A lush green lawn...

Well, not only did I de-clutter the bedroom, but I mowed the majority of the lawn today as well. Dust was kicking up everywhere and it made it difficult to see and breath at the front part of our dirt pile... uh, I mean lawn. :0

But this is what I noticed, and I am very happy to see it. Our bermuda grass is spreading. Now let me start by saying that I have not been a fan of bermuda grass my whole life. I'm used to tall fescue grass up north. Actually our neighbors in PA had bermuda grass and I remember a patch that found it's way into our yard and grew every year bigger and bigger. To be fair there lawn was like a carpet in the summer...very beautiful. But the thing I don't care for about bermuda is how it turns brown during the winter when it becomes dormant.

Having said all that... I have to add that I am pleased the bermuda is spreading. It spread considerably throughout the whole year. I guess what I'm thinking now, is that I'll take any grass (even bermuda) over the large dirt patches that I call my yard now. The back half of the yard is mostly bermuda, and it's a dream to mow. (I'm sure it's nice to run on too). So, I keep hoping that it continues to spread next year even farther. We may even help it out by overseeding in the spring. And as to that brown dormant color, well I read that I can overseed with rye every fall, and it will green up beautifully and then die in the spring when the bermuda comes out of dormancy. (I'm not sure if I'm even going to head there...but it's an option). Right now, I'll just hope the bermuda continues to spread. Who knows...my goal of a lush lawn in 2 years may just transpire without much work at all!

Bedroom decluttered....

I did it! Today was the day we decluttered the bedroom! I'm sorry, but there are no pictures. :( But, I will tell you that the huge box of clothes is now at the thrift store. A huge laundry basket piled with junk has been emptied. And lots of piles of stuff has been cleared out of the room. Dh took two mirrors up to the attic to store until we are ready to use them. The only problem is, with all that stuff gone, I have a big empty wall with one small dresser on it. I can see a need to build some shelves or rearrange furniture or something. So this week, I may end up rearranging furniture in our bedroom, or designing a built in entertainment center. lol! Poor dh... :-)

Mission Unaccomplished.....

Well, not entirely.... the wood pile is gone and an ugly tree is also gone from our yard. yeah! But as to the bedroom decluttering.... well let's just say nothing's changed. lol! If I took pictures as requested, the before would be the same as the after! Perhaps I should do that! :-) I did update our checkbook and balance our account. So the weekend wasn't completely wasted. I guess I can do a little this week to help out the old bedroom.

On another note, even though it is officially autumn here, you would never know it! The heat is ridiculous! It isn't even cool in the mornings anymore. (Or I just might get up early to experience it!) :-) So, here's hoping that the temperature drops and the weather begins to feel more like fall. It's my favorite season, and I'd sure like to enjoy it!

Change of Plans...

Well, I don't think this weekend we'll be painting quite yet. I decided to do something that costs even less money.... and that is to de-clutter our bedroom. I'm reminded of an email that flylady sends out saying, are there things that have migrated to your bedroom that don't belong there? Well, we have quite a few things that have migrated....some that have never been unpacked. We have a box of clothes overflowing in the corner when you first enter, that have needed to go to Goodwill for quite some time. Just getting that box out of there will help the eyesore. :-)

So, instead of beginning the kids bathroom, I'm planning on de-cluttering the bedroom, and rearranging the closet. It's not exactly a "fun" project, and no I'm not looking forward to doing it....but I guess I'll feel better when it's done. And then "next weekend" we can begin painting!

More thoughts and ideas

Well, I am deciding what to work on next here at our house. I have a general direction of where to go.... both bathrooms. I have ideas mapped out in my head, so we'll see how frugally I can complete them. I believe in a week or so we will be starting with the boys bathroom and painting over the bright blue walls. We already have the primer, and dh says we'll just have to use a paint we already have. So, I guess I'll have to do that until we can afford the color I want. We also have the paint to paint the bathroom cabinets. It's funny because I have no idea why I have this paint.... I "know" it's from a wrong paint selection I made a few months ago. So, I have a gallon of creamy white paint to paint the cabinets with. I think I'll stop there and see how it goes. Perhaps this weekend I'll post before pictures of the bathroom with the wall color and fixtures.

Also this weekend we'll be clearing the side yard of some old wood, and a dead tree. It looks to be a busy one!

Unexpected Surprises....

I guess remodeling can be like that sometimes, an unexpected surprise. Perhaps not exactly what you were planning on working on, but all of a sudden something needs your attention.....you know those breakdowns that are so unplanned....ours just happens to be a big one.... the garage doors. UGH! They are wooden and are falling apart. I'm not sure if the people who lived here before us never used them, or if it's just time for them to "go", but it's gotta happen. They are literally cracked and splitting apart at the seams. It's a safety issue and a water damage issue, and it has to be remedied.

Yes, part of me is quite excited about the possibility of new garage doors.... (if I don't look at the price). Both dh and I decided that we want nice doors as this is an investment in our home long term. If we ever sell, they will be a feature. And NO wood! We need durability at this house! lol! So, we unexpectedly agreed completely on a set of garage doors. In style, and windows, and everything. yeah! Now we just have to replace them...and the sooner the better. Here are the pictures of the old garage door, where it is falling apart. You can see in the second picture the water damage. The third picture shows where it is coming apart at the seams. (Dh thought I hit it with the car originally, to which I gave an emphatic "no"!)

We would like to get carriage doors for the garage. Here is a picture of what they might look like. (Not my house) I can't really find a photo of exactly what we are hoping to get. The windows are similar, but the hardware is a different shape wrought iron and has an extra plate at the bottom. The panels are slightly different as well.... but you get the idea. I guess this will have to do for now, and then I'll post photos after they are done.

***EDIT*** I'm just editing to say that I showed dh my blog entry for the day and he was laughing. I asked him, "What are you laughing at?" His response: "Safety issue, it's not a safety issue". Um... I know it doesn't look that bad, but when you raise the garage door the entire panels are splitting/pulling apart from the weight. So, I asked dh when he thought we would be getting those new garage doors we picked out. His response: "When we can afford them." So...what if they fall apart, then what. His response: Well if they fall apart, then we'll get the new garage doors, but I highly doubt they will fall apart". My response: (said very jokingly) "You never know...when you leave for work tomorrow I may start kicking in the garage door." lol! So, who knows when the garage doors will be coming? I will have to start using the front door though. ;-)