Tag: flowers

The Power of Paint

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A few weekends ago, Christian and I decided that it was time. It was time to deal with the unfortunate disaster that is commonly referred to as “the garage”. 

Now, let me fill you in on something: in downtown Toronto, if you have a garage, that is pretty awesome.  When our area was built in the 30s, the houses were made to back onto a laneway, and little free-standing garages face said laneway.  Over the years, some garages started to…well….desinigrate.  And the rule is, if your garage falls down, there’s no rebuilding it.  It’s a by-law.  So, I will just reiterate how excited we are to actually HAVE a garage, however, we were over it being a disaster zone, both inside and out.  We actually do have plans to restructure the garage in the future: new siding, replace the rusted out eavestroughs, put in an electric door opener, and one day actually park our car in there (what a concept).  We park on the street.

Baby steps, people. It’s all about baby steps (side note: I think that is the 3rd time this week that I’ve quoted “What About Bob“)

First of all, we tackled the inside.  Unfortunately, we decided to do this on one of the hottest days of the summer, but not to worry – we forged on!  I will spare you with the organizational details, however, here is one snap shot of a newly reclaimed shelf for all of my gardening supplies and our lovely (and properly labeled) seasonal storage bins!  Yes, it’s the little things that make me excited:

You also might notice some stereo receivers on the upper right-hand shelf.  This was Christian’s little project.  He picked these up at our Annual Lane-way sale for about $15, re-worked the wire, integrated some old speakers, and voila!  We can plug in our I-Pod and rock out in our back-yard.  It’s amazing what $15 and an hour can do.

Once our interior organizational overhaul was complete, we (well, I) decided that the exterior wall of our garage wasn’t very inspiring when sitting at our backyard patio set.  So, until we have the budget to do the massive overhaul, I decided that a little coat of paint could go a long way.  First, I cleaned the surface:

And pulled out my trusty rollers and some leftover paint…

While cleaning and organizing the garage, we came across some cute butterfly iron outdoor decorations that had been stored in the garage for “when things looked a little prettier” – well, we found a home for them!  And I used a Groupon I had scored for a garden centre to purchase some beautiful hanging baskets….so, $20 later (the amount we spent on the Groupon about 2 months ago), our backyard went from this:

To this….

It’s not a super dramatic before-and-after, but the point is that a few hours, some elbow grease and a can of paint can really make a big improvement.  We have a long way to go in order to achieve that backyard city oasis that we dream of, however, this mini-makeover, coupled with a string of Christmas lights and recycled Chinese paper lanterns from our wedding day, strung on the clothesline, helped to create a welcoming outdoor space for a BBQ with friends last weekend. 

And, oh yeah, we were certain to rock out all night under the stars thanks to Christian’s McGruber-ed outdoor stereo.  Three cheers for my crafty husband: hip-hip hooray!

One year later….a garden full of blooms!

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For those of you who have checked out my first post, you’ll know that my husband and I have nearly two years of renovation, decorating and DIY stories to share (not to mention the whole planning-a-wedding in between thing…more on that another time).  The most difficult part for me right now is deciding which stories to share…and in what order!  So, if you’re reading this, and you have specific DIY questions or are starting (or in the process of) a renovation of your own and would love to hear more about the renovation perils of me and my dear husband Christian, please let me know.  I’ll do my best to share!  Until then, you are stuck hearing stories from whichever way the wind blows me!

And speaking of the wind blowing, and the lovely outdoors, I think I will share with you the story of our garden.  Oh, the garden.  It was a sight when we first took possession of our home.  You could barely even call it a garden, really.  It was a bunch of pinkish-terracotta coloured patio tiles with some wood beams thrown in for good measure, to create, I suppose, some sort of “stone garden” (?).  Add to that overgrown shrubs and the piece de resistance, the massive aquarium (yes, I said aquarium) painted BRIGHT teal blue with (wait for it) a smiley face painted on the front, being used as make-shift planter at the front of the house.  So awesome.

After our “garden” spent an entire fall and winter buried under a massive waste bin that became somewhat of a lawn ornament for us, it finally felt like time to give it the attention it deserved last spring.  I took a day off work and hauled out all of those big patio stones, dug up the plants (salvaging what I could, of course) and added some fresh soil, hoping that our little garden would be soon ready to accept new plants!  We promised to be loving parents!

Of course, being the budget-savvy gal that I am (ahem, correction, my awesomely frugal husband as taught me how to hone in on my thrifty skills that we knew were in there somewhere), I started brainstorming ways for us to find money to plant an entirely new garden.  It is not cheap.  Well, who would have thought that Sheridan Nurseries would have a garden gift registry!? They helped us plan out our garden (however, I would be in remiss to not mention Christian’s dear landscape architect friend who was lured over via glasses of wine to share her professional landscaping opinions with us), set up a “wish list” and communicated it out to all locations so that eager gift-givers could go to any location.  With our upcoming wedding only two months away, it was an excellent addition to the wedding gift-giving option pool.  By early June, we were ready to plant!

Awww!  Look at those little guys!  If you are wondering what we planted:

– 2 varieties of hostas (can’t remember the names right now, but I believe the two-toned ones are “Blaze of Glory”

– Speedwell (the tall white stuff on the right)

– Lavender

– 4x Hydrangeas (2 each of “Blushing Bride” and “All Summer Beauty”)

– Periwinkle smattered throughout (blue and white)

 

A very brief ode: to our lovely solar lights on the right.  We loved you, You shone so brightly in the night, and guided the way for our vistors.

And then you were stolen by some jerks.

Honestly, who steals solar lights?

 

The solution?  Buy new ones during an end of season sale, wrap the bases with heavy duty wire, and then extend the wire to your wooden garden edge and nail that sucker down.

How do you them them apples, light stealers!!??

 

Okay, enough talking…time for the grand reveal…my how our garden has GROWN in just one year!

 

Final thoughts – we were not yet acquanited with the wonders of the East End Garden Centre when we planted this masterpiece.  We now, of course,know of the greatness of our green friends down the road.  Also for those a little north, Bill’s Garden & Design is pretty awesome, too.  Helpful staff and beautiful plants.  Hooray for gardening!

 

What are you guys planting?  Any tips to share?