The Homestead Archives | Page 18 of 30 |

Rustic Makeshift Potting Bench | Gardening Solution

June 15, 2011 By Laura 7 Comments

When you need a potting bench, and you don’t have one, you just have to make do. And that’s how this rustic makeshift potting bench came to be.

We’ve been blessed time and time again, with wood to burn in our wood stove through the cold seasons of the year. Having a cozy fire going in our home, is definitely our preferred source of heat, and we’ve hardly had to invest much in keeping it going. Oak pallets are dropped and stacked beside our driveway regularly through the winter, by Michael’s supply company, who is always looking to get rid of them. They burn nice, hot & slow.

potting bench This load of tree wood is from the guy a few houses down, who was clearing off his lot behind his home. He had no need for it, so we took it. Naturally, I knew we could burn a lot of it. It needs to be split & stacked still, of course, but there’s plenty of time for that. There was some nice logs in there, and I had another idea for some of it. Explaining what I wanted to Michael, was the biggest trip. Eventually, I had to just direct him through the process, because he was not getting ‘my visual’ so to speak.

What I wanted, was a potting bench put together, using cut logs, and a pallet. A rustic makeshift table of sorts, near our gardens, to re-pot plants on, work at, or place our fresh picked produce as we went along.

He got the visual, about the time it got done.

Of course nothing looks like much of anything, without a little touch of decor pretty. I had a few things I had picked up here and there for next to nothing, that looked perfect on the table top. Added a few of my smaller potted flowers, and I loved it. Just what I had pictured. Even Michael loved it.

The bench has proven handy, indeed. I use it all of the time.

Country-ish, charming, and functional.

What’s not to love?

I know the decor will change and evolve, over and over again. Because it’s just a great place to put the interesting little things we find, on our walks along the seashore, and stuff like that. That rock you see in the back corner of the shelf, is like a perfect round ball. So cool.

So what do YOU think of this set-up?
We live on a dead-end road, with very few neighbors.

But if you were driving by, would you see it and think….“WHAT the HECK?”

Because I don’t know….I just love seeing it there.
Call us rednecks.

Maybe because it’s so simple.

It’s really just the simple little details in life, that make me so happy inside.
Thanks or coming to check it out. Happy Gardening!

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Mailbox Tub Garden

June 4, 2011 By Laura 4 Comments

We are still very much working on our long-term front garden-yard plans, and we’re far from completion. A little each year, as we need to roll, but we’ve enjoyed the planning and the progress along the way. We always wish we were further ahead than behind, but that’s the way it goes.

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Our mailbox out front by the street, has really been looking like it needs some sprucing up, for some time. Last year, we just planted some flowers around the post, in what sandy and rocky sloped dirt was there. But because our front yards are our garden, and the general landscape plan is not completed yet, it didn’t look so nice. The crabgrass that grows in the sandy dirt, spread into flower bed, and it just didn’t look clean. So this year, I had a new plan.

To have a little tub garden, around the mailbox post. I figured, filled with loam, it would keep the crabgrass from spreading into the garden bed.

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I picked up this aluminum tub for cheap, at my favorite antique/junk stop. I had passingly mentioned to Michael, that I had wanted to put the mailbox further to one side, than the other. But I didn’t make a point of it yet, because in my mind, I imagined he planned to just cut out the entire bottom of the tub. But next thing I knew, I had found this done. A square cut out smack-dab in the middle, with drilled drain holes here & there. Of course, I went through my typical reaction to these things: “MI-CHAAAAAEL!”….and reminded him that I had mentioned to him, I wanted the post to the left.

He thought it would “look fiiiiine”, and proceeded to put the mailbox through the tub, and into the new hole he dug. (We were moving the mailbox over as well, closer to our driveway.

This situation is such a symbolic picture of US, by the way. Michael and I, I mean. He is all about liking things symmetrical, and I prefer asymmetrical. He’s a ruler follower, and I’m a rule breaker. He likes new and perfect, I like things old and full of character. He’s conservative in style, and I am SO not. He’s even, and I’m odd.

Oh…wait. 🙄 Well anyway…

It was not yet filled with dirt, but I got the visual, and it just wasn’t right to me. So ….. boring, and non-creative, in my eyes. So I proceeded to tell him, that it looked ridiculous, as I knew it would, in the center. It was no big deal to cut the existing hole another square bigger, to the left, so we could move the whole tub over (thus appearing that the post had moved over, lol), and that’s just what he did. If only to shut-me-up. : ) (We nag because it works, right? And because…..they don’t do what we say the first time!)

Kidding. I respect my husband. I just have a little more flare, and fight, in me. Or, a lot. Maybe.

MUCH better! Right?

(I mean….I couldn’t take a photo of it center. I just couldn’t. But can’t you imagine?)

He loaded it with the loam, and I planted my flowers.

Calibrachoa and Snap Dragons, to be exact.

creative-mailbox-planter-ideas-5 Crabgrass can’t touch this!

So what was your vote? Center, or off-center? How would you have done it?

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Have a Coke, & Some Petunias, & a Smile!

May 24, 2011 By Laura 23 Comments

Gardening season is upon us, and we’ve been doing a few creative home-front (literally, in front of our home) projects I am excited to share with you, one after the other, here on the blog Our garden beds are all ready for planting next weekend as well, with the soil all screened and fertilized. (So exciting!) Aside from that, I’ve been getting creative & efficient around the garden beds, and this post is one of the little cute projects I’ve been wanting to share.

The week prior to Mother’s day, {A} and I found ourselves scouting a few antique stores, and I spotted this Coke crate among the goods, in the items on the sidewalk outside of the door of one of the stores.

coke-bottles-crate-repurposing-creative-gardening I was so drawn to it, and I had an immediate re-purposing vision for it, too. As I walked around the store, I got to ‘thinking too much’. As cheap as I am sure it was, there was a reason I didn’t want to get it, too. As I hemmed & hawed about whether to get it or not, {A} wanted to know what was holding me back. When I told her, she thought it was a ridiculous reason. But you know…I think differently than a lot of people, I think. Everything seems to have some psychological puzzle to it, to complicate things for me. It keeps my brain busy, I guess. But the bottom line is, ultimately, we got in the car and drove home. Yes, leaving the awesome, vintage, well-worn, old & rustic, Coke bottle crate behind.

It soooo bugged me all week. I had wished I got it, and I said so out loud a 1/2 dozen times. Michael asked me why I didn’t get it then, if I wanted it so bad, and {A} was happy to fill him in, with an amused chuckle at the end. (Imagine my appreciation of that. <eye roll>,)

I might tell you at some point in this post, my reasoning for not getting the crate in the first place. If I am feeling up to being laughed at some more. But for now, I’ll tell you now that on Mother’s Day, we went back and got that crate! I was prayin’ it would still be there, and thankfully, it was. $10. That’s the price the guy gave me, and it was the most I was willing to pay.

coke-bottles-crate-repurposing-creative-gardening-1 I loved it more than I even remembered. It had a little stink to it, and some cobwebs, that I wasn’t aware of before, because I hadn’t handled it or got that close. But still…..it was sweet. I especially love the printing on the wood on the inside-back. I don’t know why. I just think the whole dang thing is cool, and I was wicked excited about my plans for it.

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1970. Get-Out!

O.K….it’s not really that old. ; ) But it’s still cool, and it’s got a really old feel.

So I gathered the other things I needed for my project, and put my little vision together…..

….And it looked even better in real life!

Initially, I was just planning on using a mix of white & red Petunias. But my little girl really loved these candy cane striped ones, and I love to make my kiddos happy. I threw in a few Snap Dragons for good measure.

coke-bottles-crate-repurposing-creative-gardening-5 I just love how it looks, sitting on the edge of any of the garden beds. Or anywhere we put it out there. And my hesitancy for getting it, has bothered me less and less, now that it makes me so happy, every time I catch sight of it. So I guess I’ll tell you what my issue was.

See, the thing is, I just don’t condone drinking soda. (I’ll give you a moment, to say….”Oh brother!”, too.)

I mean….I am not wicked ANTI-soda, but my kids don’t drink it, and I never have it in the house. They have all tried it, and hate it. They don’t like the carbonation. Which is great, because I wouldn’t let the little ones have it on any regular basis, anyway. My husband used to drink it sometimes, but I think he has come around to my way of thinking about it. It’s just so BAD for you. Your body, your teeth, yourSELF.

Ok, maybe I am wicked anti-soda.

Listen, I know you must think it’s ridiculous, too. But like lots of things one has strong feelings about, this goes back to my childhood. Without naming names, when I was a kid, I knew some other kids who were having some serious stomach problems. As it turns out, all of the soda they drank was eating their stomach. (And their teeth too, as far as I could see.) So you see….that really disturbed me as a little kid. I know. You need to drink a lot of it, and regularly, to have such issues. But the point is……I’d rather encourage drinking lots of water. And milk for the kids. And green tea, I heard, has all kinds of benefits. Liquids that are good for you! And I really did not want to send the false message to the world, in my own front yard, that I condone Coke-drinking as a life-style. Because clearly, I do not.

But, you know….now that I see how cute my soda bottles crate is, with that really great Coke logo…..(I have to admit, and so do you, that it’s a great logo!)…..I am letting the possibility of this misconception, go.

I’m almost over it, already.

No really!

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There’s a little story behind the bottles that ended up in this cute-gardening-repurposing-project, too. While out at other antique stores on Mother’s Day, I found the perfect Coke bottles, to use for this. They were old and circa-I-forget. But suffice it to say, they were original Coke bottles, with the embossed Coke logo in the glass. All transparent, greenish glass. Original Coke bottles, like I said. $5 each, and I only wanted 3. But Michael convinced me that he could get the exact same thing at Stop & Shop. “Really Michael?” I asked. “Are you sure they are exactly like this.”. “Yes”, he said. “I can’t see buying antique ones just to sit in our front yard, at $5 each, when I can get them for a buck-something. Who is going to know the difference?” “ME!” I said. “I don’t do any of these things for anyone else! I do them because they make ME happy. It’s part of the way I make my home for my family!”

(Men so don’t get these things. Right? Is it just my man?)

coke-bottles-crate-repurposing-creative-gardening-8 So I left those antique Coke bottles there in the store, over my husband’s antics about it. Because he was going to get me some just like them. And only I would know, they were not really antiques. Uh-huh.

(Now I had 2 things I would have to keep pushing out of my mind. Right? That’s what I was thinking.)

These bottles you see in the photos, are what he brought home to me, from Stop & Shop. I was like, “Michael! These are not the same!!” “Sure they are, why not?” he asked. “BeCAUSE….”, I had to explain, “These have this red & white screen printed logo thing on them. The others did not have that! The logo was embossed on the glass. These aren’t the same. It’s not the real thing, Michael!!“

And then I busted out laughing hysterically, realizing the pun I just made by accident. Which of course, lightened my heart, and I forgave him.

But I’m back to mad again, I think. I mean, I kind of would have liked the real vintage Coke bottles. You know? On the other hand, the red & white logos do look nice among the flowers, with the red & white crate and all.

coke-bottles-crate-repurposing-creative-gardening-4 So that’s my great long story, of this little garden project. I hope you love it, and it inspires you to get creative with your own flowers and plantings in your garden areas. But please do not let it encourage you to drink Coke! Just pour out the contents down the drain, like I did. Promise? Soda in general, is just not good for you. It’s high in sugar. It’s bad for your teeth. I heard it eats stomachs! So disturbing.

This has been a public service announcement, and a creative gardening inspiration project, all in one! What a bargain, huh? Aren’t you glad you stopped by?

Here, have a water, and a smile.

: )

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Big Furniture Refinish } A Work of Heart

May 10, 2011 By Laura 51 Comments

This is the biggest furniture refinish I have done, yet. (Well, my husband did very kindly help me. I worked pretty hard on it too, though.)
But as big of a job as it was for my hands, it was a much bigger job, for my heart.

(‘Before’ thumbnail. The ‘After’ is a must see!)

refinishing furniture This is my mother’s dresser. My mother passed away very suddenly, in 2005. Her passing hit me like a train, and threw me into a grieving like I had never known. In the state of fog & hurt I lived in, one month after another, the only other thing I was aware of at all, was the depth of grief my father was in. It was hard to watch him go through all he was. I honestly don’t know which hurt more.

This dresser was the only one my mother ever had, in all of my years growing up, since the day I was born. Except for a few sets of sheets, the drawers of it have been empty for the past several years, since my sister and I cleaned out my mother’s clothing together. But the rest of the house my father has kept exactly, as my mother had it. People say things to him about that, but he can’t understand why anyone thinks he would change anything.

My youngest daughter had moved out of the bedroom she had shared with her triplet brothers, and into her very own room. I gave her my old white iron twin daybed, from my adolescent years, but she still needed a bureau of some kind. One night, as I lay in bed, unable to sleep, I got to thinking about what kind of dresser would go best in her room, and when I came up with a long dresser with a mirror, I immediately got thinking about my mother’s.

My intention right along, had been to find an antique or used dresser somewhere in my hunting, and refinish it. We don’t buy much of anything new. But when I remembered my mother’s, I knew I had more thinking to do. You see, I knew my father wasn’t going to use it again. He has the tall dresser, that goes with this one. When he sells the house, I knew he would either sell the dresser in an estate sale, or sell it with the house. But one way or another, he wouldn’t be taking it with him, because he didn’t need it.

My issue was, the dark finish and style of the dresser, didn’t go with {O}’s room at all, or our home’s farmhouse style in general. But, when it comes to sentimental matters, I am also the type, that doesn’t like things to change. I want everything to stay the same – which is why I take such comfort in going to my parent’s home, where my father is, and everything is just as my mother left it. My mother would be there too, if I had any say in that.

So the idea of refinishing this dresser, of my mother’s, was hard to think about. Just the vision of it, just as it is, with every detail, brings back memories. It’s such a part of my history, and my parent’s. But it was either take it and refinish it, or let the whole thing go to some stranger, who never even knew my mother. I decided changing it was a easier to handle, than letting it go altogether.

I talked to Michael about it the next morning, and called my father that afternoon, to ask him about it. I was tentative, to tell him about the refinishing part. (Yikes!) He did pause for a second of silence, when I got to that part of my plan. But I wasn’t sure in the moment, if it bothered him because it was my mother’s, or if he didn’t get why I would do that. I guessed it was the latter, knowing him pretty well, and a couple of questions later, I found I was right. I figured, even if he was OK with me refinishing it, he wouldn’t understand why I would bother. (Because he wouldn’t even think of it….because it works as is!) “Why would you do that?” “Because Dad, it doesn’t go with her room. At all.” I could hear him trying to wrap his brain around it. He’s just a simple guy, who is not at all about home decor, etc. If it works, it’s good! If it’s comfortable, it doesn’t matter what it looks like. But he was fine with whatever I wanted to do with the dresser. And he insisted on bringing it down to us, even though Michael had every intention of going out to western MA to get it.

I knew he would insist on driving it down, and as soon as possible. He always makes sure we understand, “Anything you guys ever need, just ask me. I mean it.” He means it. There is nothing he wouldn’t do for us. The dresser arrived in the back of his van, which arrived in our driveway, that weekend.

It was a beautiful day, so we got right to sanding it down, before it even came into the house. I did need to take a deep breathe, and push my hesitancy away, before I let the sander hit the surface. But after I took some ‘before’ photos!

I could see the dresser, all refinished just as I wanted it, in my head. I went to Home Depot myself that week, and found what I was hoping I would, for the original hardware – which I definitely wanted to keep! It was the design of the hardware, that that really marked the dresser as my mother’s, and part of my parent’s set.

The spray paint I chose, was brushed nickel.

The tone was so beautiful.

The dresser itself, was a whole lot of work. A lot. Sanding, painting, steel wooling, and the high & smell of denatured alcohol, that was stuck in my head. It was a big piece to work on. So much to it. My hands took a beating.

But the labor of it all, was therapeutic in a way, too. It was a process I needed to go through. Accepting change, and looking it in the eye, whether it is easy, or welcome, or not. Knowing inside, that the only thing that is ever guaranteed to never change, is the memories born in the minutes and years that pass by.

Time marches on.

The dresser came out absolutely beautiful, I think. I totally love it, refinished. It now goes so perfectly, with the rest of {O}’s bedroom.

But it’s funny to me that, as completely different as it looks now, I somehow still see my mother’s dresser.

Every time I see the hardware, I am back in my parent’s bedroom(s), or I actually hear in my head, the clinking sound it makes, when the drawer is closed and the handle is let go. I heard it for 21 years, or something.

The dresser has new history now.

{O} now has her grandmother’s dresser, and she watched her parent’s refinish it with love, just for her.

I can’t tell you how many times, I used this big mirror myself, growing up in a house with 5 kids, and one bathroom.

I can even easily imagine the many things of my mother’s on the dresser top, that were there for so many years.

{O} is slowly covering it, with her own things, now.

She knows it’s her Meme’s dresser, and it makes her happy to have it in her room, and call it her own, now.

Things change. It’s a part of life.

refinishing furniture
And yet some matters of the heart, inside, never do.

No matter what it looks like, on the outside.

Sometimes, letting go, is all we can do.

While we hold on to whatever we can, as best we can.

I’m so happy I thought of getting my mother’s dresser, before it was too late.

I miss her so very much, and it was hers.

Nothing I do to it, can ever change that.

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Old Doorknobs to Jewelry Holder | DIY

May 9, 2011 By Laura 29 Comments

old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-12
My youngest daughter {O}, age 8, is all about her accessories. She loves fashion design, and gets great joy out of planning her outfits, head to toe, every day. Her hair accessories have been taking over my side of the bathroom cabinet, and she has been keeping a lot of her jewelry in a box, which as you can imagine, tends to get things a little tangled. Something had to be done, and I had a great idea for an accessory holder!

old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder There’s an antique place in E. Wareham nearby, called Clam Shack Antiques, that we’ve frequented often in the past couple of years. I knew it was just the place to hit first, for some of the supplies I needed for my project, as I recalled there was a load of old antique door knobs there. I rummaged through them all, chose some I really liked, and bought them for a deal.
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At home, I already had the perfect piece of wood. My father comes down to visit us a lot, and when he comes, he usually brings a load of stuff we may, or may not, want. He knows how we love to make something, out of nothing. Or take a piece of junk, and turn it into something nice or useful. This nice solid piece of wood, was among the last load he showed up with. It’s not truly perfect actually. Someone had routered it, but the piece was not cut exactly even, to begin with. But that’s alright. We embrace imperfections. (Starting with ourselves. Do we have a choice? ; ).

I had all I needed, to get to work on my vision.
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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-2 This is what I made. I painted the wood, and then distressed it a little. Then I had Michael install 3 of the door knobs I chose for this project, in my particular specified order. (So important, you know.) I did not want any two knobs alike for this project, so we are saving the rest for another upcoming house project.

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-3 Here, is {O}’s accessory holder in use, just as I had envisioned it. Well, it’s not actually quite done, as you see. I’ll tell you more about that in a minute. But the knobs are just perfect, to hang her accessories on. She has some nice pieces, too!

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-4 {O} is such a fun kid to have around. She has such a feminine style, and gets so excited about anything I want to do with her, or her room. She appreciates my creative side, has one of her own, and is as enthusiastic as I am, about any project I brainstorm about, or work on. She loves to work with me, too.

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-5 Hunting for door knobs, has been so fun. I have discovered how unique door knobs can really be.
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The glass ones can be especially fascinating, and beautiful.

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-7 But even this dinged up one has such character. I think it’s brass, underneath that paint. This one, and it’s match, were pretty yellowed, when I brought them home. We just washed them with hot water and soap, and they whitened quite a bit. They still look old and discolored of course, which is why I love them. But…not yellow.

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-8 I really still cannot believe, that I grew up in a house that is close to 100 years old, and I never appreciated it’s history, while I lived there.

I want a second chance!

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-9 Which reminds me. Were you wondering what the 4th hole was for? I’m going to get a door knob from my parent’s house, that I just mentioned, and add it to this piece of art, that I created for {O}’s room. It is like art – don’t you think? My father will be selling the house soon, now that my mother has been gone for 6 years. It’s just taken him a long time, to be ready to let go. I think he’s still working on that, actually. (So am I. ) Anyway, that house is loaded with all of the details that a house of that age does, including more doors and doorways than you can shake a stick at. And thus, door knobs.

That 4th hole will be filled, very soon. I could easily find another door knob in my antique hunting, and I will be getting lots more, anyway. But it’s important to me, that the last one be from my old home, and {O}’s grandparents, for this.
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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-10 {O} confiscated the ceramic bunny, that was put aside to go back up in the attic, from our Easter house decorating pile. It looks quite fitting and perfect, in her room. And she found it’s ears, are just the right size for her bracelets.
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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-11 And in these photos, have been peeks for you, of another project I have already mentioned I’ll be sharing. That post will be up by Thursday, in The Homestead (Home & Gardens) section of this blog.

So, what did you think of this project? Did you like my idea? Please share your thoughts, in the comments. : ) I love it so much, I get giddy.

Like this project? Than ‘Like’ our Facebook Page! There’s some more clever ideas coming up!!

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