Front Yard Makeover

I love free stuff. Therefore, I love CraigsList. I was pinning ideas on Pinterest to do some landscaping in the front yard (which currently has nothing but rock). I even hired a contractor to come and pour a concrete retaining wall and a new sidewalk. OR I thought of buying the tumbled stone from Lowe's and creating my own flowerbed. Then, my dad mentioned CraigsList.....and wouldn't ya know? FREE ROCKS!!

Well, maybe not completely free. There was a lot of labor involved in picking those up and moving them to the house. Thanks DAD!!!

So, we shaped a flowerbed and cleared out the existing rock and plastic..

Then began placing rocks to form the border of the planting bed.

We have some pretty rough soil here in the desert, so we mixed in quite a bit of DEODORIZED manure. Still pretty unpleasant smelling, though, if you ask me.

We also cut the extra plastic off and raked the rocks back into place.

In choosing plants, I stuck with very low maintenance plants that are indigenous to the area. I don't want a tropical landscape in the desert, I want something hardy that doesn't need a ton of upkeep. The backyard is where I spend my time. The front yard, though, will draw people into my home. Still, I want it to look like it belongs in El Paso.

We planted red yucca, red oleander, Texas sage, smooth agave and rosemary (which I can actually use in the kitchen!). All of these like arid dry soil, so they're perfect for the front yard.

After planting, we needed mulch....well more rocks. Mulch here just blows away in the wind and dust storms, so it's really not worth the money spent. I wanted a dark color contrast, so we went with red lava rock. I LOVE the look of it. 

Dad thought a few more rocks would make a nice statement in the flowerbed...I think he was right on.

I'm still not done here. We are eventually going to add a sidewalk from the existing one out to the street so guests don't have to use the driveway or walk through the rocks. But for now, at least we have some curb appeal. Another project checked off the list!!

Rocker Bench

From time to time, things...perfectly good things....are thrown away. It's my gain. My parents found this rocker bench in the trash one day near my grandma's house. That was two moves and almost 3 years ago, so it was time for a makeover.

Sad, huh? This was a super low budget project. I used paint from a previous project, so I got to add a few things and turn this into a front porch project.

In a neighborhood full of brown and tan...this will be a nice pop of color :)

After a heavy sanding, wiping, and LOTS of painting (Geez, so many places to get paint into!!) my bench looked like this:

It got a heavy clear coat since it will have to weather the elements, and then a few accessories. I'm so excited about my porch. I might actually sit on it now.

I used some previously purchased red paint to brighten up some ugly pots, bought a few succulents, and my pride and joy...the peacock. I seriously looked at that thing at Target six times before actually putting him in the cart and taking him home. I also found some funky outdoor pillows at Ross...gosh I love that place!

I love the end result, and I spent about $70 on the whole porch ($40 of that being the darn bird, lol).

My little piece of desert just got a lot more interesting to look at :)

Goodwill Bed

It's been too long, I know.  A couple of months ago, Angela and I decided to hit up some garage sales...and found absolutely nothing worth getting out of the car for, so we headed to goodwill and rummaged through the furniture.  We found a gem. Solid pine sleigh bed, and it just so happened to be a full size--exactly what I needed for the little miss's room.

Can you believe I only paid $30?!?! Solid pine. From a distance it looks great, it was up close that you could see it needed some work.

I had to wait a while to tackle the project. I decided that a crisp white would be the best route for this piece. The dresser in the room is a turquoise and I didn't want to overwhelm the room with a second huge statement piece. Also, when I'm done with it, it'll be so much easier to sell a white bed. 

First step was to sand it down.

After wiping off the dust, it got a coat of paint/primer in one. Polar white.

Then it got coats two and three. Plus some polyurethane to make sure its durable enough to withstand a toddler...and she's not a dainty little thing, folks. 

I had lots of help from my wonderful neighbor. She helped me with painting, clear coat, and helped me haul it up the stairs!! YAY!

Voila!! Finite!

Total project cost: $55 (paint and bed)

Can't beat that!

My Free Piano

About 5 days before we moved from Fort Benning, Georgia to Fort Bliss, Texas, my husband was reading the paper at breakfast. He knows me so well. He saw an ad for a FREE PIANO. He immediately suggested we get in the car and go check it out, mind you it was 7am. I told him we should call first...we did, and we did go check it out.

This poor piano. It was under a mountain of papers and junk. The bench was being used for a TV stand. It had that "old" smell, you know, the musty one that seems to stick to antiques? Yeah, yuck. But it SOUNDED BEAUTIFUL when I put my fingers on the chipped keys. My husband knew I wanted it despite the hideous exterior. He made me promise to refinish it. I quickly agreed and he loaded it into the bed of our F150 all by himself (love that man).

My two year old was beside herself with happiness at the fact that we now owned a piano. She would sit in the garage for an hour at a time and play it. Garage, because it was too ugly to be in the house. Then the movers came and packed it into a truck.

It has been about 7 months since then, and I finally got around to it. It has definitely been a priority project, but I needed some help watching the kids so I could begin the piano transformation. My mother-in-law came for a visit, so I took advantage of the free babysitting and got right to work. I did this in a day (minus a few pieces that needed both sides painted and glazed).

I knew I wanted a distressed look for the piano....it just seemed to suit its personality, ya know?

I completed the bench several months ago, just to practice the technique and prove to my husband I knew what I wanted to do. I just didn't get around to the entire piano until now.

First thing....clean it! Geez, it was dirty. I took some big pieces apart, made some minor repairs (tightened screws and nailed a few loose boards....nothing that would compromise the tuning though). I vacuumed the cracks and wiped all surfaces of grime. Then I used 100 grit sandpaper to rough up the finish....ALWAYS GO WITH THE GRAIN OF THE WOOD!!

After sanding....wipe it down with a damp rag and LET IT DRY!

I wanted to add a little something extra, so my husband helped me pick out a wood scroll. This is the best time to add something like that. A little wood glue, a tape measure to make sure it is centered. Ooohlala. I love it. Wipe off all the excess glue and then give it time to dry (several hours) before you continue on.

Next...the best part.....paint. I used a paint/primer in one. My husband picked the color, and would you believe I don't remember the name of it?? Ugh, but we bought a gallon and I think the entire project, bench included used less than a quart...who knew??

Work in small sections so it doesn't get tacky and dry as you're working. I used a 2.5" angled brush. I use a pretty expensive one and I take very good care of it. It's totally worth the extra money to have a nice brush. I would have used a small roller for the flat sections, but the darn dog ate it.

Now, because I knew I wanted a distressed, aged look, I only did one coat of paint. It's uneven, but it only adds to the character of it.

After half a day of drying in the desert air, I started the distressing and glazing process. For this part, you'll need some more sandpaper, cheesecloth, a cheap brush and I recommend some gloves.  Glazing is so easy.

To distress, take your sandpaper and rough up the corners, places where furniture would take a beating anyway, and then I like to pick a few extra spots to give it some more character. Don't overdo it, and make sure your paint is good and dry before you do this, or it will get gummy and peel off.

Then wipe it down again to get all the dust and let it dry again.....again. It's such a waiting game.

For the glaze, brush it on in sections, then wipe it off with your cheesecloth. Make sure you get the glaze into all the cracks and crevasses, it will enhance the look. Wipe WITH the grain of the wood, and use long strokes on big secitions.

When you're done with that, let it dry at least overnight. Then coat it all with a clear coat. All that's left after that is to put it all back together and find strong neighbors to help you bring it in the house. I happen to have FANTASTIC neighbors.