Oh What a Mess!

I look around me and what do I see....a mess.  I am practicing patience because there are a ton of things half done around this house and it's starting to drive me crazy.  But, there is hope.  Things have gotten done.  Things are in progress as the following pictures document. 

The front room of the house is sunken and a little odd.  We've debated what to do with it and decided to turn it into something of a game room.  Sam got a game table for his birthday, which is pretty cool.  He loves playing ping pong on it right now - and he's pretty good.  I found the two chairs at Habitat and had them slipcovered in this great blue cotton fabric.  They're a little loose fitting but they look fine.  I think it would have been more cost effective to just have them reupholstered, but whatever, it's done. 

I got home and found my little green table had come to the end of it's life.  Sad.  So I tore it apart today and decided the back porch sitting area is still cute.  It still needs a side table, some fall plants in the planters and a small coffee table.  Now to get out and have a cup of tea and read a book there.

This is the couch before I had it slip covered.  I had it closing off the living room as I thought it made it cosier.  It definitely did, but maybe a bit too cosy. 

When I got home from my trip this summer, I awoke early in the morning (thanks to jet lag) and started moving furniture.  The couch looks great under the window and it doesn't seem to get as dirty as it did before.  The leather chair will be soon moving out to Balin's office but I have two more options for chairs that I need to pick up.  They too are getting slipcovers and I'm sure they'll look great in this room.  I'm thinking that I'll replace the rug in this room with a natural fiber rug with a thick pad underneath.  But then again, Yogi is still in his chewing stage so maybe I'll wait on that.

                                  
Here's a picture of the garage from the back porch.  The brick layer has started but he's moving as slow as molasses on a cold winter day.  Honestly.  Once the brick goes up, the shingles can be added - then the trampoline can be moved behind the garage and the shed in the back can be moved to the other side of the back yard....and we can get some order to this chaos.

The back yard.  The kids love the trampoline and so I love the trampoline. I just don't think it's a design asset.  Against the far wall of the fence I imagine the little shed (reconstructed a little bit to make it a super cute house for Perrin) with a back "sleeping porch" for Sam.  Where the trampoline is currently we're thinking about a large swath of artificial grass.  I know, artificial grass?  But look closely at the real grass - see the brown spots?  Keeping grass looking good is an annoying past time for those with much more patience than I.  Speaking of which, all that green lovely grass is going, going, gone.  In it's place we will create a living room and dining room, complete with fireplace. 

Yes, construction is everywhere. It's a mess.

The missing sections in the fence panels actually have wire that you can't see.  I am going to espallier apple trees on the fence.  The section in the upper left hand side of the photo is where my vegetable garden is going to go.  I hope to have this area pretty heavily planted this spring.  But for now...I can only dream.

The before picture of the garage.  Hopefully it's getting painted on Tuesday...then the electrician can come...then we can put the garage door in...then storage...then my car will have a home.

Balin's front room/kitchen.  Wait till you see the door he has.  I found it at Habitat.  It wasn't exactly cheap and it needed to be repaired, but I think it was worth it.  It's gorgeous.  More pictures coming next week on the progress of Balin's office.  It's going to be gorgeous.

The deck going to Balin's office.  Yogi likes the view.

The front yard survived without my presence this summer.  I must be doing something right.  My hope is to not be able to see the ground in the very near future.  And notice, I do have grass.  Just enough.  And it looks nice and I don't have to do anything with it. It stays.

The hydrangeas I planted this spring didn't die.  They didn't grow much but at least they're not dead.  After traveling through cooler climates this summer and seeing all the lush hydrangeas, I'm a little disappointed at the little guys.  Maybe if I repeat kind and loving words to them all winter they'll grow twice as big by next year.