Porch bar with industrial corbels

We had wanted a table with chairs on the porch, but weren't sure about the space.  Instead, we settled on a custom back bar.  Using a long piece of 2 in cedar, we installed this using galvanized pipe as corbels.   They were a bit pricier than I would have liked, but we love the look. And, of course, it wouldn't be complete without our stools from Cameron's!

Front Door Redo on a Budget

 

Our front door:  not the most impressive. 

It’s a standard metal door, which the builder dressed up with wood trim.  (Don’t you like how this Arrow points at the rusty spots on the lantern? 0 We discussed replacing the door with something new, but kept hearing about problems with hanging a new door in the old door’s place, and the cost to rip it all out and replace the unit was not in the budget. Plus, this door works great!  I absolutely hate replacing anything that isn’t broken. 

So, we decided to give the existing door a makeover.

 

First, Ryan used a razor to cut through the paint between the trim and the door.

Next, he pried the trim off of the door.  It had been nailed and glued on, but came off quite easily.

He then patched all the holes with Bondo body filler.

And then sanded and sanded and sanded and sanded.

The end result was pretty cool – all those layers.

This is how it looked from the street after he finished sanding it.

Next, he took leftover beadboard from our Laundry Room makeover and cut to size.

Then glued that directly to the door.  Initially, we were going to center this piece, but luckily realized that the bottom of a door will typically have greater width between any decorative elements than the top of the door. The piece is centered horizontally, but has much more space on the bottom than the top.

He then added decorative trim around the beadboard, caulked, primed and painted.

The BEFORE.

The AFTER.

Now wait until you see what he did to the inside!!!!

And yes, I also painted the rusty lantern.  Door swag from Cameron’s in Downtown Lee’s Summit.

Iris are in Bloom

 

A mishmash of “found” iris are blooming in the yard.  Some were found at the back of the property.  We moved them up to a sunnier location so they could bloom; some were gifts and some were borrowed.

I am amazed at the number of large, bearded flowers blooming.  I fully expected smaller, more common flowers.  And while I love those old time, hearty stand-bys, it’s been great fun to be surprised by these big, handsome blooms.

My New Camera in NW Arkansas

We went to visit my Gran in the Boston Range of the Ozark Mountains over the weekend.  It was great! AND I got a new camera.  Here are some pictures I got.

A tree in Ponca.

 

A bluff reflected in the Buffalo at Pruitt.

Tanner and Ryan climbing down from Cobb Cave at Lost Valley.

The view NE from the Scenic Point tower on 7 Highway, south of Jasper.

This was GREAT!  There were TONS of wasps flying around at the top of the tower.  I have no idea why they were there, but these two fellas flew right in front of the camera as I was taking pictures of the vista.

Sunset over the Jasper School.

There wasn't a ton of fall color, as they've had very little rain, but the weather couldn't have been nicer.  It was a fantastic visit.

Where's the Fire?

I'm all about the outdoor posts lately!

Last weekend we had a fire in our backyard.  In a good way.

You know the leftover Pavestones from under the deck - HERE?  When we poured the patios and sidewalk, Ryan piled them up in the backyard. Can you say "White Trash Hillbilly"?  Ryan, of course, wanted to haul them to the dump. No, really, he did.

Then, the inspiration came.  He turned this

Into this!

And all in one afternoon.

But we needed a better way to get up and down the slope - especially after it got dark and after a few beers.

So, he built this.

And last Saturday, we did this!

It was a ton of fun. We laughed, talked, sang, did skits, told stories...a really great time.

And all FREE!  Or, as Ryan likes to say, Free, except for his Chiropractic Bill.

Linked to Remodelaholics were we were just featured - HERE! Thanks!

Were we really crazy?

Wow!  Things have been crazy around here.  We had WONDERFUL house guests last weekend: Ry's bro, Dave, his wife, Renee, and their son, Cayman.  And Ry's sis, Terri and her H, Scott, got to come by Saturday night, too. 

So much fun: talking, laughing, eating, drinking and making merry! And then the Chief's game! oh, yes. (sorry, Renee, but, at least this year someone went home happy!)

As it always seems to happen with house guests, you rush-rush to finish up all those tiny details, which is great, but can be tiresome.  One of mine was to finish up the office (not there yet...but almost!), and in the midst of my getting organized, I ran across a couple of pics from the home inspection report that was done before we bought the house.   Here's the before and afters of the deck and under the deck. I think this gives you a really good taste of where this entire project began.

Here's the upper deck.  The broken railings are obvious, but it's really hard to appreciate the sad state of the wood.  I don't believe the cedar had ever been retreated.  And there was that weird greasy/oil stained area in the lower right of the photo. Oh, and some rotting boards, too.

We repaired the railing, replaced the rotting boards, powerwashed, sanded and stained the deck.

Here she is now.

She'll need another stain job soon!

Here's below the deck. This was great!  That's all gravel and tree-like weeds growing there.  The rotting hot tub was filled with grody water and tadpoles. yummy.

The gravel was contained by the Pavestone blocks.  And the gravel wasn't really thick enough to cover all the mud and dirt, that's why we had so many of those tree-like weeds growing in there.  We cleaned, rebuilt and moved the hot tub, poured some patios, put in a stone path and landscaped under here.

And here's the after.

Man, looking at these before photos make me question our sanity.  I think I have forgotten the level of disrepair this poor house had been left to.  But it also makes me thankful that we have the opportunity to bring her back and really make her ours.

And while we're at it, we are having some windows replaced in our bedroom. I was taking pictures of the workings of the casements for window guy, and got this pic by leaning out the window from our bedroom.

It sure looks pretty from up here! Makes me want to add a door and a deck off the bedroom.  Think Ryan will go for that?

Linked to FIF at Chic on a Shoestring Budget and RemodelAholics!

Outdoor Decor - Potted Trees and Shrubs

I was reading Crystal Coast Gardener yesterday, and Kyna mentioned she had gotten a Japanese Maple on the cheap and was trying to decide where to plant it.  I suggested keeping it in a pot for a few years.  We've done this with several trees and shrubs. Not only have we had success, but it's also a great (and Cheap!) way to dress up your outdoor spaces.

This is a Contorted Willow on the upper deck.  This was FREE! It started out as a clipping from Ryan's uncle, which was rooted in water and grown by my mom to a good size.  It's been repotted a few times and is close to 20 feet tall. Two good things about raising this one in a pot: 1. we were able to move it when it was in a spot that got too much sun and 2. it requires a lot of water and having it on the deck helps me remember to keep it watered well.

This one is a Maple.  It started out as a stick from the Arbor Day Foundation and was a gift(?) from my MIL. Sadly, out of that bunch, this is the only one that made it.

We have several of these guys.  It's an Emerald Green Arborvitae. Got it at Lowe's two years ago. Regular price $6.98. End of season clearance 50 cents. These grow to be 15 feet tall and 4 feet wide. The plan is to replant into larger pots every 2-3 years.

These are some small "starters". Another Arborvitae, some kind of Cedar and in the third pot, there are three trees--all volunteers--the large maple, a much smaller redbud, and one more, even smaller, maple.  Next spring, I'll move the redbud and tiny maple to their own pots.  

We leave the plants out all winter, and I try to water about every 6 weeks. We are in the Midwest, Hardiness zone 5/6 and will get some temps below 0 degrees Fahrenheit with an annual average snowfall of 20 inches.  If we are having a particularly good cold spell, I'll move the pots so they are right next to the house, but have never brought them in.
So, for very little cash, we have plants for our outdoor spaces.  Plus, it's fun to nurture these little guys.

And while I was out taking pictures, I had to throw in these. 

My Black Magic Elephant Ears! Aren't they doing great?

And my coleus. It was so slow to start, but once it took off, it's been doing great!

Walk this way

While we've shared some tales of the disaster that was inside the home, you haven't heard a lot about the outside. Ryan literally shed a tear for the grass struggling to survive the weeds after years of neglect. (But he also relished the challenge to bring it around!)

And the landscaping?! HAH! What wasn't already dead was overgrown and covered with poison ivy.

One of the outdoor projects we did right away was putting in a sidewalk from the front of the house to the back. It's great when working on projects or for wheeling supplies to the back and camping gear to the front.



And we had a bit of a curve put in it to make it feel less sidwalk-y and more path-y. AND it made a great edge for the foundation landscaping. But you don't see a lot of Side Yard - Side Walks. Why do you think that is?

Front Yard Landscaping - Rock Wall

In the front yard, there is a retaining wall to the Northeast corner. When we moved in, this area was so filled with overgrown Blue Rug Junipers and poison ivy that you could not see the rocks of the retaining wall at all.

It was late August and in desperate need of clearing out. I donned my gardening gloves, longsleeved shirt and long pants, and with water bottle in hand cleared out those junipers and poison ivy.

I pulled out enough poison ivy to fill up two of the brown paper yard waste bags! Luckily, the only rash I got were two poison ivy "bracelets" where my long sleeves and garden gloves met.

I planted the nooks and crannies of the wall with a sedum my mom had loads of at her house. Starting in 2008, after a rainy day I simply broke off pieces and stuck in the mud. It took about 2 months to fill in quite nicely, and here it is on the 3rd summer.

Dear Deer, I hate you! ****UPDATED****

UPDATE****** Heuchera must be removed from the safe list. Son of a Bitch!

I know this to be a FACT. Deer eat the following plants in Missouri.

Hosta, impatients, Eunonymous, privet, roses, lily, iris, strawberries, YUCCA!, aster, pine, solomon's seal, black-eyed susan, liriope, hollyhock, spiderwort, cedar, yew, lilac, maple, crocus, hyacinth, scilla, grape hyacinth, tomatoes, lettuce, pumpkin vines (don't know about actual pumpkins, since they ate all the blossoms and vines before the pumpkins could grow), tropical hibiscus, forsythia, rose of sharon, carnations, dianthus, cannas, willow, geraniums, coneflower.

To date SAFE plants: columbine, daffodils, heuchera, peonies, hardy hibiscus, poppies, baptisia, spirea, barberry, crossandra, bittersweet, cleome, yarrow, chives

My hollyhock at the edge of the yard that the deer ate:

My hollyhock next to the house near the front that the deer did not eat. (yet!)


STUPID DEER!