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i love a good urn, filled with plants and flowers spilling out over the edges...
in fact, i have a whole pinterest board dedicated to window boxes and containers, with lovely pictures like this:


my urns have been sitting empty for several months now. i usually fill them around mothers day, but things have been so hectic that i never got around to it. i finally decided that i needed a spot of color in the front of my house. the first order of business? sprucing up the urns a bit.



these urns are made of resin, which a LOT of planters and urns are made from these days. this is a great material because it is lightweight, and can mimic the look of cast iron and ceramic very well. my pots are supposed to look like cast iron, but over the last few years, they have started to wear down and the finish is coming off in some places. i found the perfect paint to make to help restore that cast iron look to my urns: a semi flat black spray paint. (i used the cheapest one i could find.) total cost per urn? $1. the semi flat paint has a very subtle sheen and does a great job of mimicking cast iron.

to fill the pots, i bought some potting soil ($5 per urn/$10 total), and went to lowes to see what they had. i will be honest....the selection was pretty slim. not at all like is is in late may or early june. however, i did manage to find some lavender ($5 per pot), and some mixed petunias (a bargain at $6 per  pot, considering how large they are). i usually like to mix at least 4 different kinds of flowers in my urns, and mix in some herbs as well, but i figured this year i would go a little more simple and affordable. i usually budget at least $50 just for flowers, and then the potting soil is another $10-15.


and here are my urns!

all spruced up an brimming with flowers! and all for $16 per urn, including the soil!

its small things like this that make my day happy. that, and a great song played really loud on my car radio can make me darn right cheerful!

oh, and in other happy news, our sod was delivered early this week!

 it is amazing what a difference having grass makes! we are currently watering the fool out of it, and pampering it. new sod is kinda like having a puppy. it needs to be watched, fed, watered, and you can't turn your back on it or it might do something naughty. in this case, DIE.

its feeling less like a construction site and more like a home every week!

gradys bath WILL be painted by the end of the week.
(at least, i hope so...)
i want a warm gray that adds some depth to the wall, but i don't want it to be too dark, because the room doesn't get any natural light.


last week, the second pendant over the toilet was installed. more progress! (because of a code that doesn't allow a hanging fixture to be within 3 feet of a shower/tub we didn't install it before we moved in.) it definitely helps with the amount of light in here. to UP the light a bit more, i have since swapped out the 60 watt incandescent bulbs for 75 watt warm fluorescent ones. (by the way, am i the only one who HATES the "cool" or "daylight" fluorescent bulbs? ugh! i think they are awful. remind me of being inside a 7-11.)

 i also replaced the flush mount light with a simple 3-light spot light, which made a HUGE difference! i actually love this flush mount light, and will repurpose it somewhere else in the house...

the new light:
 found for $5.99 at ikea...and that included the three bulbs! how could i resist?
but anyway, i am getting a little sidetracked, aren't i?
we were talking about paint...
ok, so the plan is to get a paint color that adds some subtle color, and supports the masculine feel of the room.
here are the colors i sampled on his wall:
this is the wall above the vanity:
  all colors are benjamin moore: cumulus cloud, stonington gray, la paloma gray, cumulus cloud @50%, seattle mist, balboa mist.

this is the wall opposite the vanity. as you can see, it seems a little darker:




my favorites are balboa mist, cumulus cloud and cumulus cloud at 50%. i also really like stonington gray, but i like the warmth of the others just a tad more.

before i swapped out the ceiling light and changed the bulbs in the pendants, i was definitely leaning towards "cumulus cloud at 50%", but with the added light, i think the room can handle the slightly darker "cumulus cloud".

what do you think? which paint is your pick?

things are gettin' done!
maybe not as fast as i want them to, but they are definitely getting DONE.
here are a few things that have happened in the last few weeks:

first off---we finally got our range! yee-haw! i was without one for about 6 weeks, and so when we finally bought one, it was like christmas!


if you follow me on instagram, then you have already had a look at my range.


allen managed to get it installed the day before fathers day...coincidence? or did someone want to make sure he had some good stuff to eat on his special day? hmmm....
(i plan on writing a review of it soon, but i wanted to test it out and make sure it wasnt just pretty to look at!)


our door hardware arrived and we (and by "we" i mean my husband, allen) installed all of the interior knobs. we still need to install the exterior door hardware.
(by the way, how GREAT is it to have a handy husband? i love that my man can do just about anything around the house. he hasn't had to do much the last 5 years that we have been renting, but he has been doing a crazy amount of stuff in the last few months! thanks sweetie!)


i seriously cant tell you how "grown-up" and fancy i feel having REAL door knobs!
(the eye-holes were getting old. yes, they were.)


i am REALLY happy with the ones we chose.  you can read more about the knobs we selected here.

we installed our irrigation system.
yes, you DID just hear me *yawn.
i have a client who just built a home down the road from me, and when we get together, we always commiserate on how much it costs to put in a yard---and how much we would rather be spending that  money on some pretty window treatments or a table.


in the front yard, we put the pipes in first, and then had the topsoil brought in to cover them.  i guess most people bring the topsoil in and then have to dig trenches to lay the irrigation pipe. this doesn't seem very interesting to me, but my husband thinks it is a----mazing, and so does every male that he talks to about this. (*yawn)


 more exciting that irrigation, but also not a punch list item (more like a bucket list item)
i found myself a fiddle fig tree! it took about 7 phone calls and 2 months, but i GOT one.

 this one is a "column" variety...it is a little more bush-like than a typical tree. i love it!
i found it at the J + J garden center in layton in case any of you locals are interested. call first and make sure they have some because they go through them fast!


my new tree loves her new home and promises not to die. yep. she told me so...
(i cant wait to add some built-ins, trim and a fireplace to the living room. it will be a while....but i can wait.) 
our new (slightly controversial) front porch lights got installed:


and, we now have a door bell! which we can upgrade later...(this one is pretty boring, but it is better than having wires sticking out the wall!)

yes, the house is really dirty from the soil being brought in, but once the sod is in, we will pressure wash the house.

this weekend, we got the final grading done in the yard, and the mulch for the front beds is in.

 it makes such a difference in the way things look! we were supposed to get our sod delivered, but there was a problem, and we will have to wait. it will be nice to see some green around the house!



thanks for following along!

ok.
hang on to your wigs.
i might actually be finishing a room in my new house in the next few weeks!

after 5 years of renting, i feel a little bit like rocky balboa when he climbed up the steps of the museum of art in philly! can you hear "the eye of the tiger" playing softly in your head right now?
i hope so! (becuase i can!)

as i mentioned earlier, the first spaces i will be working on in my house will be the bathrooms. i am going to start with my sons bathroom, which is upstairs, near the bonus room:

while the house was under construction, and i was selecting the tile, vanity, plumbing fixtures and lighting for the bathroom, i came up with this design plan:

now that the "hard" decisions are made, i need to move onto phase 2: the decorative stuff---art/shower curtains/mirror, etc. this bathroom has a simple, masculine feel to it, and i want to inject a little fun with the accessories and art. it needs to function as the "main" bath for guests who are hanging out in the bonus room, but my little man will be the one using it everyday.

i originally wanted to do a screen printed shower curtain, something like this:

however, i also wanted the shower curtain to be open, so i could see the tile work in the bath surround, and ultimately decided that i wanted two panels, so any detail in a "cool" screen printed panel would be lost if it was gathered on the side of the shower.

when i was at home goods a couple of weeks ago, i found a pair of grommet top curtains for $25 that look almost identical to these ikat grommet top curtains from west elm:

i decided that they would make a great addition to the bathroom....they will add subtle pattern and some softness, but still have a masculine look that my son will appreciate.

i want to hang a buffalo print that i have had for a while. (i still love the "tree" print that i have on the first board, but think i will hang that in grady's bedroom instead) i like the graphic feel of the buffalo print, and think the orientation (landscape versus portrait) will work better here.

here is the revised design plan:




still to do:
hanging the other pendant (this just got done last week! (can i get a "CHECK!?")
paint decisions
hardware (towel ring, toilet paper holder)
finding a mirror
hanging/buying the shower curtain rod
final art decisions
buying some baskets for under the vanity


stay tuned! i WILL have this bathroom done by the end of july!
i just need to keep channeling my inner rocky balboa....