{Two Green Thumbs Up}

Our yard has been undergoing a major makeover this spring, and while we are still in the beginning stages of the process, things are definitely looking better.

Shortly after moving into our house my Mom helped us create a couple of flower beds in the backyard. And shortly after that...I let them get overgrown. Oops. But on a recent visit, my Mom inspired me yet again to attempt getting the yard under control, and this time I'm following through.

Flower bed #1...

...featuring yellow flowers...

...pink flowers (hey, I didn't say I'm a gardening aficionado)...

...zucchini...

...and bell peppers!

I have tomatoes and jalapenos planted also, but no veggie sightings on those plants yet.

Flower bed #2...

with pretty roses...

...and mint, thyme, rosemary, chives, and cilantro. The big herb on the far right of the bed is the cilantro, and despite my astonishing neglect over the last year it is thriving. The plant doesn't die. In fact, it spread into the yard, and the air smells like cilantro every time Andreas mows.

It hasn't stopped with the backyard either. Between natural soil erosion and the shade of the growing tree, our yard was a mix of weeds, dead, and on its way to dead. Andreas used Round-Up to prepare...

...for the sod installation!

Ack! Scary time in the process!

And the final product...

We still have quite a bit of work to do, but I think things are looking quite nice!

Guest Room - Mostly Complete!

Well we made some final headway on the guest room. The picture below shows my favorite aspect of the room, the anise decal. This is the piece we were waiting on before we could post pictures. The white and gray anise is actually a sticker! How cool is that?! Also you can see the two different colors of paint we used in the room. The lighter color covers three walls, and the darker green is only painted on the wall across from the bed.

Here is how the bed turned out. We wanted an inviting and warm room that welcomed our guests, something that was functional, but not too feminine or masculine. We settled on a print duvet, with accent pillows. I really like how the light bedding looks on the dark wood bedframe. I'm also loving the gray lamp.

You can get an idea here of the small shelf in the corner of the bedroom. I haven't gotten pictures in the frames yet or finalized the decorations that will be here permanently, but it's a start.

We still need to add a few touches to the room, but I really like where it's going so far. Hopefully our guests enjoy it too!

Sneak Preview

Over the last couple of weeks, Andreas and I have been working on our guest room. Essentially it was a plain room with a bed in it, and it completely lacked personality. I am loving the progress so far. It's modern and inviting, just like we had in mind.

In light of the New Moon release this week, I thought I would have my own preview on the blog. It is still a work in progress, but here are a few sneak peeks at what is going on in the new guest room.

We've painted...

And accessorized...

And updated the bedding...

What do you think the final product looks like?! I'll post real pictures as soon as we get a few more key elements in place. The biggest missing item is coming in the mail today!

Garage Project 2009

Earlier this week, Andreas and I decided we needed to organize the garage. We figured if we were going to unload everything, we might as well seal the floor while we were at it! In order to avoid an all-day project on Saturday, we planned to conquer the floor on Thursday and the organization on Saturday.

This is what the garage looked like when we arrived home from work Thursday afternoon. Not bad, not great. After watching the DVD that came with our flooring kit, we were torn whether or not to continue. It was over 100* outside, and the video warned that the chemical reaction for the epoxy would move dangerously quickly at temperatures above 85*. We decided to move ahead.

It's extremely important to get the existing floor as clean as possible before painting. The DVD explained the multi-step process. Andreas and I knew this was going to be an endeavor, but I don't think we could have guessed what we were getting into. Lather, rinse, repeat...or something like that, right?

Here I am, channelling Cinderella. Scrubbing the floor is hard work! Keep in mind it was hot, 104* in the garage to be exact. We scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed until we had cleaned the entire floor, and then we did it all again. I would estimate this portion of the prep work took about 3 hours.

Then Andreas started scraping paint off the floor. It was like he couldn't stop. He just kept at it for what seemed like forever until I begged him to quit. Of course he was doing a great job, but I was getting impatient. It was late, and I wanted to move on with the process.

Then it was time to apply the concrete etcher. This basically consisted of scrubbing the floor all over again, only with a different cleanser. Add 2 hours.

Finally around 11:30pm we started painting, and when I say 'we' I mean Andreas. I happily sprinkled confetti behind him. It's a wonder we were both still upright at this point.

I think we got to bed an hour later. It had been a looooong day.

The next morning, we checked out our handiwork. Pretty!

This morning we got up and started to organize. Lucky for us, it was a pleasant 87*.

Bookshelf organized and weed eater hung.

Tool bench cleared and shelves in order.

Our garage is complete! Well, actually we are learning that in home ownership, nothing is ever fully complete. There are always things to be done and improvements to be made. But, Andreas and I made it through our first home project together, and we are so happy with the result!

Too bad we can't park in here for SEVEN days!