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Garden Design Blog

  • Replacing an interior door knob with a vintage one

    This will help you out with replacing a newer style door knob with one of those super cute looking vintage door knobs. This will also help anyone who purchased a doorknob from Anthropologie — they have fantastic looking knobs, but don’t inform you on how to install these knobs. There is additional hardware you’ll need to buy for the Anthropologie knobs, because unfortunately your existing modern latches will not fit the older square spindle that comes with these types of knobs. Anyway, have no fear, I will help get you through it! Step 1: Purchase hardware You’ll need to order some hardware, and most of it can only be found online. Here I’ll give you links to what you need: Want the Whole Retrofit Kit? This…

  • Shiny New Gutters

    Oh, to be a home owner. The most insignificant things just thrill me. Who would have ever thought I’d be so excited about GUTTERS? Not I. But I am, because I didn’t have them on the back of my house. Now they are shiny and new and beautiful. I’m pumped!

  • Rusty Wrought Iron Remedy

    So, my next outdoor project is repainting my rusty wrought iron railing around my front porch. Here are my instructions on what to do: Scrub the wrought iron with a steel wire brush. This will remove any loose or flaking rust. I used a brush from Sherwin Williams with a little “ice scraper” attachment at the end of it. I used this little plastic piece to tap away at the rust and paint chips so they were easier to brush off. Sand the wrought iron with electric drill attachements, such as a sandpaper disc or wire wheel to further remove rust. Begin by using a coarse sandpaper to remove deeper rust. Go over the wrought iron with a medium-grit sandpaper. If necessary, mix a solution…

  • Completed the landscaping… just in time for FROST!!

    Mother Nature, are you kidding me?? This past Friday my dad helped me out by tilling the soil in front of my house and near the lamppost to get ready for the landscape. Since it was so hard and clay-like, he mixed about 4-5 bags of Miracle Grow topsoil in as he was tilling it. It turned out GREAT.  The best part: as soon as I got home from work Friday, I was able to start planting! They were calling for some serious rain on Saturday and Sunday, so I thought getting a head start on this was the way to go. Mom, Bobbi, and my handsome nephew AJ came to help on Saturday morning. Within a few hours we had everything planted. It looks…

  • My house has LIPSTICK! Learn how easy it is to paint your foundation!

    This weekend I was finally able to paint the foundation… or as I like to say “apply lipstick” to my house. If you read my post about painting the window trim and my house wearing “eyeliner” you will get where I’m going with this! My house has black lipstick, so I guess she’s in her goth stage… In the aforementioned post, I went over the steps that we took to parge the foundation. The concrete was chipping off, and making the surface uneven, so parging it with concrete smoothed the surface. It took about a week and a half to cure… I knew it was ready when the concrete lightened up and all turned the same color. Painting the foundation is just like painting anything…

  • Little-Known Reasons to Consider Replacement Windows

    If you’re considering replacing your windows, you may be wondering what the process is like and if it’s really beneficial to do so. How many years do windows last anyway? In this article I’ll cover all of the basics plus touch on some little known reasons as to WHY you may consider replacement windows that may make you a bit more excited about calling a contractor. The first step is to call a few local window companies to get some quotes on vinyl replacement windows. I like to get quotes from at least 3 different companies so I have some numbers to compare. Check out my project planning worksheets to see how I lay this all out. Each window company will come to your home…

  • Dreaming of a flagstone patio

    This morning I saw an episode of Yard Crashers where they created a flagstone patio over an existing damaged concrete patio. It looked really amazing and got me thinking about how to dress up my backyard. This probably won’t be a project until next summer, but it’s definitely something to start gathering ideas about and planning for. Basically, I have small concrete patio when you walk out of my back door. There is a wrought iron fence around it, and two iron pillars in each corner that hold up a roof. The area is probably about 8ft wide by 6ft long. The concrete along the edges is chipping off and the railing is in pretty rough shape. My thought was to build up some stone…