OUTDOOR PROJECTS Archives

HOW TO MAKE FLOWER POTS LOOK AMAZING

July 14, 2022

My idea of planting flowers is to drop a Home Depot plastic container of annuals into a flower pot. If I remember to water and deadhead the blooms I am a good plant mum. Get it?

But do you remember when I shared this tip for porch planters? Well, that got me thinking maybe I could get a little more bang for my flowers on the front porch.

Here is what I came up with when I realized I had two identical wreaths.

I was not sure my flower pot idea would work, but there was no effort in testing my idea!

HOW TO MAKE FLOWER POTS LOOK MORE AMAZING

Here is how I turned my flower pots into something a little more amazing to finish out the summer.

SUPPLIES:

FLOWER POTS
IDENTICAL WREATHS IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE POT
OPTION I ADD A GRAPEVINE GARLAND AROUND THE EDGE OF EACH POT
IT GIVES THE POT A LITTLE MORE DEPTH AND INTEREST AND HIDES THE HOME DEPOT CONTAINER

STEPS:

This is a super easy flower pot tip and pretty much fail-proof. The only prep work is to give the existing flower pots water.

I add grapevine because I love the look but depending on the size of your pots it may be too much

Drop a wreath around the flowers. That’s it!

TIP: If your pots get heavy sun check on your wreaths to make sure they don’t fade.

My porch planters look so much larger. From the street or driveway, they look real!

How to Make Flower, Pots Look Amazing, Check out this tip to make your flower pots look fuller

SUPPLY LIST

I found my wreaths at Homegoods and I did not buy them at the same time. Homegoods tends to have a good supply of same-size wreaths and styles (check out Marshall’s too).

I love grapevine garland and found this two-pack.

Here is one my matching wreaths that have made multiple appearances over the years!

You may recognize this wreath from when I used it for a last minute centerpiece.

I just love the fullness that the wreath provides. It makes the flowers look more substantial. And they are super lightweight to when the flower pots need more water.

How do they look on the porch?

How CHARLOTTE HELPED ME CLEAN THE SIDE YARD

April 7, 2022

I know you have questions.

Who is Charlotte and

how did she motivate me to clean up the side yard?

Charlotte was the garter snake who had squatter rights in our side yard this spring.

My son nicknamed her Charlotte thinking a cute name would help my phobia. Well, Charlotte motivated me to clean the side yard.

Somewhere over the past few seasons, our side yard resembled an end-of-the-day garage sale. It was a collection of chipped pots, almost empty bags of soil, gardening tools and yard debris.

And, a messy side yard was an invitation for Charlotte.

I avoided the flagstone path from April thru September because I was terrified of garter snakes. The kind of fear that includes screaming, running and/or pushing my kids out of the way.

I know garden snakes mean no harm and I wish them no harm. I just want them to relocate to another zip code. Or, head over to my friend’s yard. She is from Louisiana and has no fear of snakes.

Neither does Elliott.

The side yard path sits between a rock wall and the side of the house. That stone wall was like a high rise apartment for critters. I shared this popular project for the narrow border.

But I have to admit I did not reposition the stepping stones, until October.

IDEAS

This spring I Googled something like “how to get rid of garden snakes.” And, the suggestions were common:

Keep the home’s exterior free from clutter
And something about hawks or birds make great deterrents

Armed with these two suggestions I opted to focus on Suggestion #1.

HOW TO CLEAN THE SIDE YARD

On an unseasonably cool day, I got to work on the side yard by removing the empty flower pots, garden tools and half empty bags of potting soil and mulch.

And, I armed myself with a garden hose and push broom.

The less that sits on the ground…the fewer places for Charlotte to hide. And, the goal was to get her to relocate.

Once the side yard was cleared, I added a recently purchased garden from this daily deal site. That site should come with a warning. On any given day, I might be the proud owner of dozen white bath towels from Macy’s or an entire patio set (true story).

In hindsight, I wish I had purchased a garden bench like this one.

The garden bench was a bit tricky to stabilize because the side yard slopes for drainage. I got creative and used pieces of flagstone to prop the garden bench.

It was a short term fix until I could find a more permanent fix.

I added a $1.99 hook from Home Depot to have a place to hang my garden tools.

I added a horizontal concrete looking garden container for fresh herbs.

Sometimes we need a little motivation and fear to clean up our spaces. I had so much fun cleaning up the side yard.

And, so far no Charlotte sightings.

HOW TO PAINT EGRESS WINDOW COVERS

September 29, 2021

Sharing how to paint egress window well covers for an egress window well

My family gave me a collective eye roll when I mentioned I wanted to paint the window well covers in our backyard. I never paid attention to the window well grates.

As a Realtor, I check for window well covers and exit ladders on egress windows, but as a homeowner? Not so much. But window well covers are the goalie for egress window wells. They keep the leaves, critters and yard debris from landing at the bottom of a window well!

WHAT ARE WINDOW WELL COVERS?

Window well covers are functional but there is room to make them look better when the aluminum finish looks dull and tired.

After a few seasons, the finish starts to look like my complexion after the long winter.

Window well covers are the goalies for blowing leaves, little critters, and at our house tennis balls. The egress window cover’s job is to catch the debris before it tumbles into the bottom of a basement (cellar) window well.

And, if you have a garden level or walkout basement you may have a few window well covers for your egress windows.

HOW TO PAINT EGRESS WINDOW WELL COVERS

STEPS TO PAINT WINDOW WELL COVERS

Tape the home’s exterior with craft paper or drop cloth to protect the house from paint spray
I covered about 12″ from the ground up and a little wider than the length of the window well.

Remove the debris and give the window well cover a good sweep.

I used a primer + paint black spray paint!

I sprayed over the window well multiple times making sure to spray from different angles of the grate.

This was a one hour project that made the window wells look so fresh and pretty. I love the finished look! This project was inexpensive with the cost of one to two cans of spray paint.

Do you have basements where you live?

You can find more details and code details about egress windows here.

How to Paint Window Well Covers for Egress Window Wells

Looking for other one-hour paint projects? This garage entry door before and after was an easy project! Would love if you joined in for my once a week newsletter.

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