St. Deb to the Rescue – Yet Again

Reminder:  Don’t forget to enter the U Printing business card giveaway if you haven’t yet.  The drawing is tonight! Click here to enter.

All right already!  I’ve been goaded prodded into posting this story by my good buddy Deb, from Proper Prim, also known in these parts as Saint Deb.  You’ll see why in a minute…..

Some of our mutual buddies already know that I had a visit from Deb and Dennis last weekend.  They came in their motor home and parked it in the driveway on Friday afternoon.

We sat at the bar in the outdoor kitchen and ate, drank and were very merry until the wee hours of the morning.  What a great time we had catching up with each other!

     

Saturday; it was noon before the camper door opened up.  I was raring to get to work on something fun.  The possibilities were endless with that magic bag she carries with her.  She had already shown me her Purdy paintbrush. 

Maybe we could paint the stripes around the garage to the breezeway today…….

Oh, I had big plans for her, I truly did.

But by noon the weather was iffy, windy and cloudy, rain seemed imminent.  Hmm, painting was not such a good idea at that point.  Now what? 

We pulled out the big plywood circle I had curbed months ago with the intention of making it a clock. 

Oh yeah, this would be a great project to work on.  We looked around and found some suitable “hands” for the clock, and even the center piece. (what’s that called?)

Then I opened up the garage to get something out. 

Deb took one look and scolds me;  ” Rose!  I thought you got that cleaned out a couple weeks ago!!!” 

 

Uh-oh, did I really give you all that impression? 

Me, “I did get rid of a lot of stuff, but I mostly worked on stuff from around the yard, I haven’t had a chance to get back to it.”

Before you know it, we both have our sleeves rolled up and are pulling out stuff right and left from Mike’s side of the garage.  Holy cow, I thought I was almost done a couple weeks ago, but there was a lot more in there than I thought.

The conversation started to go something like this;

Deb: “What are you going to do with this?”  (holds up twin size head and footboard)

Me: “I wanted to make a bench out of it”

Deb: “Ah, these are a dime a dozen, get rid of it.”

Me:  “But….. (heavy sigh) OK”

Down to the curb it goes.  Dennis and Mike sprang to action.  Anything released was promptly whisked away, no time for second thoughts!

Window frame, old storm door, bifold doors, crib ends, table tops, table bases, plant pots, gone, gone, gone.

 

Meanwhile traffic at the curb was brisk.  People were stopping right and left to shop the goodies out there. 

The car side of the garage was finally clear, but did Deb call it done?  No way!  Now she wants to organize everything that’s left so I can get to it.

Sigh.

I built a bin for all the ash hardwood flooring pieces I had rescued in July. 

Before…..

After……They all fit neatly into it with room to spare for some of the other trim pieces I kept.  Much better!

Deb decides my tools need to all be hanging so I can  see what I have and grab them as I need them.  She strategically sets an old bookcase in the area between the 2 garage doors, using the back and sides to hang tools from, and the front shelves to hold other goodies. 

 

It was brilliant of her to make it  accessible from all sides!

We went thru and sorted bins of table legs, feet, trim, lath, and balusters, grouping them neatly so they can be spotted and re-used in future projects.

 

Oh my goodness.  This was not what I had in mind when I got up that morning!  I bet it wasn’t what Deb and Dennis had in mind when they decided to come for a nice relaxing weekend either!

However, it was actually fun to see it all come together.  The sorting and tossing  part was therapeutic, if you can believe that.  All that junk that was cluttering up my workspace, GONE!  Wow, it was great to get down to just the special pieces I truly cared about working on and using.  All the “maybe someday I might use it” stuff was gone.

This desk is a treasure I’ve been wanting to get to.  Now I can!

You should have seen Mike’s face when he pulled the convertible into the garage!

Priceless!

So that, my friends, is why my good pal Deb will forever be known as Saint Deb in this household. 

No fun crafty stuff this time, but this turned out to be so much better.  And it never did rain……..go figure.

And this is all that’s left at the curb.  Not bad.

Thank you again, Saints Deb and Dennis  I promise you will not have to work every time you come! 

Really!

 

Rose

 

UPrinting Business Card Giveaway!

Hey folks, I’m so excited! I’ve been chosen  to host a giveaway of UPrinting business cards.  If you have not seen these yet you simply have got to go check  out UPrinting’s business card options; they are awesome.

Now, you may be saying I don’t have a business, why would I want to win business cards?

Well, fellow bloggers, if you have ever tried to tell a new friend or acquaintance how to get to your blog only to have them say the dreaded words, “Wait!  Write that down for me, will you? “  you know what a pain in the neck it is to search for a pen and paper on the spot. 

If you had one of UPrinting’s custom designed business cards in your wallet, all you would have to do is hand it over and say there you go, you can find me right here! 

You could even make the design on the card match your blog design.  Now how cool is that?

Of course, if you have an etsy store, or sell your work at shows or a shop, these business cards would be just the ticket to hand out to your customers or include in a package.

If you win these you get to design them to your heart’s content; be as creative as you can be or make them simple and classic.  It’s up to you.

                 
So what exactly do you get if you win?    This is what the nice folks over there say…..  

250 Die-Cut Business Cards for One (1) Winner                   

2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card)                   

Die cutting options available: Rounded Corners, Leaf, Rounded One-Corner, Half-Circle Side, Circle                   

Paper Type: 14pt Cardstock Gloss, Matte, or High Gloss; 13pt Cardstock Uncoated 

Color: 4Color Front, Blank Back; 4Color Front, Black Back; 4Color Both Sides

Limited to US residents only  18 years old and above      

Ok, so now you know what the prize is, now how do you enter to win?

Entry One – Open to Everyone (This must be done before you can go to entry 2)

• Go to the UPrinting.com website and check out what they have, then come back here and leave a comment telling what style card you would pick and what you would use it for.  You must include your email address if it doesn’t already show up in your profile.  That would include Anonymous commenter's and any of the noreplycomment bloggers still out there, tsk tsk. (BTW, Gail @ MRL has a great post on blogging tips that shows how to fix that if you don’t know how)

Special Second Bonus Entry

• For a bonus entry my followers may also leave a 2nd comment telling me you are a follower of my blog.  You don’t have to be a follower to win, but if you are a follower I think it’s only fair you get an extra shot at the prize.  Don’t forget to leave it as a second, separate comment though, ‘k?
  

Now in adherence to the FTC ruling on Blogger Reviews and Sponsored Postings, I must disclose that I will also be receiving 250 Die Cut Business Cards from UPrinting .com for hosting this giveaway.  Have I mentioned yet that I’m so excited?  Thank you, thank you, thank you, UPrinting!

Now the only question is;  Who will be the lucky winner?

Giveaway starts today, Monday September 27, 2010 and ends Thursday September 30, 2010 at 11pm est. One winner will be chosen by Random.org from all eligible entries.  Winner will be announced Friday October 1st on this blog.

Limit two entries per person.

Good Luck!

Rose

Outdoor Kitchen Reveal- Finally!

 

Once upon a time my backyard patio looked like this.

Now you may be saying, hmm, that’s not so bad at all.

But for us, the space was just a walk thru area, we used it only for grilling and a couple family parties here and there.  The table was a dust catcher that was never used, and the bricks became overgrown with weeds.  It soon stopped looking like that photo.

The area started came to look like this…..

Eek!

It needed a major intervention.  I would just die of embarrassment every time someone went out there to keep Mike company while he was grilling.

Over the winter I made a plan to convert the space.

I took a week off from work to tackle the project.  This was back in June, so some of you may not have seen the in-progress posts.  You can catch up or review (it WAS a long time ago) by reading this post at the beginning of my vacation, or here where I realized it was a huge project, then here when I made the barstools, or where I put the bar top together, and when I made the corbels or you can just click on Outdoor Kitchen Project in the sidebar and go thru all the posts that way, since I just realized there are way too many to include here!

This was the space when I cleared it to begin.  My goal was to use many of the items I had on hand from my curbshopping habit.   

Well, big surprise,that one week was not enough time to finish the job, and I’ve been slowly working out the details since then.  I’ve promised a reveal time and time again, but never felt done enough.

This week  not just one, but 2! of my blog buddies have revealed their awesome room makeovers, rooms they started AFTER I began this.  Anita from Going a Little Coastal and Gina from Three Ring Cottage have shamed inspired me to get off my butt and show the darn thing finally. (Make sure you check out their amazing reveals.)

So, at long last, may I present……..

Mike’s Outdoor Kitchen.

 

Curb found doors and shutters were used as the siding.

The countertop was topped with extra tile that was being tossed at work.

The stainless steel gas grill was the major purchase in this renovation.  It was well worth the expense!   We re-used the Weber charcoal grill we already had by cutting a round hole in an old metal cabinet and dropping it in.

 

Of course, the 40” TV built in to the garage wall where the window used to be was money well spent too.  Just ask Mike!

The bar top was made from old interior panel doors, as was the prep counter on the lower side.  The corbels were made from a curbshopped dining room table.

 

I used shutters and bi-fold louvered doors as cabinet doors below the counters.  I was short one, but decided I like having an open area for display anyway.

 

The red market umbrella helps cut the glare from the sun and can be moved to wherever it’s needed.  Someday I will add a pergola to this space.  Someday.

The ladder barstools are my favorite, but be warned, they are a bit wobbly!  I need to work on stabilizing them a bit more.

 

A kitchen sink with running water was a must.

Tiki torches and oil lanterns help keep the mosquitoes at bay during the evening.

The coach lights on the garage and a floodlight on the house give off plenty of light.

I had fun accessorizing with my junk collection too.

Some of the metal baskets I purchased in July came in handy for holding bottles and glassware on the bar.

 

This rubber stamp holder just needed a minor adjustment to work as a wine glass rack.

All I had to do was unscrew the base and move the wider section to the top!

 

This antique rolled paper holder became a handy paper towel holder.

 

 

Can’t have a kitchen without a scale..

 

And this is our latest addition to the space, a patio heater to extend the season.  This thing really cranks some heat!  We are getting some chilly weather lately. 

It will probably always be a work in progress, but I’m calling it done for now!

Thanks to all my blog buddies who encouraged me throughout this very long project.  I wouldn’t couldn’t have made it happen without your support.

Whew!

Edited to add: Several readers were concerned about the TV during the cold winter, we do plan on bringing it into the house to overwinter.  Mike has a spot all picked out for it!

Another question was about the security of the area.  Our yard is fully fenced and the kitchen is not even visible to passersby or neighbors.

We also plan to take the wooden bar top off to store indoors for the winter.  The remaining structure will be protected by tarps.

 

Rose

 

I’m linking this up to these fun parties:

Gail’s Featured Follower party @ My Repurposed Life,

Donna’s Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Susan’s Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Linda’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Meg’s Everything but the Kitchen Sink @ A Little Knick Knack

Stripes outside? Are you crazy?

I’ve recently become obsessed with stripes.  Horizontal stripes to be exact.  It all started with a bookmark Jan at Bobbypins Boardwalk featured in her August bookmarks series.

I fell in love with this look!  (Click on the picture for the link to the awesome tutorial Jackie made for painting stripes.)

Then on the Houzz website they did an ideabook about horizontal stripes too.

bedroom design

Love those stripes!

I just had to try it out somewhere for myself.

So, now to find a wall I could work on…hmmmm.

Why not the garage wall in the outdoor kitchen?  I wouldn't even have to tape it off since it’s clapboard siding.  Definitely the lazy person’s way to go.  (that would be me, always looking for a shortcut)

So I had this idea in my head of how it would look, and wanted to incorporate the color scheme of the kitchen.

Well, it didn’t come out quite the way I had pictured it in my head. 

This was my test patch.  Can you tell I just painted around the stuff that was on the wall at the time? ;)

First of all, the black was too stark against the white.

Then I tried to widen the dark stripe to 2 clapboards together, but it was just too much.

I re-painted a couple times and finally settled on Mystic Grey for the dark stripe.  Of course my choices were limited to whatever exterior paint colors were in my stash of oops paint.

I’ve decided to live with it a while to see if it grows on me.

And no, I did not take that fountain down to paint under it. Yet.

Or the lights that already had white paint on them from Mike painting the garage last summer. Yet.

And the TV window frame still needs to be painted to match. 

Here’s a before shot, taken the 4th of July;

And this one was taken on Sunday. 

Football, anyone?

I dunno, maybe if I blur it a little bit more it will be ok.

What do you think?  Are stripes on an outside wall a totally “off the wall” idea?

I’m even considering taking the stripe around the corner to the breezeway.  Think that’s too much?

I’m just getting lots of eye rolling from Mike.

Rose

I’m joining in on Gail’s Featured Follower Friday Linky Party at  My Repurposed Life.  Don’t forget to check it out!

Stone Planter Done---Yay!

A couple weeks ago I put this

planter together from some salvaged concrete siding blocks I had been saving for just this purpose. (only took me 2 years to get around to doing it, yikes!)

That was one big pile!

Last week I shopped around for some clearance perennials to plant in it.  I also moved some plants from my yard.  It’s a partially sunny location so I mixed some shade plants in with some sun lovers, we’ll see what likes that space better.  I’m not a very good gardener, my basic theory is survival of the fittest.  Hopefully the weeds don’t win.

This area is adjacent to the Outdoor Kitchen patio, so I wanted to bring some additional color into it to tie it in somehow..

These hubcaps were curbside finds I painted with some red spray-paint.  I love the wheel shape and intended to attach them to the fence.  I think I like them on the ground for now though since  it’ll take some time for the plants to fill in the space.

Not sure if I’ll keep them there, they make Mike cringe a little.  Maybe if I glue a round mirror to the middle it will make them look less, well, um, hubcappy for lack of a better word.

He can’t complain too much, since it’s a whole lot better than what this area looked like before I started…..

The old brick bbq is still there and will be dismantled soon and the bricks re-used elsewhere.  The shed still needs to have a new door made for it before winter comes.  I threw the old one away when we moved it, it was in bad shape!

I’ve got grand plans for that shed…..but not this year.  Too much to do, too little time.  You know the story.

Ahhhh, much better, don’t you agree? 

The kitchen reveal is coming soon, this is just one small step in the process of getting ready….

But I did take some photos of it yesterday!

 

I was a busy girl this weekend!  ;)

Rose