Before without the After

I really hate to do this to y'all, but this post is kind of anti-climactic. You see, we did a lot of work this weekend and are making lots of changes around the house. The sad part - we aren't done with anything. So, if you don't mind "before"pictures without the "afters", here you go:

We FINALLY got around to starting the landscaping in our backyard. With an unlimited budget and LOADS of time, this could be the backyard of our dreams. Sadly, both of those things are out of reach so we are just doing the best we can. Let me go ahead and point out the things that bother me in these pictures:

-unfinished back doors (BOTH should be black)

-triangular patio

-dead grass

-faded flag

-ugly electrical/AC equipment up against the house

-ugly growth on the ugly wood fence (which is trying to hide our neighbor's backyard)

-frisbee on the roof thanks to Mark

-unfinished wood fence

Ok. Now that I have that out of the way (I would hate for you to think I live happily in this squalor), you can kind of see what we are intending. We added the pavers to give some shape to the flowerbed and extended it out on the entire left side of the house. 

That's Motley's very pink doghouse hanging out there which is being relocated next to the AC unit. Mark and his dad built it for her a few years ago and she LOVES it. I'm debating painting it a more neutral color (add it to the list), but I love her fun pink house!

We're hoping to find a small crepe myrtle to stick the corner where the two wood fences meet. Unfortunately not many nurseries are carrying them right now so we might have to wait on that.

Plants are expensive. We got 15 one gallon containers of Mexican Feathergrass, 3 Sedum (?) plants, and a pallet of petunias. $150 y'all. We probably need double or triple this amount of plants to really fill it in like I want. #expensive #ripoff

Also pictured: Mark's professional cabling job. Add this to the list as well, and maybe I'll follow up one day on the Time Warner Cable debacle of 2015.

So minus the weed barrier and plants actually IN the ground, that's where we are at the moment. Hopefully we can get the beds more filled in and add some mulch in the next few weeks so we can enjoy our backyard! Mark also needs to level the pavers. 

Speaking of nurseries, guess what else happened this weekend!

This is like a nursery/guest room hybrid at the moment. We traded our guest bed for my sister's crib (perfect timing to move my niece up to a big girl bed!) so the nursery is officially in transition!

I have lots of plans for this room:

remove baseboards

paint walls

paint closet

add storage to closet

add accent wall to room

install new baseboards

paint baseboards

re-hang curtain rod

decorate :)

We have lots of prep work to do before the room really transforms, but luckily we have about five months to get it done!

I promise I'll come back with some "after" pictures once we get there, and I'll be back soon to share my plans for the nursery! Happy Monday!