the main level in the middle and the addition on the left. That is not what I want people to feel when they look at it. I have been doing much inspiration searching and have come up with a theme for the exterior of the house. I have a confession, next to my Jared there is my long love of craftsman homes. So how do you transform the exterior of a tri-level into a craftsman. Well, in my budget I can't actually convert my home into a craftsman but I plan to add craftsman details to give it similar character. Right now it just makes me depressed!

I want to make this…..

Into this!!!!

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