Raised Garden Box

T.J. and I have been hard at work on the outside of our house, something that has been pretty ignored that past few years. In the last week T.J. has weeded, raked, mulched, trimmed, cleaned the siding, and I have planted flowers and veggies and helped a little with weeding. :-) But... he also built me a garden box. So while this Pinterest challenge isn't my project exactly, I did help design it and T.J. made it come to life.

 

As always, I was excited to see the Pinterest spring challenge hosted by Young House Love, Bower Power, Red Bird Blue and Sparkle Meets Pop. A raised bed has been on my wish list since the pesky bunnies ate my flowers and strawberries last year. I can't stay mad at them, but it is frustrating.


Pinterest has lots of cool raised bed ideas. I really dig these pink raised beds, and these taller beds. My sister has an awesome garden which I blogged about here, and her garden was an inspiration as well.

T.J. made the box out of 4x4s and 2x6s. A good chunk of the wood was left over from other projects, so we ended up only spending about $40. The most surprising expense was how much dirt it took to fill it when it was done.

These are the seedlings I started early this spring indoors. They look sort of dead here, but they aren't, it's just day 1 in the dirt. :-) I planted brussel sprouts, broccoli, green peppers, and zucchini in here.

Doesn't this scene look inviting?

I also planted quite a few flowers today. I filled these 4 patio pots and planted in the window box under our bedroom window.

The idea is that a tall raised bed will offer a little privacy on the patio. I am sure I planted the veggies a little close together because I grew so many seedlings, but this raised bed will be a nice safe place for them to grow in addition to our corner garden from last year. Updates to come!

A Long Awaited Trip to Ikea

Well, spring has sprung in the Midwest. And it has motivated me to get going on some projects. T.J. and I have been working in the yard and the garage as much as we can the past week or so and things are starting to come along. Outside updates will have to wait til they come along a little more though. :-)

Last weekend my mom came down for a visit and we traveled to the Windy City for an Ikea trip. This was huge for me because I have not even been to Ikea since buying our house. Which is absurd. My sister and mom kept going without me! But now I have finally gone again, and I can't wait to go back! That is the thing about Ikea - you have to travel to get there and without fail, as soon as you get home you think "shoot, I should have gotten that (one more thing)." I thought that about at least twenty things, but I will work with what I have for now! 

The project I completed first after I got home was making covers for the Euro pillows I bought there ($7 each, $10 for the polka dot fabric = $17 for 2 Euro pillows!)

Lola wanted in on the pillow making (and photo bombing) action.

 

T.J. calls it the Mickey Mouse bed - I think he might be right, and I like it!

 

I also picked up this awesome sun-shiny drum shade for the laundry room. Turns out I had overestimated the size of the laundry room, this thing looks huge in there! So I am coming up with a new plan and will share where the shade ends up soon. 

What have you all been up to this Spring? I am so ready for the semester to wrap up so I can jump into doing more projects and working on our garden.

Fifty-Thousand Page Views Later

50,000 page views. Unbelievable!

When I noticed the blog was approaching this milestone I thought about what I might want to do to celebrate. When I started the blog I would request to go out to dinner for every small milestone. :-) I will probably be doing that for this one too, but I also thought it might be nice to reflect on the projects that have actually made a big impact around the house. We have spent nearly 2 whole years DIYing this house, and some projects have definitely been more important than others (ex: a spray painted napkin holder = low impact). So check them out below, in reverse order, the most life-changing projects on Hems and Haws to date:

See the original posts about each of these by clicking the links.

5. My Office
While this wasn't necessarily one DIY project, it came together pretty quickly after we moved in. This room features a hot pink table for a desk, light pink walls, and molding near the ceiling that serves as a shoe rack. (Latest office post)

4. Painting the Trim
The trim in this house was atrocious. I'm not sure what it is about wood trim that I dislike so much, but everything just feels fresh and clean with white trim. There are houses where wood trim looks nice, but this was not one of them. There are still 2 rooms in the house with wood trim, but I am hoping to tackle those this summer. It is not a quick and easy job to paint trim, but it is worth it!  (Tutorial here)

3. The Bar
The bar is the most functional project we have done. T.J. was a huge help, and we completed the project in just about one weekend. We use the bar every single day and it has really upped the quality of life in our house by providing another surface to work/eat/hang out at. (Bar posts one and two).

2. Five Chandelier Projects
What makes these projects the runners-up is that they make me smile every day. All of these chandeliers cost me $30 or less - one of them I got for as little as $4 at a flea market in Lansing, MI. (Posts: White Kitchen Chandelier, ORB Hall Chandelier & Bedroom Chandelier, Pink Office Chandelier, Pink Closet Chandelier)

1. Painting the Kitchen Cabinets White
We spend a ton of time in the kitchen and as they say - kitchen renovations = big bang for your buck. Here I am not talking literal bucks, although I do hope the improvements we have made in the kitchen will pay off. The whole kitchen feels lighter and brighter with the white cabinets and they are a more recent change (1 year ago). The combination of white cabinets with white trim and white doors just makes everything feel updated, clean, and new. If you are considering this project, do it! Read about my experience here.