With Ryan's hunting season here, my fall photography sessions booking like crazy, and our daughters' love of one-on-one attention - our plans of a house makeover are not going as fast as I would've hoped. We've been doing a lot of small projects around the house here and there. There are currently three rooms that sit with ladders, random decor, as well as empty picture frames there as placeholders.
As mentioned in this post here, one of our top things to get done was the LAWN! I didn't realize how bad it was until we moved in - but the hubs did. That was the first thing he wanted to get done.
Call me crazy, but on a pretty Saturday afternoon, I took a drive around my neighborhood to scope it out for the first time - and to see how the other neighbors kept up with their lawn. Why did I do this? Well, when I was on maternity leave, I would check my work email at the dinner table - which has a window that looks out to my neighbor on the right. I, obviously, had a newborn - so I was up every morning at 6:00am...and guess who else was up? OUR NEIGHBOR. They are RETIRED. When I retire, I WILL NOT be getting up at 6:00am. Especially to WORK ON MY FLOWER BED! Not that I was counting or keeping track, but our RETIRED NEIGHBORS cut their grass every Monday and Thursday. I even saw them throw away our crab apples in our yard for us! And it turned out they had the BEST LAWN in the neighborhood. Talk about keepin up with the Jones's.
You could see it in Ryan's eyes - the envy of the neighbor's lawn. Obviously, neither Ryan or I have the time to tend to our lawn/flowerbeds like we did when we lived out in the boonies with a half acre garden (I miss those days of fresh cut veggies). We also were not going to be spending $8,000 on a lawn mower (we sold the other one with the sale of our first house).
So, we hired a local lawn service company we found on Angie's List to verticut and reseed our lawn. Ryan would never admit this to his dad, but we also found it was cheaper and more time-effective to have them mow our lawn. (Mom - if you are reading this, don't tell Dad.) I mean, with everything going on in our lives right now, time is money!
The after photos were taken exactly nine days after the guys came out and verticut/seeded our lawn. We watered our lawn for three hours straight every morning. We got the shock of our lives when we saw our water bill for our 0.75 acre lot - $406.18!!!! That's like TEN TIMES what we paid at the apartment and in the BOONIES.
We soon realized that we were not even going to compete with our retired neighbors next year. Alas, here are the pictures before the first mow job:
FRONT BEFORE:
FRONT AFTER:
BACK BEFORE:
BACK AFTER:
Next project on the list ... painting the walls! The original owners decided to "touch up" a few spots in the house when they were trying to sell the place. Needless to say, they used the 4 year old paint in the basement - which didn't even come close to the color on the walls after aging. We've finished Ansley's and Aubrey's room...but we still have their bathrooms and the entire rest of the house to go. Is it bad that I don't even want to decorate until the painting gets done?
More Outdoor Living Spaces and Projects to Inspire You
- Decorating a Patio on a Budget
- Garden Sprinkler System
- Outdoor Farmhouse Pots and Planters
- Outdoor Covered Living with White Wash Furniture
- Restore Outdoor Teak Furniture
- Early Spring Vegetable Garden Tips
- How to Paint Around or Behind Bushes Outdoors
- How to Hang String Lights Under Covered Patio
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