(Almost) Free Landscaping Makeover

I'm really new to this whole "landscaping" stuff.  Our first place was a condo and our outdoor space was a 6 x 8 foot balcony.  The first four years in our current home was spent expanding and renovating the home on the inside, and tearing out the overgrown jungle on the outside. 

Outdoor Extravaganza Link Party: Decorating

Welcome to our second Outdoor Extravaganza link up:

Before we get to the link up, thanks to everyone who linked up last week.  Here are just a few of my favorite plants and flowers projects from last week (see all the links here):

I really loved this Salad Planter gift idea from Small Home Big Start.

 

 

I gave up on my wire hanging baskets and was thinking about selling them because I was tired of replacing the coconut liner.  Then, I saw this DIY Hanging Ivy Sphere from Food. Fashion. Home and decided I might give this a try.

 

 

 

I have a lot of bare wall to fill to add interest to our garage and this half tub planter from Little Brags gave me some ideas on how to fill it.

 

Finally, yesterday I shared my entryway mini makeover and a few pictures from our outdoor "living" space (see the full post here):

 

Be sure to stop by Shauna, Carmel, Tiffany, and Barbara's posts to check out their projects and outdoor inspiration:



Now it's time to link up your projects, new or old!  Please be sure to link back to the blog where you linked up to be featured.

Side Entry Mini Makeover

Each year we've lived in this house, I've only added annuals to the planters in the front of our house.  Here is what I did to our window baskets this year:

Given the amount of work we are taking on outside this summer (we just completed a project this weekend that I hope to share soon but if you follow me on instagram you might already have seen it), I decided to keep it simple and use Dragon Wing Begonias and Sweet Potato Vine.  A friend of mine plants this variety of begonia each year and I always love the look, so I decided to give them a try. 

Outdoor Extravaganza Link Party: Plants and Flowers

Today is our first Outdoor Extravaganza link up!  It's time to link up all your plants and flower inspiration and projects! 

 

Yesterday, I shared my Vertical Garden How To, along with a  few other looks into how I've spruced up our yard:

Be sure to stop by Shauna, Carmel, Tiffany, and Barbara's posts to check out their projects and garden inspiration:
Now it's time to link up your projects, new or old!  Please be sure to link back to the blog where you linked up to be featured.

Vertical Wall Garden How-To

Yeah!   It is finally warm outside and this year I am WAY ahead of myself and I'm already finished with our outdoor flower planters and herb garden (well, about 85% finished):

What do you see? (An Entryway Revamp)

I've always been fascinated with homes; more specifically, other peoples home's.  My husband was previously a real estate agent, and when he was licensed - and before kids - I could honestly spend countless hours browsing the MLS.  (It probably comes as no surprise to you, then, that I'm so fond of "visiting" the homes of bloggers.) 

 

Of course I would spend some time looking in the upper end of the price ranges for each community; but it was never the most expensive / perfect homes that really drew me in and kept me coming back for more.  It was pictures like this one that I loved to come across:

What do you see when you look at this entryway?  Yellow walls, an awkward wood staircase and bad tile / linoleum?  Or, are you like me?  All I can see, when looking at this picture, is replacing the wood spindles and hand rail with black iron (not to mention bringing the walls down a notch with white/cream paint):

 

Instagram Junkie

We are back from a family beach vacation and I'm almost back into a good routine.  Until I have more time to share recent projects and posts I've been working on, I thought I would share some of my recent Instagram photos and invite you to follow along at #dawnmreeves, or by clicking here.

I'm an Instagram junkie - I will blame it on my new camera...I love taking and looking at lots of pictures.  It's even more fun sharing them and finding new inspiration from others picture's, as well. 

I will soon start to share house projects I'm working on along with some of my other favorite images from the week.  Here is a sampling of my favorite April photos:

 

 

 

Easily Incorporate Thrift Finds Into Your Home

It has been some time since I've shared my thrift finds with you.  When I do thrift, I usually look for items that won't require too much work out of me.  Honestly, I was not given the "paint" gene and while I can envision a transformation in my head, I can't carry it out (well) in reality.  I've bought a few items here or there that require some work and a paint brush and they are still sitting in my basement!  Maybe one day.

So, if you are interested in stopping at your local Goodwill, thrift store, or estate sale, here are a few pictures to serve as inspiration!  My finds are typically pretty easy to incorporate right into your home.

These books I found at the Goodwill this week:

All 14 books of this set of "Little Journey's to the Homes of the Great", circa 1928, happened to be gathering dust in a bin.  For some time, I've looked for older books that had time worn pages to them.  In my mind, I was going to cover them with linen to get the Restoration Hardware-esq look of the books they have in stores, but this set happens to be perfectly neutral.  Still, at $1.79 a book I just wasn't sure I wanted to buy all 14 of them. 

Bedroom Updates and a New Love

It's been another slow blogging week, but I've been getting ready for a trip with the kids and working on some projects to share with you for the upcoming Outdoor Extravaganza.  Hopefully you will have some great outdoor projects to link up!

But today, I thought I'd share a few bedroom updates.  I've been moving through the house changing out the decor of the rooms from winter to spring.  In the case of my bedroom, however, I decided to make like mother nature and skip from winter to summer (spring still hasn't arrived here in Chicagoland):

Kitchen Garden Planning and Outdoor Extravaganza

Outside, it's in the thirties and we're experiencing flurries.  Just a day ago, we were ambushed with 7 inches of rain overnight!  We woke up to find a pond in our backyard!  For a few hours, the lines between our yard and our neighbors actual pond were blurred.  I thought the boys and I might go fishing should any of his little fishies cross property lines...  Lucky for the fish, our "pond" dried up pretty quickly and lucky for us, we didn't get any water in our basement.