The English Garden Story

This is the story of a garden.  Not really a garden at all, but a wasteland of neglect.  A natural space devoid of human attention but full of  overgrown ivy, rotting mulch, and abundant weeds.  The story of potential. 
Our story begins in a wooded backyard with a couple of dreamers.  And a spot.  That’s all a dreamer ever really needs: a dream and a spot. 
After we decided to buy this house, I spent hours poring over the photos of our new home, dreaming of this backyard terraced garden that would be my little spot.  My "English garden” as I like to call it.  (Don’t know what resemblance it bears to anything English, but just go with it.)  Dreaming of a tranquil pond with a rocky waterfall, flowers in abundance, a little slate patio with a bistro set, and maybe a hammock for two.
Sounds like a tall order for this particular spot.  Here is the “before” picture of my little neglected garden:

As in, WAY before.  Like two years ago before.  Before we moved in.  Because I’m pretty sure the first thing we my mother did as soon as we stepped off the moving truck was Operation Kill Ivy.  Well, I may be exaggerating that fact.  I’m pretty sure it was like the next day. :) 
Anyway, we declared war on the ivy and spent many back-breaking hours pulling, spraying, hacking, and cursing the dreadful green viney stuff.  As you can see it was eating the yard, almost.  Eating the trees, the fence, and the retaining wall (Maybe that’s why we didn’t know just how terrible that wall really was when we bought this place!  Note to self: Let the ivy grow back before resale.)
Once the ivy was declared under control (because it will never be truly eradicated from the property), we began Operation English Garden.  The original plan included a pond with solar pump fountain on the right where the tree now exists.  At some point I realized there was no sun for a solar pump and the leaves from the trees would clog the pond in a matter of days.  So I said goodbye to that dream.  Enter plan number two:

While I haven’t achieved quite the flowering abundance of the above image and my boxwoods are still quite small, I am getting closer to that plan!
Here’s a rundown of the process:
We pulled up the black plastic landscape “cloth”, raked out the mulch to make it level, created a round planting bed for my little cherry tree, and marked a curved path between the entrances.

Then we got some hostas, liriope, and lily of the valley.

Next we added flagstones for the path and Anthony Waterer Spirea bushes.

Pink azaleas joined the party, plus a few boxwoods,  columbine, and daylilies.

Gravel dust filled in the pathway, while more liriope grass lined the edges.  A charming birdbath and planter boxes were added to anchor the space.

A few more plants, some mulch, and brick edger...

Then I needed seating for my garden visitors.  This bench was on clearance at Home Goods and as soon as I saw the red tag from the parking lot, I skipped across the curb and began jumping up and down in front of it, squealing all the while. 

I still need to paint it so it stands out in the brown wilderness, and maybe make some round cushions for the seat.  I love how two people can sit and enjoy different views of the garden at the same time!  That part looks like an English garden, right?  Right?!

This brings us to the stairs.  See those up there?  Yeah, seriously lacking several requirements of stairs.  So, my safety conscious parents eventually got fed up with climbing the rotting steps with no handrail and declared them CONDEMNED!  And for our second wedding anniversary last weekend, they decided to build us a brand new set of stairs!
Papa came on Saturday and we began the process:

Notice the lovely rotted top board of the retaining wall?  Yep, we replaced it.

Demo complete.

Bringing those retaining wall posts down to size.  With a reciprocating saw.  Powered with three extension cords plugged end to end.  Genuises, right?  Well, it was a long way from the nearest outlet!

 

VICTORY IS OURS!

Complete with a couple of new ferns on either side.

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

 

That brings you up to date in the garden.  Our future plans for this spot include more mulch, (can there ever be enough mulch?) a few forsythia to fill in behind the swing, finish the brick edger on the pathway, plus more plants because you know there are never enough of those!  Here’s one last look at our progress.

 

BEFORE:

 

 

AFTER:

 

The English Garden.

 

April Showers

Well, even though we only got a few April Showers, the tulips did not disappoint.  Here’s a look at the blooming beauties and a few shots of Spring from around the yard…

          

I’ll be back with more garden updates! :) Happy Friday!

Guest Room Art

I finally got around to putting up some artwork in the guest room!  You remember the state of decor after we painted:

The yellow walls were a bit blank and I had to do something about it!  As promised, we are going with a botanical theme in here, so firstly I lifted a butterfly picture from the laundry room (poor laundry room… I just keep stealing things from in there.)

Then, I stumbled upon an awesome metal butterfly wall hanging in the floral department at our local fabric store!  LOVE!

It fit perfectly on the wall next to the closet.  With the butterfly across the way, it was right at home:

The last project was for the wall over the bed… the wall you see first when you enter the room.  I bought three matching frames at Goodwill and painted them black.  Then I printed three yellow flowers from New York Public Library’s Digital Gallery and stuck them in the mats.  Voila! Instant botanical collage.

And for the low cost of $0, if I decide I don’t like them in a month, I can print something else and put in the frames.

The room is coming along, now if we could just get that upholstered headboard up, this wall would be complete!

What do you think?  Do you like the pops of black and green?  I’m thinking we need a green botanical inspired pillow on the bed as an accent to tie in with the art.

Stay tuned: pillows, bedskirt, cushion, and headboard are yet to come!

March Marches On…

Goodbye March.

Even though I’ve been too busy to enjoy you, March, I will enjoy these memories of your first blooms of Spring.

Darling daffodils, you make me smile.  And you inspired me to paint the guest room yellow, so I’ll remember your loveliness long after you are gone.

    Oh Forsythia, I am so happy to see you.  When I planted you last year you were all nothing but sticks.  Now just look what you’ve become.  Maybe next year, all of you will bloom and you’ll be the star of the yard!

 

Hi, there, you have finally opened, first tulip in my yard.  Dainty tulips, you were hard-earned.  But well worth it.  I look forward to April for the real flower show.

Well hello there, Mister Bleeding Heart!  You took me by surprise.  One day you were just a purple sprout, and the next day, a flourish of delicate pink blooms.  I have been waiting for you for a year.  Last year, when we got you, you were nothing but a mess of green tangles.  My patience has paid off—you are lovely.  Now don’t you go fading away anytime soon, there are other Spring blooms coming soon!

 

Welcome April!

 

Life’s short…

EAT DESSERT FIRST! 

I bet you thought this was going to be some morose tale about life, from that title, didn’t you?

Nope.  I’m back with the last project from my jam packed Saturday of last!  Somehow I managed to find the time to do this quick little craft in between spray painting the window locks (yes, I did that!) and redecorating the guest bedroom. 

But, this project is something I showed you long ago in my photo-shopped kitchen inspiration photo.

Do you see it?

There it is!  It’s that cute sign that I simply had to have to remind me to eat my vegetables, ahem.. I mean sugar.

(And of course to annoy my husband, who for one, doesn’t really care for dessert and two, dislikes putting things on top of upper cabinets! )  I know I am evil.  Moving on.

So, I had my Papa cut me a scrap piece of wood an appropriate size for my little sage advice sign.  He routered the edges for me, too!  Thanks Papa!

Then I painted it with some semi-gloss black paint.  After I selected a lovely font (Grenouille from Dafont.com) and designed the phrase in Publisher using the banner feature,  I just sized it to fit my sign and printed an outline. Then I transferred the image to the sign with a pencil, pressing into the wood slightly to make an impression so I could see it.  Then my trusty paint pen and I went to work filling in the letters (it took about three coats). 

Ta Da!

And there it is in the kitchen.  Over the pink mixer.  Which is where I make all my delectable desserts.  :)  How appropriate.

I would have taken a nice wide angle shot for your before and after comparison, but someone had too much dessert and left a bunch of dishes in the sink!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this mini update and remember to eat your dessert first, whenever possible!

Guest Room Update

I am back with more pics from the grand guest room redo!

Here it is with a few more accessories.

So, I finally got the shelf back up on the wall, albeit slightly crooked (aaargh!) and put some accessories up there.  I also added the paper lanterns until I can get more permanent wall art. 

I also got new white sheets for the bed! Yay, no more blue.  And we revised the comforter that I bought.  When I went to wash the thing, it was huge and impossible to wash in a standard washing machine.  Plus, the inside filler was a lovely greenish blue color, which you could see through the fabric!

I know that doesn’t look very green, but trust me, when we got it out and piled it up it was sea green!  I’m not kidding!  Where do they get this stuff?

So, in order to kill two birds with one stone, we removed the green batting and made the comforter into a duvet cover!  Then, I sewed a new duvet to go inside using muslin and white batting, not green.  And then I quilted it in rows so the strips of batting would stay put.  Here’s what I’m talking about:

Not bad for an evening’s work, huh?  And just to save an extra step, instead of making a buttoned opening for the duvet to go in and out like a regular duvet cover, I just stuffed it in and stitched up the hole with a basting stitch.  Now when I want to wash it, I just rip out the stitch and throw the cover in the laundry.  Then sew it back up afterwards.  Easy peasy.  For extra fancy-ness, I added buttons to the inside corners of the cover, and button loops on the duvet.  Then I just buttoned them together so the duvet and its cover stay right where I want them, with no shifty-ness. ;)

Ah, much better.

The remaining projects in here are the upholstered headboard, and the seat cushion for the cedar chest.  Throw in a few framed botanical prints, some new accent pillows on the bed and we’ll be done! :)  And eventually I’ll pick up a neat chair to go next to the dresser for an extra place to throw your coat when you come to stay in our guest room!

Golden Guest Room

This weekend, we painted the guest room!  It’s the first room that we’ve painted on the main level since we moved in, and only the third room that’s been painted in the whole house!  Gadzooks!

Anyway, my sister joined me for the major transformation from cartoon chaos!  For all of you cartoon drawing lovers, please skip the next part as it may be hard for you to read. ;)

Here is what it used to look like with Max, Clifford, Curious George, Cat in the Hat, Lorax, and their friends gallivanting across the walls…

The first day I primed over the drawings.  It only took three coats!  Haha.. those suckers did not want to go away. :)  Don’t worry, I gave each one a proper goodbye before the primer was rolled on. 

Then I had to choose a paint color.  After much deliberation (ugh!) over what shade of yellow to use, I settled on the same color from my laundry room, Olympic’s “Flax”.  It’s nice and clean, butter yellow in the daylight and warms to a golden yellow in lamplight. 

Hannah rolled the walls, while I painted trim and windows.  Here’s a few progress shots:

Thanks Hannah!

Then, I put the room back together.  Here’s a sneak peek at the new look!  More pics coming soon after the accessorizing is complete!

So, what do you think of the new color? Does it look like I smeared banana pudding everywhere?  Or maybe you’d like to see it with daylight+lamplight=fluorescent highlighter yellow!  Check back soon for more updates!