A Trio of Befores and Afters

Whew! This house stuff keeps us busy. We are still loving the house and having fun with making it our own.

The first of our tasks was to remove some small shrubs that were in the front of the house. They weren't very pretty!

Bryan was less than impressed with my removal strategy. While he was mowing, I started digging on the first bush next to the driveway. When I couldn't get a good angle on it, I decided my best option was to cut off the whole top part with our hedge trimmer and then just work on the roots. I later learned that this was not the best approach. Three hours, several blisters, and a broken shovel later it was out! Unfortunately we still had three more to go. We saved the next three for another weekend and found that practice makes perfect. We had the last three out in the same time it took to do the first. You live and learn, right? Here is the empty bed. Ahh....Perfect for planting Tulip bulbs and Mums. I did do this but my procrastinating self didn't get a picture while the Mums were still pretty.

(That reminds me! I saw a sign at The Growing Place, a wonderul nursery by us, the other day that said "My garden was in bloom yesterday. Sorry you missed it.") Funny stuff. I'm a sucker for signs.

Next on the agenda was the dining room. The first two rooms in our house were empty and blah. It was driving me bonkers.

So, a couple Tuesdays ago, I decided to paint. I bought the supplies on Wednesday and painted on Thursday after work. A few days later we had furniture delivered! Ta da!

Our (actually just mine, Bryan couldn't care less) last room was the downstairs bathroom. It was a very bright shade of yellow first.

On Friday night of the same week I painted the bathroom. It still needs a lot of touch up but the overall appearance is better. Just don't look up if you come to visit. I'm still learning :).

Looking at the pictures now, I can see that an investment in a nice trash can for the bathroom might be a good idea. The one there now is a little bit of an eye sore. Sigh.... Ohhh, maybe a nice tissue holder too!

You'll have to come and visit to see for yourself!