Yard Work And Such
We inherited a lot of yard maintenance to take care of from the previous owners. I mean A LOT. With six acres I am sure that some of that is inevitable, but this is just over the top. The must have never done yard work once while they lived here. Never. The weeds, even in the close to the house areas, were over my head. The trees had split and grown funky many years ago. The rock garden was more like a dirt pit scattered with rocks. Need I go on? So, point being, this is our first spring here and we have been putting in a lot of hard work out there. I can’t wait to get a new shipment of rock and show you how the “for now” patio area is coming. But, for right now I thought I would show you just how much tree trimming we accomplished the other day.
Here is the shot looking back at the house and you can see how the rock beds are coming along and things are even turning green now!
And that is only the front! Hey, we have neighbors! 🙂 There were many other trees like this all over the property, not to mention weeds that had become their own trees all around the house, barns, and outbuildings. We have even uncovered some things we didn’t know were there when we moved in!! No joke! The other day we found an old metal lawn chair set up by a cattle shoot. They had made a shooting range down there and we couldn’t even see it! We found an old wheel borrow with what used to be flowers planted in it, various pieces of junk, both useful and non, and even learned we have an old hand-pumped well! And it works! Yea, so anyways, on to the fun part. With all of this hard work I just knew there would be some enjoyment in the end. Trimmed branches and a wine bottle…
Just a touch of spring, for the yard and for the house! Just in time for Easter. Gorgeous! 🙂
Downsizing the Antiques
My obsession with vintage furniture grows and my house feels like it is shrinking. So… some items must find a new home! I thought I would list a few things here and there on here for you to all check out. Feel free to contact me with any questions!
1. Two vintage metal lawn chairs and matching table. So adorable! SOLD!
2. Vintage tin top cabinet. We used this as our kitchen island. This isn’t the best photo, but it also has lots of charm! SOLD!
3. Vintage Danish modern chair.
Our Engagement Party!
We finally had it! It’s all over, even the cleaning up! It all went great, and we also wanted to thank everybody for coming and for the great gifts and cards! And, I have a few pictures to share!
The above is the general view of the backyard before the party. The picture doesn’t really do it justice. It was really nice, relaxing, and cozy. It was impressive for those who had seen our backyard a few months ago when we moved in!
The above is the table before all of the food. The vintage table clothe came from Fred and Ethels. The vintage letters are always hanging in our bedroom, and of course we had to have a big diamond! Isn’t that silverware bucket cute? My mom found us that. We also had some big dice (of course!) on the other end.
There were antique Ball jars scattered on the table tops and even in the grass that held candles for lighting up the night.
I love all of the paper lanterns. These were so easy, they had batteries! And, they were only a couple of dollars at the dollar store! They set a nice mood.
And at night everything glowed!Â
I hope some of these simple, but fun ideas help you with your next party. I loved them so much that I will use some of them for our casual BBQs and bonfires!
Lawn Chair Paint Project
I got the new lawn chairs done just in time for the party. Remember these sweet but boring old fashioned lawn chairs we picked up?
Well, with some bright paint and a bit of handy work, they are now unique and look good together!Â
What do you think? I think pretty soon all of these random tid bits will come together!
Picnic Tables and Hammocks
We are getting there! Almost ready for the party! And, not to mention, an enjoyable and usable summer yard! I snagged this little red pillow and teal votive holder yesterday:
It feels cozy now. And don’t worry about that plant hanger behind the table. Something has a spot there, but I will show you in the party pictures. We also got the hammock in the mail and hung it the other day. If you have never relaxed in a hammock then you haven’t lived. This is the coziest spot in our home now! I can see that Tony will never get the yard mowed now! 😉 I also added a couple pillows there.
Also don’t mind the bushy, patchy grass. We are letting that grow as long as possible before the party so that the freshly planted stuff has time to get strong before all the company tramples it. The grass we planted just a few weeks ago has really taken off though! (Probably thanks to all of the annoying rain we have had!)
Look how long and thick some of it is already! And, see the spruced up chair in the background? I will post more on that project soon. The dogs also say hi!
One more thing we added over the weekend was a vintage fiberglass picnic table. My grandparents have had this table ever since I can remember, and now it is ours. But, it is sun faded and scratched. I am looking for a way to refurbish fiberglass if any of you out there have suggestions. I read that some people have had luck with Penetrol. I tried that last night. This did give it a great shine, but as far as bringing back color, I didn’t think it worked. Not to mention it would never bring back the one extra faded area in the middle!  Here it is, and let me know if you have any ideas!
Sweet, huh? Don’t worry, the yard won’t be so stuffed full of junk when the party is over. The other picnic table goes back to the previous owner of the house. We are just using it for extra seating. This gorgeous guy stays! 🙂
P.S. I just wanted to say that Tony has put in many hard, hot hours cutting and dragging out tree limbs and overgrown “things” from this yard. Even though there are still some naked patches and unruly weeds it has come a long long way from the unusable yard it was when we moved in. Thanks Tony! 😉
Fire Pit Finished
I picked up a few bricks yesterday and we finally got to work on finishing the fire pit. Yes, we are short by exactly one brick (not a bad guess!), but that will be taken care of next weekend. The bottom two layers which we laid a while back were now settled in mud and ash since we have been using the unfinished pit. After much digging and playing the mud we finally had them all arranged and neatly packed in. We cleaned out the bottom and laid a few rocks. What a difference! And, grass is poking up where we put grass seed already! We were so excited! Maybe there will already be some green out there in time for the party! I’m hoping it is strong enough be then so we don’t crush it all!Â
Yes, one quite obvious brick is missing! 😉
Â
And here is the new chairs and table that we picked up over the weekend. They will be getting a special paint treatment…soon!
At first I was disappointed to not have found two of these style chairs that match, but we now think it will be fun to do them indifferent colors and embrace the uniqueness! (Plus, I couldn’t beat the price we found these for!)
Overall, it was a very productive and fun weekend. And, our softball team won our first game!
Mid Century Bug
I have it- the mid century bug- that is! I am usually into vintage and antique just a bit older than MCM style, but lately I have been crazy for some of the furniture styles. I’d like to think that I am a good enough stylist to incorporate a bit of many styles to make an eclectic, yet cohesive home. A few things that I am loving:
The Marcel Bruer Wassily leather lounge chairs are calling my name!
This Barwa lounger would be so comfy on a patio or in the backyard, even better if it wasn’t purple!
This guy would be perfect painted black and sitting next to my new-old patio set in the backyard. Then I would have a place to lounge in the sun! (I am actually really thinking about this one!)
This is my all time favorite couch. I want one someday so bad I can smell the leather! 😉
I love these Platner style outdoor chairs. Actually, I like anything wire mesh or Bertoia-esque.Â
An a bit of an older note- I am still on a hurried hunt for a couple of these old style metal lawn chairs. Ebay is a bit too pricey, so if anyone out there knows of any for sale…keep me posted!
Any style, any color, as long as they are similar to eachother, because I am going to paint them red anyway!
Also, do you notice a trend with me and chairs? And currently with me and outdoor furniture? I really need to expand what I look at! 😉
Lawn Chairs and Cookouts
Yesterday I finally got the garage sale lawn chairs finished! Remember the old blue metal set we got for $10? The one that looked like it belonged next to pink plastic flamingos in, well, not our yard? Yes, those are nice shiny black now! Before:
Now:
All we needed was a couple fun cushions. Well, that has been a task. Since these chairs are so old no cushions are the right size! And, have you noticed how dull this year’s “summer” colors are? Blah! But, we stopped in at K-Mart just to check, and found a decent, fun and bright set. Not what we thought we wanted, but it will work for this year! They are a bit different shape, but when you sit in them and squish them down they are perfect. I would also like to add a couple red throw pillows to match the ones we would like to throw on the hammock (coming soon!). Here’s what we have so far:
Better! And Tony even helped me pick ’em out! So, we decided to celebrate a productive day (and the fact that it didn’t rain!) by grilling out and having dinner at the picnic table.Â
The pups even joined in! Have a great weekend!
P.S. Just for the record, the blue on the chairs was a really pretty color. But, we have a lot of red in our yard and it just wasn’t matching what we wanted to do out there. But, after already painted the set black we realized the new cushions do have the exact blue in them! Oh, well, sticking to the plan! Now they are versatile enough to change our minds on cushions all the time! (if they weren’t so ridiculously expensive!)
Our House- The Outside
When we moved into our new home it was getting cold and dreary out, and I have yet to post pictures of the outside of our house or our porch. Until now, that is. This weekend was so gorgeous outside that I took some pictures of the porch and the newly covered bench, as well as the patio furniture that I had time to repaint. Here we go:
The front view of our house.
The little bench by the front door and our red vintage lawn chairs! 🙂
Our gorgeous chairs!
And on the other side- our lovely vintage ice cream table and chairs!
Enjoy our sunny pictures!
Make Mine Eclectic 
