How about a little before and after to start the week? I bought this lamp at Target about five years ago or so and honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking with that shade. It sat in the guest room which really always was a decorating disaster. I think I was trying to go too many directions in the ...
Few things are bound to get certain types of people (and by that I mean men, but I don’t want to be totally stereotypical about it) as wound up as messing with their electronics. And few things are bound to get certain other types of people (and by that I mean women) more irritated than messing up their new room ...
Here’s a before and after for you that I had absolutely nothing to do with. The husband gets to take credit for this one. We have two big dogs. Two very big dogs, in fact. We’re talking massive here (a tumbleweed of hair, such as those that regularly roll across my living despite almost daily vacuuming can be bigger than ...
This is Part 2 of a series on how I changed a brand new (but flawed) table into just what I needed. You can find Part 1 here. With the table the right length (and the legs in the right place), it was time to finish it. Like a lot of furniture refinishing, the concern was that the table would ...
When we started on the mini-kitchen redo last fall, I knew two things: I wanted a banquette and table that would allow us to easily slide in and out. That meant I was looking for either a pedestal or trestle style and after looking at what seemed like thousands of photos of tables online, I knew a trestle was just ...
I’m so excited to be swapping guest posts with Rayan at The Frugal Designer today. Rayan is a mega overachiever who can help you build the most amazing furniture, finish that furniture (wait until you see my kitchen table, which Rayan has been holding my hand through the process of finishing), help solve your garden or home design dilemnas and ...
Some of you might remember last year when I was lusting after this compost bin from Lee Valley Tools. After living with a dilapidated compost bin (made in about 25 minutes several years ago with four pallets and a set of hinges) for about a year, what finally made me spring for the new system was our furnace. Confused? ...
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The new vegetable garden—I’m calling it a parterre although I think that may be stretching the definition just a bit—has existed in my head for a few years and been knocked around on paper for a few months. And soon it will be a reality. The goal is to expand my growing area so I […]
I’ve now gardened in the same place long enough that there are few new places to make a garden. Something usually has to go to make way for something new. And so it is with our main raised vegetable garden, the removal of which makes me both very excited for what’s to come and just […]
I’ve heard that you should plant peas on St. Patrick’s Day. If I were to do that it would require a chisel and blow torch to get through the soil, which currently resembles an ice cube. In fact next week I’ll show two actual soil ice cubes. But that’s a long story and one best […]
I’ve learned a lot about gardening through the years. Looking back at some of the things I did when I started gardening at this house I see where I might do things differently now. (I don’t like to think of too many things I did back then as mistakes because I just didn’t know better […]
Hakonechloa is one of those plants that just catches your eye. I know because it is the plant I’m most frequently asked to identify in my garden whenever I post photos that include it. It’s also a plant I would hate to be without. Hakonechloa (aka Japanese forest grass) has the distinction of being one […]
Hey gang! This post is sponsored by 3-IN-ONE® Multi-Purpose Oil and Lava® Soap, but you know I will always tell it like it is, so all words and opinions are entirely my own. This post may also include affiliate links. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog. A few years ago I made […]
It’s a difficult time of year for this gardener. Social media is full of the first signs of spring for gardeners living in other areas, but the closest we’ve come to that is a lot of rain. I lamented this in a post recently and need to take my own advice: Be patient. But I’ll […]
It is always fun to check out new plants coming on the market. It’s not that new plants are necessarily better than old plants (although those bred to address downfalls certainly can be), but it’s just fun to see what is new and different. Here are some new plants I’m most excited to see this […]
This moment—right now—is when gardeners start to get really restless, particularly those of us in the northern part of the country. Our gardening brethren in warmer zones are reporting sightings of Galanthus (aka snowdrops), hellebores and crocus, and they are starting seeds indoors. But for many of us it is just too soon. Almost anything [&hel
For many years we had our driveway plowed. Mostly it was great: The neighbor who did the plowing always did ours first because he knew we had to get to work early, it was cleared quickly and we didn’t have to do anything. Well, anything other than pay for it, obviously. Most winters our plowing […]
The grocery store closest to our house and my office is closing in the next week or so. The shelves are mostly bare, and what’s left is deeply discounted. It will leave the city I grew up in (population 12,000) without a grocery store until at least the end of summer when a new store […]
Climbing hydrangea is misunderstood. It has a reputation as a temperamental thug, one that takes too long to grow and then grows too much when it does. But have faith friends, Hydrangea anomala petiolaris is a victim of hasty judgement. It is true that it can take a bit to get going—three to five years […]
I always wonder how weeks in the middle of winter still manage to get away from me once in a while. The mental countdown to gardening season has begun, but usually this is the time of year when time seems to pass slowly. Not this week. A death in the family (expected) and deadlines at […]
Few plants pack as much punch in to a flower as dahlias do. Colorful, free blooming and often structurally interesting, just about the only thing that dahlias lack is scent. And the secret is out. In recent years dahlias have surged in popularity, which is good for gardeners because never before has it been so […]
