I don’t have a major room transformation to report, but I do have a lot of little updates. Here are some things we’ve done over the past month or so.
- We added metal tree rings with asian jasmine under and around the trees in the front yard. Here’s what our magnolia tree looked like before:
After:
Then we added another ring around the gigantic oak tree:
Filling it in with dirt was probably the hardest part. Here’s the end result: 
It’s been a few weeks and the jasmine we planted hasn’t really filled in… I may need to add more… I also added six solar spotlights around the large oak tree. I used these cheap lights from Target. They sorta get the job done, but they definitely aren’t as bold and bright as I would like them to be.
2. We painted the wrought iron portico railings, awning and topper thing/roof black.
This was really like three projects in one. First David had to scrape/sand/grind all the rust and rust-colored paint off the railings. Not a quick task. Here’s a close-up of the scraped-off railing:
Then we got to spray painting. Our favorite activity JKJKJKJK:
And then I added a spring wreath, two urns and some topiaries to style it out. Next we need to plant some new plants for the front beds, fix the slate step and refresh the front door.
4. I painted stripes on the beadboard porch ceiling just for funzies. Before:
During (what was I thinking):
After (but before I touched up):
5. Refreshed our patio chairs with a new coat of paint:
6. Took out and replaced all the dead freeze plants from the file cabinet planters
This season we planted citronella, lemon balm, potato vine, foxtail ferns, and some creeping fig (to climb the lattice) in the file cabinet planters. I’ll keep you posted on how they all do. So far so good!
7. David hung a lattice piece above the planters. Hope creeping fig will cover that bad boy.
8. Oh! And we got a new couch from High Fashion Home!!
We have a few other projects in the works, too. David is building a long buffet/sideboard/console table to go under the art in the dining room. I’ll post photos of that hopefully next week. We’ve also got started on a big backyard overhaul. I’ll give you a hint of what’s to come in the backyard department:
