Fire Pit Area and Benches

The fire-pit area and benches are now complete and ready to enjoy. I am so happy with how it turned out, and know we will be enjoying it for years to come.

How to Make A Fire-Pit on the Cheap

(yes I know the shutters do not match, and the black plastic pipe-thing is ugly...just give me a month or two)

I have been wanting a fire-pit area in our backyard since we moved into the house two years ago. I knew right were I wanted it too, and it just so happened that, that spot in the yard did not grow grass well and had tons of weeds...Bonus. This year I sneaked it into my budget by racking my brain on how to do it cheap without compromising the look or the long-term durability of everything.

In this post I will give you a step by step tutorial of what we did to make our fire pit and fire pit area.

Something New and Something Old

There is something new at our house and this is what it is making me in-vision.

TV Frame: Part 1

Last night we started making the frame for our t.v. that we will be wiring and mounting above our fireplace. 

don't mind my messy garage floor

Upholstery Reveal!

BEFORE

I got my living-room chairs back awhile ago, but have been trying to wait and show you the whole room makeover, but now that some projects are on hold and the Halloween decorations are up, I decided I can not wait any longer and have to at least share my chairs with you.

Sleeping Beauty

I love love love my new bed! It is everything I could have hoped and dreamed of. I have really bad leg, joint, and hip pains with my medical problems and my new bed has cut that pain down by about 80%. My problem before was that I would already be in pain before going to bed and then because I could not get comfortable in bed all my moving around would just further inflame and agitate my pain. Now I am able to sleep in pretty much the same position all night long. I love it!

The Bed and Breakfast is Now Open

The husband and I have been sleeping terribly lately, and I have been pushing for a new bed for awhile now.  So this past Labor day weekend we went out and made the big purchase for our new King size bed. I am so excited about having a new bed and am crossing me fingers that it will be the solution to our tossing and turning.

Since we upgraded from a Queen to a King I need all new sheets, toppers, comforters, quilts, bedskirts, and a headboard. I thought it would be fun shopping for all these things, but for some reason it stressed me out big time. All those items can add up quick and trying to figure out what I wanted, and need and then matching it to the existing things in the room ( like this new piece of art we picked up at Tuesday Morning for $20) turned out to be a little of a challenge. After two days of searching the entire Salt Lake Valley Jayna and I managed to pull it off some how and we only had to make three trips to Pottery Barn. 

The other thing I have been really excited about with this new purchase was moving our old bed down into the basement guest bedroom. In the past we have had a Queen full size Air mattress down there which has worked out well for guests, but I wanted something a little more long-term setup. So last night we went to work doing moving the bed and I worked on all the bedding and decorating for the guest room. 

Two Down - 5 million to go!!

It is no secret that I have a major chair problem. In-fact the husband has currently banned me from any purchases that involve a raised surface used to sit on. When I see a cute old chair sitting at a thrift store or yard sale with its sad tattered upholstery and worn chipped paint I can not help but rescue it and bring it home to have a warm place to live once again. I am like a cat lady, but with chairs. My whole garage and basement is just full of the little suckers. I keep trying to explain to the Husband that chairs to me represent entertaining and filling my home with places for family and friends to gather and enjoy one another. So far he is not getting it. I have saved us a ton on chairs though.

Fireplace Redo

Last week I decided to finally repaint our fireplace mantel.

Stars and Stripes

The Fourth of July is a pretty fun holiday here in the great state of Utah because we kind of celebrate it twice. We do the normal 4th celebrations, and then have a repeat on the 24th when we celebrate Pioneer Day. So with the style of my home and the fact that Utah does two celebrations in July I find it my American duty to fly the stars and stripes a little more than most might in July. The husband thinks I already went overboard, but this is just half of what I wanted to do this year. I didn't even get around to spray painting stars on the lawn like I really wanted to. 

This is a photo of one of my ancestors celebrating the Pioneer Day in Farmington Utah. He was one of the first people to own a truck there, and he sold produce and flowers from it. No wonder I love gardening and growing flowers to cut.

Mail Box Area Clean-Up

I decided to clean up our mailbox area awhile back. It is one of those awkward places that you do not know if you or your neighbor is in charge of. I guess I was feeling in charge that day. 

The Fence is Done!

Dinner is served... with a touch of Peacock

I posted forever ago about a rug I was going to purchase from Urban Outfitters, but have failed to post about getting it and how I liked it until now.

I'm Still Here!

I swear I am still here! This weekend has been crazy we worked last week on getting everything to start our fence project. The husband took Friday off to start on it and he just finished this afternoon. Thanks to the help of his brother who we use as a workhorse on the weekends. Devin your the best! 

Annie Get Your Gun!: Gun Cabinet Makeover

I finally finished the gun cabinet! It was not that it was a hard task I just kept piling projects on top of projects and this one ended up at the bottom some how. I loved how it turned out and sincerely thank the old Grandpa or teen wood-shop student for making it for me. Remember how I bought this for only $35.00 at DI awhile back? You have to love having a vision for old things.

Pantry Makeover & Cansolidator Giveaway!

Cansolidator Giveaway!
Giveaway is now Closed

The winner of this Giveaway will receive a Shelf Reliance Cansolidator of their choice.

Featuring SmarTrac technology, the Cansolidators are a front-loading system that automatically rotate up to 60 cans. The adjustable, expandable, stackable system takes the hassle out of can rotation and allows you to organize cans the way YOU want. The Cansolidators are easy to assemble and guarantee a more organized pantry in minutes. Sturdy, compact, and reliable, the Cansolidators are the perfect stand-alone solution for any pantry.

To enter this Giveaway and see my pantry makeover and experience with Shelf Reliances Cansolidator System click the Read more button below.

Back in the Day Projects: Kitchen Remodel

I was tagged by another blog to share my 6th picture ever posted. Since I have not been doing this blog terribly long I decided to pull a picture from my family blog which ended up being perfect because it was a before picture of our old condos kitchen before we remodeled it.

Garden? Check!

Well I got one big "To Do" off my list and I have the bad tan lines to prove it. We pretty much finished up everything with our garden area this last Saturday. 

Kids Picnic Bench: Finished and Painted

I finally finished painting Jaynas picnic bench. My husband thought I was crazy to do two coats of paint, antiquing, glazing, staining, and two coats of top coat on an outdoor kids picnic bench, but I love how it turned out.

I am hoping this will be one of those items that Jayna will want to pass down to her kids someday. I built it well enough and treated it well enough that it could be. That is if I can part with it and the memories it will hold by then of her being a little girl playing in my backyard.


For Painting Technique How To Click the Read More Button Below...

Backyard Progress: Looking Like a Garden

This weekends weather finally gave us a chance to get working on the backyard again.