Lowe's Creative Ideas is Creative Marketing

Wooden Floor Mat

I gotta hand it to Lowe's.  Their marketing / advertising team made a smart call by appealing to woman-centered DIY projects in this pinterest-dominated era.  And in my opinion, this puts them at a different level than the other big box store.

It's springtime, and I'm dreaming about having some time to work on my garden & patio.  But since that's just a dream for now, I thought I'd at least post some of the fun garden & patio themed projects featured on Lowe's Creative Ideas site.

Herb Crate

Vertical Garden Planters & Rack

Freestanding Trellis

Tall Birdhouse Trio

Hanging Globe Lanterns

Dog Bone Window

All of these projects, and more, can be found at Lowe's Creative Ideas website.  And no, I'm not sponsored by Lowe's in any way.  I just think it's a really really smart marketing concept, and I'm impressed.

The Best Online Magazines (In My Opinion)

There's been an increase in online magazines in the last year or so, and I worry that people who aren't in the design industry, or those who don't read blogs regularly, might be missing out on these wonderful, inspirational, (and free) publications!

Lonny

I think many might agree with me when I say my favorite is Lonny.  Lonny is a lifestyle & home decor magazine that I can always count on Lonny for bold and lively color spreads, like these screenshots from their latest issue:

Leaf

Leaf is a new magazine focusing on outdoor gardening, landscaping, and entertaining.  Even if you don't have a yard, the pictures are worth looking at.  Beautiful landscapes and patios such those shown in these screenshots from their current issue:

Nesting Newbies

Nesting Newbies is a "cooking, entertaining, and decorating how-to" magazine.  In this mag, you'll find recipes, entertaining tips, table setting inspiration, and featured entertainment spaces (kitchen, dining, etc.).  Here are some eye-catching screenshots from their latest issue:

 I know there are other great online magazines out there as well, and I would love to hear what your favorites are!

More Backyard Progress - We Have Grass!

Slowly but surely our backyard is starting to look like a backyard.  There's still a LOT of work to do, thanks to the cold and rainy weather that has kept me from working on it much.  But at least we now have grass.  AND sprinklers.

When we bought the house, our backyard was covered in asphalt, which we attacked with a jackhammer.

Then last summer we built a cool planter box / retaining wall, with the intention of getting sod shortly after that. 

Well, the sod never happened last year.  And I got really tired of all the pawprints around the house due to the dogs running around in dirt & mud all day.  So this Spring the lawn took priority!  

In order to keep a nice lawn looking nice, it needs to be watered.  And since we are both terrible at remembering to turn the sprinkler off or on, we figured an automatic system was critical.  So that came first:

Tearing up the yard for the sprinkler system made it look worse than ever!

The sprinkler system was finally in place (I think every Lowe's employee now knows who I am because of all the trips back & forth), and it was time to order the sod.  After an exhausting day of blood, sweat, and tears, and with a lot of help (thanks Flo!), we now have green grass.  

AND we have a means of keeping the grass green with our new sprinklers!

Whew!  I can't imagine doing all of this in a normal size yard.  Our tiny yard is enough for me to handle!

Next step:  Planting the veggies and getting the patio ready for summer.

I'm Sprouting!

This isn't necessarily a design-related post, however, it is related to kitchens, and I design kitchens.  I randomly happened upon a kitchen gadget store yesterday, so I stopped in to say hi.  It's absolutely amazing how many kitchen gadgets there are out there.  I commented to the sales woman that I had no idea there were so many things I needed until I walked in that store.  Yes, I'm a sucker for gadgets.  I admit it.

I restrained myself, and ended up with a single item - the Sprout Master Mini.  It's a simple divided tray system that comes with 2 sets of seeds.  Supposedly, all I need to do is soak the seeds overnight and water them twice a day, and in just a few days I'll have healthy, edible sprouts.   We eat a lot of sprouts on our sandwiches, and I'm sick of buying them in plastic containers at the grocery store.  Plus, I miss my summer patio garden, so I'm excited to grow something in my kitchen.

Here they are at the end of Day 1.  You can't tell from here, so take my word for it.  There are already a few little tiny baby sprouts.

Sounds sorta like a chia pet, huh?

More Backyard Progress

Slowly (very slowly), but surely, our backyard is coming together.  We've spent a couple recent weekends on the construction of a retaining wall / planter box in an area where there previously had been an ugly chain link fence lined with some plastic ribbed material, which was supposed to be doing important work like holding the neighbor's fence in place.  We pulled the chain link out and started over.   We found a bunch of inspiration photos using really modern and fun materials for retaining walls, but then realized we didn't have the budget, and it just wouldn't look good with our 1899 home.  A major backyard overhaul would be in order, and that just isn't going to happen.  We compromised by using standard cedar that matched everything else in the yard, with aluminum c-channel support posts that had been salvaged from a construction site (thanks Drew!).

Here's a quick overview of how it happened (note that I say "we" below, but Mike was most of the muscle behind all this):

1.  We measured, dug a trench, and dug the post holes.

2.  We prepared and pre-drilled the aluminum posts.

3.  We set the posts using redi-mix concrete.

4.  We installed the cedar and added some extra bracing inside the box.

5.  We filled it all in with dirt.

The yard isn't even close to being finished, but considering it used to look like this...

I'd say we're making progress, wouldn't you?

Now, anybody know anything about pruning vastly overgrown rosebushes?

Backyard Progress

Our backyard is slowly starting to take shape.  We've still got a lot of work ahead of us, but at least we can now sit on the deck and enjoy a meal or morning coffee without getting overly distracted by every remaining item on our to-do list.

When we first moved in, the deck area looked like this:

And our old potting containers looked like this:

And now, after a lot of weeding and planting and pruning and spray-painting, (not to mention a lot of bargain shopping at places like ReStore, consignment shops, World Market, Big Lots, Ikea, and KSL classifieds) it looks like this:

And it will look even better once the plants fill out and the flowers bloom!