Why can't HGTV crash our yard?

Yesterday, we finally made a good start at tackling the problem of our yard.  Our house is a flipped foreclosure.  The great thing is, the seller we purchased from renovated the entire inside.  There are definitely odds and ends projects on the inside (like installing shelves to make our linen closet functional), but nothing truly major that needs work.  That just leaves the yard as our one giant project.  Since it's a duplex, our front yard is pretty small but lacking in curb appeal.  The previous owners also had a weird obsession with green.  The entire fence along the driveway is painted green as well as the giant cement pylons at the end of the drive.  (I don't think we'll ever be able to get rid of those).  It also appears that they had painted the front walkway green, but now it's all chipping away.  In addition, the chain link fence directly in front of the house that separates our yard from the sidewalk and bus stop is spray painted a different shade of green with some green wooden lattice added for good measure.  It's all gotta go.  Here's video from a couple weeks ago of the front drive.  My Mom named the dog Blanco; he's now sitting in a pile for the dump. 

 

The backyard is a great size, but currently consists of 85% dirt and 10% weeds with the other 5% gravel, rotting wood and trash from the contractors that worked on the house.  Here's another video so you can get a feel for it:

The previous owner also appears to have some weird privacy issues, if you can't tell by all the extra scrap wood and corrugated metal screwed onto the fence.  Shane started to pull down the extra pieces yesterday to reveal a decent looking fence.  It'll probably need to be replaced sooner rather than later, but it's at least something we can work with. 

This is the before, with all kinds of extra boards on the fence. 

Shane's after with all the extra stuff pulled down.  Some of the wood seemed pretty decent still, so we're going to try to save and re-purpose it somehow.  Quite a difference, no?

More of Shane's handiwork from yesterday.  We couldn't get the gutter extension to drain out and away from the front of the house because of the cement lip edging the driveway.  He knocked it all out and got everything to fit so at least the water isn't all sitting right at the foundation.  Just in time too since we've been getting so much rain lately!

For some reason, there's no photo evidence of my hard work in the yard yesterday.  I tackled the dandelions and weeds that were trying to take over our front yard.  Good thing the ground was soft and damp because those dandelions were deeply rooted.  Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen dandelion roots that big - we're talking 8 inches to a foot long roots! After all the weeding, I got a lesson in adjusting the height on our new 14 inch reel lawn mower.  I'm not going to lie - I love the whirr it makes as it cuts the grass! Let me tell you, it's not easy work pushing that thing.  Between the unseasonably warm temps yesterday and really having to push that thing over our long grass I was a sweaty mess by the time I finished.  I also learned those things are terrible at edges and corners.  I had to take some grass shears all along the edges and corners, not to mention the really long patches of grass that were so tall they fell over before I could go over the lawn again with the mower.  Lucky for me our front yard isn't more than 20 square feet.  I'm starting to seriously consider purchasing a weed-whacker for all the edges around the fence and stuff.  Of course to do that we need a shed to store our outdoor tools in, and to get a shed we need a solid, level surface to place it on... etc etc.
I'm learning as a homeowner that you have to do three (four, five) different projects to tackle the one that you really want to address.  Sheesh!

I did fill a planter with a few of my favorite herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary & mint) yesterday.  It makes me happy since it's the only stuff growing in our yard that's not weeds or poor quality grass.

As we spend more time outside, we're starting to brainstorm ideas for what we want our backyard to look like, what kind of patio we want, etc.  I'll share some more of that with you all soon.

Happy Easter!

Hosting Easter at the Hanley's was a success!

We were joined for Easter dinner by Shane's aunt, uncle and cousins.  I realized prepping dinner yesterday that this is the first time we have truly hosted anybody for a holiday.  In our tiny one bedroom apartment, it just didn't make sense.  Parking was a pain in the butt thanks to the apartment management, and our kitchen wasn't very functional.  So this was a pretty big deal for me and Shane!  To get me in the Easter spirit Shane brought me a lovely bouquet of lilies!

They really smell fantastic! They didn't really start to open up until today and now the whole dining room smells wonderful and spring-like! The lilies really worked to get me in the mood for cooking dinner.  After a flurry of phone calls to my Mom about cooking temperatures and cooking times, we managed to have everything hot and ready for our guests.  The only small issue was the darn rolls! I made them using pizza dough and despite defrosting the dough overnight in the fridge (as suggested by the package) and then rubbing them with oil and setting them in a warm place to rise, they didn't rise very well.  Then when I took the baked rolls out of the oven, I had a heck of a time getting them out of the baking dish.  Oh, well.  If that's the only thing that went wrong, I consider dinner a success! I also had fun getting to purchase a new tablecloth ($9.99 at Target) and centerpiece ($12.98 - 50% off at World Market) for the occasion. 

I decided to name the rabbits Theodore and Oliver.  They just seemed like appropriate names to me, although Shane thinks I'm a little off-balance.  They're holding a basket of Jordan almonds that I can't stop snacking on while I write this post!

Action shot of me in the kitchen - placing our ham in the oven.  Artsy photography courtesy of Shane. 

We ended up having so much fun with the Hanley Ohana over dinner and then a couple games of Apples to Apples before dessert that we totally forgot to take any photos of us all together.  Oops!

In other news, we finally closed out our apartment lease today! Hallelujah! I thought that maybe it would be a little bittersweet, but it just feels like a relief! I rented my very first apartment at that complex (a very modest studio) and then Shane and I had our first home there in a slightly larger 1-bedroom for the last two years.  I was just so glad to be done dealing with apartment management I gave them a big peace-out as we drove away. 

We also did a ton of work in the yard today, which is why we're both feeling sore and exhausted.  I will finally post more about the yard and what we're working on tomorrow. 

Hosting @ the Hanley's

We will be hosting our first visitors at the Hanley Home on Easter Sunday!

I'm such a perfectionist that I couldn't imagine inviting anybody over until things were more put together around here.  Eventually, I realized that I'm not going to be satisfied with the arrangement/furniture/cleanliness/organization/function of this house for a long, long time.  In fact I have a belief that you're never fully satisfied with your home until it's time to move.  Growing up, I remember my parents doing plenty of renovations in our first house in Chicago.  Once we finally liked what we had done with the house, my Dad got a new job and we moved across country and started over again in Massachusetts.  At the new house, we renovated and painted and fixed up everything to our liking and then my Dad got a new job, and we moved back to Chicago.  We really renovated that place, new kitchen, new bathrooms, new carpet and paint among many other projects.  Once it felt complete...you guessed it, time to move. 

I'm trying to keep these life experiences in mind as we try to make our first house a home and take it step by step.  I'm not going to lie though - I can't stand stuff just sitting out and not having a defined place to keep it.  We're really in need of a desk in our front/dining room.  We had an inadequate desk that was damaged in the move.  Since we were planning on replacing it anyways, it wasn't a tragic loss.  In the mean time, keeping my files and computer and other desk supplies in a series of boxes on the floor is driving me nuts.  I really want this Incognito Desk from Crate and Barrel.  The price is pretty steep, so I'll have to see if I can find something similar or the same thing for less on Craigslist. 

Speaking of the front/dining room (I'm not really sure what to call it) here's some photos:

 Luckily, you can't see my boxes of office supplies in the corner on the right.  I think I purposely tried to camouflage them with the table.  That's Lily with the glowing eyes.  The cabinet on the left is my current favorite thing.  It was a bit of a splurge, even on clearance, at Pier 1 Imports, but I love it! It has bamboo door fronts and serves as our much needed pantry and home of my many, many cookbooks.  Eventually, we plan on purchasing a new dining table and chairs as our current set is far too small.  

The banner says "Welcome Home Hanleys" and was custom-made by our awesome real estate agent.  It's been up for over a month now and I'm not sure when exactly it will come down although I have big plans for that wall space between the windows.  I love that you can catch a glimpse of the American flag painted on the fence at the top of our drive way.  That's totally sarcastic.  Although a patriot, I'm not wild about the painted flag - or anything on our fence or yard.
 

Since the two rooms flow together, here's a shot of our kitchen.  I really really like our kitchen.  What's not to love? Granite counters, maple cabinets, stainless steel appliances.  I've definitely been making good use of my new kitchen since we moved in.  The only thing missing is a back splash which I intend to DIY at some point.  We also intend to get new stools for the breakfast bar that match whatever dining table and chairs we eventually add. 

Since I've been loving the new kitchen, I couldn't resist inviting some family over for Easter Sunday.  We'll have to bring the folding card table and chairs down for some extra seating.  I'm looking forward to shopping for some Easter table decor!

Finally....Photos!

I know this post is long overdue.  The last couple weeks have been pretty hectic.  As government employees, both my husband and I were paying close attention to the budget crisis and potential government shutdown only to be disappointed that we wouldn't get a few days off.  That's okay though since we were also worried about being furloughed and having to make that dreaded first mortgage payment. 

Once the shutdown crisis was averted, we ran into some car trouble.  Our main ride, Francisco, was at the body shop to be repaired after we were rear-ended a few weeks ago.  Meanwhile, we were left with our older backup Amigo which wasn't a big deal at all since we both take public transportation to work now and only really use the car on weekends.  With such beautiful timing, the Amigo decided to die on Saturday morning.  He wouldn't start at all.  No sputter, no noise, nothing.  We're still not really sure what's wrong as we haven't had a chance to investigate further or jump it so we can get it to a repair shop.  This left us with no groceries this weekend, so Saturday night we walked to 7-Eleven to pick up a bottle of wine so we could celebrate being stranded at our new house. 

The good news about being stranded is that it forced us to actually get some work done around the house.  On Sunday we gave the Hanley Home a good cleaning from top to bottom which really hadn't happened since we moved.  We also got some odds and ends up in the attic and finished unpacking a majority of the boxes.  It really made the place feel more like home. 

We still have another week and a half on our apartment lease; the evil management company wouldn't let us out of the lease 26 days early.  Because the management is evil, I'm refusing to return our keys until the last possible day.  I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing we were able to move slowly.  Initially it felt nice that we didn't have to kill ourselves to get every last item out and clean the place in a weekend.  We stored some items there that we didn't want to keep and were planning to donate anyways so we didn't waste energy moving them.  Now that the church yard sale is over and Salvation Army picked up the last dresser I'm getting tired of having to go over there. Yesterday we moved my husband's music equipment from the apartment over to the house.  Several guitars, full size keyboard, mics, sound boards... no wonder I was putting it off.  The neat and tidy house we had on Sunday is covered by cords and guitar cases that still need to find a home in the new house.  I think we only have one trip left for planters and some outdoor items that are still on the balcony over there.  I'm anxious to be done moving.  It's already been over a month since we signed the papers and became homeowners.  I'm tired of moving, I just want to be living in my home now. 

After our cleaning and organizing spree on Sunday, I finally had a chance to get some as-is pics of the house.  I'll share them in small doses, so here's what we're calling the family room.  It's located in the addition on the back of the house behind the kitchen.  The walls are very noticeably bare.  In fact, the boxes you see are holding pictures that we haven't yet hung.  Shane's guitars and music stuff are currently residing on the empty floor space in the pictures.  Otherwise, this room feels the most together for us right now. 

 That's the door to our back "yard."  I use the term loosely as you will eventually see in future photos. 

 On the right is this awkward shelf that runs the length of the room.  I'm glad the door hides most of it...it's got tons of random junk stacked on it right now.  We're trying to decide what to do with that wall.  We think it's made for shelves, but we're not sure where we're going to take it just yet. 

Look for more pictures of other rooms to come soon!