First Things First: Storage and the Great Outdoors

       From the moment that we found out that our offer was accepted on this home, our heads started spinning with ideas. I started shopping for home goodies online immediately (I refrained from actually buying...for the most part). I was thinking about paint colors, patterns, light fixtures and all that goodness. Jon started working on his tool wish list, and loved perusing homedepot.com. But before we were even handed our keys we decided that our first projects would not be the most glamorous or beautiful, they would be functional. We decided to figure out how to maximize storage in our basement and garage, before we started on anything fun.

       From living in our rental, Jon and I have learned that we hate clutter. And we had the unfortunate discovery when we packed up our moving truck, that we may in fact be hoarders. Not really what we were going for.  We all know that with kids comes a lot of belongings; obnoxious toys, gear, and lots of clothing. Add to that too many motorcycles, bikes, camping gear, tools, etc. etc. etc. and you get one big cluttered problem. Before we moved we got rid of a lot, only to discover that when we got here, we wanted to get rid of more.

Our moving truck (all 26' of it), chalk full on moving day.

       So we've been editing our lives, in a major way. Donating, recycling, throwing away. If we don't love it, use it, or need it, it's gone.  This will make it possible for us to purchase things for this home that we love. As we edit through all of our belongings, we are also trying to ensure that there is storage for everything we are keeping. By ensuring good storage, we'll be able to tame all of said clutter.
       Enter Jon's first project. He has been working away on setting up a storage system in our basement. I'll post some photos of the project once its completed. It should help our currently unorganized world.

       So while we are using up our current home improvement budget on wood and storage supplies, and Jon is heavily occupied with said construction, I've been keeping myself busy in  another area. The garden. Apparently this home comes with a lot more garden then I was aware. Gardening was one of the previous owners favorite hobbies, and she worked in the garden all of the time. They spent lots of their energy planting trees that would add privacy to the property and managing all of the different varieties of plants that they planted. I on the other hand have never worked in a garden in my life. That is, until now. These days I'm spending 2-3 hours a day weeding, cleaning up pine needles and getting our yard in tip-top shape for the Summer. Unfortunately there just aren't enough hours in the day to devote to the yard, but I'm trying. Q usually keeps me company in her bouncy chair while Nolan runs around causing havoc. I snapped some photos of our garden, so that I can take note as things bloom through the seasons.

       Because I CANNOT WAIT to jump in to some fun projects, aside from the garden I had to get started with something on the fun side.  So, I've been working on an affordable front porch face lift. Our home has a welcoming little front porch, that has great views of our trees and terraced flowers. I think it will be a fun place to decorate during Halloween, the 4th of July, etc. Because its the first thing you see when you arrive, I figured it should look welcoming and also reflect the style of our home. So I perused the web, and took note of what we already had, and this is the design plan that I've come up with.


       I've been sanding and prepping our Adirondack chairs for a makeover, and the area rug and pillows are on the way to our house at this very minute. The wood stump...well, that will be coming straight out of our yard and getting a sanding and sealing treatment for its new spot on our stoop. 

Finally getting to put my Dewalt sander to use.

       Hopefully I'll have my front porch makeover wrapped up in a week or so, and I'll be back to share how it turns out.