Exterior Updates

I’m finally crossing some things off my to do list and it feels kind of nice! I had two “must do” big projects left in the house and now I have only one. When I say big that means $$$$. I had to decide between the roof and a master bathroom remodel. As much as I wanted to remodel the bathroom I knew that the roof is more important. We had gotten a great quote a couple of years ago, but put it on the back burner once we decided to get a pool. The roof was so stained and brittle that it made the house look uncared for despite not having any major damage. Once I started referring to it as the crack house I knew it was time to replace it. A crack house trumps a 90s master bathroom any day on a remodeling list. I don’t have a before picture, but just trust me that it was not pretty. Here is the after!



Ignore my big car in the driveway. The best part of this update is there was no DIY involved on my part. My contractor picked the color and shingles, which is what almost everyone uses around here. That made it easy. The only decision I had to make was to go with regular or architectural shingles. I decided on architectural since it didn’t cost much more. Now if only writing the check were that easy!

We also finally finished a DIY project in the backyard. Once we put in the pool we had decided to box in the beams that holds up the covered porch. They sat half done for over a year, but we finally got going on it once we planned a Fourth of July party. There’s nothing like having a bunch of people come over that highlights every flaw/unfinished project in your home.

Before we had wimpy gray beams that had seen better days.



Now, we have big beefy white beams that fit right in with the style of the house.









This is such an easy update and makes a big impact. We used four boards per post and nailed them together once we lined them up flush with each other. We did the same with top and bottom boards once they were trimmed to size. If you can use a power saw and nail gun, you got this!

What I am most excited about might not seem like the most interesting update, but if the summer heat and mosquitos are making it impossible for you to sit outside then you will love this.



This fan is amazing! It’s a commercial fan from Air King that I bought on Amazon after seeing them at a restaurant with outdoor seating. It can turn 360 degrees, and points up or down. I love it so much that I ordered a second one. It’s the only reason we can sit outside in this weather without melting. Even more importantly it keeps the mosquitos away. When you live in Texas that’s a big deal! I can’t say I will be doing any more updates outside now that we’re in the middle of July. The only time you will catch me outside now is when I’m in the pool or with my face in front of that Air King fan!

And I Thought Summer Would Be Boring...

I don't think I've ever experienced a summer this busy. I suppose that's what happens when your kids grow up. Last summer, was all about lazy days at the pool and scouring the internet for things to do with young kids. Not anymore! My kids are so busy with activities and friends. I'm just trying to keep it all straight! Add in a pool being built in the backyard, a part-time job, and a blog...it's just busy. My good intentions of organizing my house and working on some DIY projects aren't going so well.

I think feeding three boys eight times a day is the biggest challenge. I decided they were going to eat healthy this summer, so I made a huge fruit platter to last three to four days. I was hoping they could go into the fridge and munch on this when they were hungry so I wasn't in the kitchen all day. Then, they ate every single piece of fruit you see here in a couple of hours. It may not look big in this picture, but that's a whole pineapple, a pint of blueberries, a ton of grapes, a pint of strawberries, and some light vanilla yogurt for dipping. Do you see what I'm up against?




We're also trying to make final decisions about the pool. I'm looking at pictures constantly on our local real estate website, har.com, for ideas. The latest decision has been about the flagstone coping that goes around the edge of the pool. I thought I wanted a light gray with enough tan/brown to go with the brown rocks of the waterfall. Once I looked at pictures, I realized the pallet of stone I picked was all wrong.

Here's what the light stone looks like.






And the dark stone...






You probably don't notice much of a difference, but I really prefer the darker stone in the last two pictures. I wish I would have figured that out before we visited the stone yard. I finally just told the pool contractor I want brown stone and to get what he thinks looks good. I'm sure he has a better idea about these things since he does it every day for a living.

The next major decisions are on the pool decking and the color of the inside of the pool. The decking is going to be a stamped concrete. We have to choose a pattern or texture, and a color. I have a feeling the hardest part is going to be the pool color. The samples do not look like the actual pool color. We might be traveling around to previous customer's pools to get an idea of color. I'm just not sure how we're going to fit that in our schedule.

Since we're planning on hosting a party the minute we can jump in the water, I decided to get a move on the patio furniture. Um...Have you see how much patio furniture costs? It's insane! My frugal self was horrified, but I went ahead and bought a dining set from World Market. It wasn't even on sale, but I did have a 10% off coupon. :)




I've got the matching lounge chairs in my cart online, but I'm still in sticker shock over the table and chairs. I'll buy them. I just need a few days.

I do have one project I'm determined to get done this summer. It's my kids' bathroom. I'm still in the planning stages right now. It's not going to be a major makeover since it's a bathroom to my three boys that will just destroy it. There are some rooms you want to make beautiful and others that you just strive to be clean, functional, and not embarrassing when someone outside your immediate family sees it. I'm going for the latter on this one, lol. I'll have more updates soon!

Summer in the Kitchen

I love the blue and white willow dishes I normally display in my kitchen, but I wanted to change it up a bit for summer. These patterned dishes from Pier 1 fit right in with the lighter blue and green color scheme I had in mind.




My mom found a new tray for the island that goes great with the dishes.




You might remember the touch of blue on the breakfast table from an earlier post. These palm fronds are still just as fresh now as they were in this picture. Crazy! I might be decorating with palm fronds more often.




It's amazing that just a few new items and moving a vase from the family room can make such a difference.



Are you making any changes to your home for summer? I used to never decorate seasonally, but I'm finding it's fun as long as they are very small changes. Now, if I could just apply this philosophy to Christmas!

Saturday Morning Gardening

Thank goodness it's Saturday! It was so nice to sleep in today and enjoy my coffee out on the balcony with Mario. I love sitting outside surrounded by pretty plants. I moved a few palm trees around yesterday and finally finished the rock waterfall plantings. It took a while to figure out where everything should go and corrected a few mistakes. Gardening does not come naturally to me, but I'm starting to get a feel for it. This could be my new addiction. Plant all the things!

The small palms (Pygmy Dates/Phoenix Robellini) were moved from behind the waterfall since I could only see the tops of them. I put them behind the patios, which also fills the gaps in the landscaping. My two new queen palms are now behind the waterfall. That's much better! They are a little close to each other, but after looking pictures I see huge ones planted that close. I would have just planted one in the middle, but we have a huge pipe there for the pool.

This is becoming my new favorite spot to sit. I feel like I'm hidden among the plants from the neighbors while still being able to see the kids swim.

The pygmy dates got a little trim this morning since they were starting to look like a palm shrub instead of a palm tree.

I didn't trim them too much because I like to use the palm fronds for décor.

I still have tons of work to do around the fences, but I'm starting to formulate a plan. This shady corner is home to a couple of new elephant ears that will hopefully grow fast and tall.

I love this side of the yard, but the roses probably won't ever cover the fence so they will get transplanted. They will look great in my front yard along with the white crepe myrtles we put in last year. I would like the front to have more of a cottage feel.

I'm not the only one enjoying the backyard. The pool is the big draw for my kids, but they also love to just sit out here with me. They even brought their breakfast out here this morning.

I'm so glad they are enjoying it as much as me. Have a great weekend!

New House Updates

I haven't updated since last week because it's been crazy around this house! I had one of those weekends where my kids must have been slipped an energy drink. Anyway, I was recovering on Monday morning with a cup of coffee and did not get into my usual frentic cleaning routine since weekends turn my house upside down. I puttered around and noticed some changes needed to be made. I moved a few things around and began getting ideas. I know I'm not the only one that does this!

I bought a chair recently from Target.com for my living room. It was cute, cheap and would go perfect in the corner of the room near the tv. It arrived quickly, but I had to put the entire thing together. It wasn't a simple screw in the legs either. I thought it looked a little small, but when I put it in the corner I realized it was extremely small. I've been trying to come up with ways to make it work because I really didn't want to go through the hassle of shipping it back. I realized on Monday there was no way I could keep it in my living room. I put it in the office as a desk chair and it was even too small for the desk. Who knew there were even chairs this small?! I tried it in the tiny space that I thought was too small for a chair across from the desk and it fit perfectly!

I've been considering adding a bit of tan in here for a while, but this sealed it. I dug out some old Ikea linen (linen-like) curtains and they went great. I still needed a desk chair and immediately knew one that would go perfect from World Market. I took a girlfriend with me and she watched my indecision firsthand as I stared at it. She's seen me do this before so she dared me to buy it, lol. So, I did!

It's amazing how two chairs and a pair of curtains have transformed this room. Now, I just need to clean it up and hang the pictures I bought a year ago on the walls. If you're wondering what took me so long to work on this room it's because I avoid it like the plague. My husband took this office over and uses it to work out of the house a few days a week. There is stuff everywhere and I don't know what's important to keep or throw away. I have just been shutting the door with the hope he'd eventually find the time to straighten up. It never happened, but he will now be working out of his real office in the city instead so I'm taking this room back! Yes! He promised me we would de-crapify it this weekend. We'll see...

While I was at World Market I also picked up these cute wooden starfish. I've never been one for seasonal decorating until the past couple of years. I used these and a few other things I already had to make a summer centerpiece for my island. It's a bit cheesy, but the kids like it. Okay, the kids don't care, but I like it. I'm sure I will be horrified and think WTH was I thinking later, but it works for now.

And, finally...the oar in my son's room got it's stripes. Do you remember me saying last week I was going to paint red stripes on it?




Well, I actually did it and love the way it turned out!

It took me less than twenty minutes to tape off and spray paint it. I roughed it up a bit after it dried so the red would look a little distressed like the white areas. My son still isn't interested in his room, but that's okay. It just gives me free reign to do whatever I like in here. ;) I'm off to buy a few things today and keep this decorating mojo going! Have a great week!