The Wheelie Bin Challange

I'm almost done with my privacy

screen/fence/trellis project Phase II.

I just have to add the cap to the top

and the round finials.

I'm so close I can taste it

and hope to wrap it up

this weekend. 

I'm also still shy one boxwood!

No sooner has the stain dried and

I'm already thinking about Phases III and IV. 

I plan to add a few benches

to the other side of the fence. 

That's Phase III

and then....

I got to thinking about 

what to do with that stinking garbage

situation in my garage.

Yep, there's gonna be a Phase IV.

via 

There are lots of great plans out there for

outdoor storage bins of all shapes and sizes.

via

Here's one that could be

sized for one big can.

via

This one is great and goes so nicely

 with the style of the house

I don't have a convenient side yard like this

and it would definitely

 need doors for the raccoons.

via

This is looking quite viable.

I would dress it up a bit by

adding an X detail

on the front.

Ah, but this one is my favorite!

You must watch the video.

I love this guy and hope he gets lots of 

investors for his wonderful creation.

Its pure genius!

You gotta love The Brits!

Who could take something so smelly and 

unsightly

and turn it into something

 so whimsical

 and really just plain cute!

New vocab word for the day.

  From this day forth

in this house we will be using the term

Wheelie Bin!  Love it!

Privacy Screen Project

Well I'm three days of work into my movable

fence project, phew!  As always I
underestimate the time it will all take.
I AM an optimist!

The three days doesn't even include the many hours spent
 figuring out the design, supplies needed,
 and multiple reconnaissance
trips to Lowes.  

So far I think I've made three, maybe four
trips to Lowes

for several large hauls of wood.

I spent a lot of time figuring out the construction

and size of the boxes.  The 2 x 6's dictated the

height with three rows and then 2 x 4's on the

bottom to raise them up a bit.

Here they are before I added the 2 x 4's

The construction is fairly basic.

I'll post instructions later when it's all done and

I put my feet up.

You MUST stain your pieces first.  
If you don't
 you'll be sorry...
do you even need to ask me why I know this?

I love Sherwin Williams solid Deckmate

stain in Shagbark.  It's the best

rich dark brown.

I love the way it looks with with my faux tudor.
We have many faux tudors in our older
neighborhood  and I've seen many cosmetic
facelifts over the years. 

 People change the color and do all kinds
 of things to try to alter them slightly.
  Unless you can do a total remodel and remove
the tudor entirely I think you're better off
 to just go with it and make it
the best darn faux tudor out there.

It is what it is.

This Brattle style fence plays very well with the tudor.
 I think I may trim out the boxes a bit
more along the top.

As you can see  everything still needs to be 
leveled,  attached, and the 2 x 4's 
trimmed at the top.

 There are four more sections to make and
I'm toying with a simple arbor in the mix. 

Here's my crude cad detailing the other
sections.  I've drawn some benches in 

between the boxes.
Wow, I can really see that I've got my
work cut out for me!

 I suppose it's a relief that we're in for

 days...and, days, and days

 of rain here in the northeast.

That will give me time to 
take a little break and 

plan the arbor!

What fun...
Linking up with these fine parties!
Hookin' up with Hepworth's
Bower Power Spring challenge
Jennifer Rizzo creating an artful home
The Shabby Nest
VMG 206
Young House Love

You can't give them away

There are a few things on my yearly calendar 
that I rarely miss.
    The book fair of our 
local library is one of them.

You see I have a penchant for those things
 that are  old and interesting.
  That's the section I hit first at the book fair,
 Old and Interesting.  
(hmm, maybe one day I'll
be old and interesting.)

You see I just can't help myself. 
 I happen to think the books 
are going to disappear. 
 My grandchildren will be titans of old books. 
 I just love them.
  I love the covers, the old worn leather,
 the dusty old smell,  the engravings,
 and the weight of them in my hands.

I have fun at the book fair.
 It's far more exciting to me
than so many things. 
 This year my daughter happened
 to be home. 
 So off we went, Grampa too.  

I found the sweetest little
 set of  art books.
Six in all

Once at home in a library

This was the score of the day. 
 I grabbed it to frame for my
daughters off campus home next year

I hate to cut it up, it's such an old edition

I think I'll grab a newer version of the
same book and keep
this one intact.

$2 bucks, For Heaven's Sake!
That's less than a cup of coffee 
(When you're handling old books it's 
perfectly acceptable to say things
like for heaven's sake)

My daughter is a Classics major and
these are right up her alley.
They will look fantastic in simple gallery
 frames  with custom mats

I really love when I find writing
in an old book.

This is just delightful!

You don't meet many Newells these days.
I don't think I've ever met a Newell.

There was a woman giving away 
paperback copies of a Mark Twain
book in front of the supermarket
last weekend.
  She wasn't selling
anything, just encouraging
reading.

She said she couldn't give them away!
People were putting up their hands
Keep away.
Has the world gone mad?

Shooing off a book
For Heaven's Sake, how absurd.

This looks like a good read.
I'm quite certain no one will write
a book about the table
talk and opinions that I possess.

In the midst of all this bookishness
 I remembered I had this
 wonderful  little shelf. 
 It hung in my powder room
for years with it's chinoiserie red.

Ever since seeing the enchanting pictures of 
the cottage from the latest Twilight
 (daughter shrieking in background, 
Psycho style music playing in background.
Well you know those classics majors)
I've been dreaming of all those books piled up.

via Cote de Texas

Apparently vampires love to read.
Oh the things you can learn on blogs!
(daughter shrieking again)

Anyway...
I thought this would be the perfect little shelf for
a sweet little book nook for moi

 I'm still playing around with it all,
 but I'll be darned
 if it isn't just the sweetest thing

 Here I'll sit dusting off those old books 
like a vampire.
Oh, and don't worry Newell, your book
has found a nice new home.

It's so great to be Back in business!

I have spent the last two months working 

in a tax office during tax season!!

No time for building, no time for sewing, no time for digging,

no time for painting.

All work and no fun work 

via outstanding

All I've had time for is dreaming,

 planning,

 and scheming.

The weather is just starting to get nice

with sunny days, birds singing, and the first

blush of spring.  It's all pulling me outside.

via forever redwood

What better time to begin an outdoor project.

I've been wanting a fence to hide the

 driveway full of cars.  

It's in plain view when sitting on our deck.

The only thing stopping me has been

the thought of digging the fence

post holes.

Two feet down

for each post.

 via outstanding

So I got to thinking about how to get

around digging those holes to install

a permanent fence.

Wouldn't it be great to have a movable

structure so we can move deliveries

 of mulch, stone, or perhaps large equipment.

Ya know, just in case I decide

to dig my own swimming pool

some day!

 via outstanding

I put on my thinking cap and 

have determined that my system will have to

be anchored by large planter boxes.

24" square.

The math works.  

I can get 4 cuts of 24" from each piece

of 1 x 6 x 8 pressure treated wood.

Commercial applications can be great for

inspiration, especially

when trying to figure out sizing.

I really like these and considered making

my boxes longer but I'm working

the budget again so 24" it is.

hmmm, wonder if I could cut boxwoods like this??

via outstanding

Seems like the commercial boxes are lined in metal. 

  I don't think I'll go that far, but I may try to

figure out some kind of plastic liner

 (at least on the bottom)to make

the boxes last longer.

  via The Garden Trellis Company, UK

step 2!

How to build the trellis.

This one is quite involved and would 

go way over budget. boo hoo.

 via The Garden Trellis Company, UK

curved top, probably not.

via archiexpo 

What a great system

with the opening in the middle.

 this old house

There are lots of plans for building planter

boxes with trellises sssss (sp?)

Can you say that? trellises?

Reminds me of when my daughter was

younger and had a slight lisp.

For fun I would prompt her

 brother or father to say the

name of the star wars movie

The Revenge of the Sith, and

then whisper to her

"see everyone has a lisp"

Go ahead, say it.

I know you just did

this old house

Back to the trellis!

What I've found is that most are

made via the sandwich method,

criss crossed in between two frames.

via this old house

This one has a combination of diagonal 

and horizontal lattice.

via bhg

I really, really, love the look of this brattle fence.

I suppose I like it because it's brown 

like my all brown house.

Now for the work, Yay!

After all those taxes I really enjoyed

hauling these giant bluestones.

The blue stones help define the entryway.

To anchor my movable system near the house

I built a potting bench following these plans

from Ana White.

A great place to put groceries when

fumbling for the keys.

Thanks Ana!

Here's the view looking towards the house.  

On the left another trellis will define

 the opening.

Oh back to the trellis design....
After much hemming and hawing over

plans, I kind of just winged it.

I'll be adding a cap (possibly finial) 

 and a little more  trim work.  

You can see that I ran out of cross

 pieces at the bottom

 and need to add one more.

 To make everything more uniform,

 classy, and upscale

I'll flank the door with square planters as well. 

Maybe I could get some ivy to grow 

on my wire obelisks.

I think scale will class it all up and

bump it up a notch from 

flea market style.

Maybe just some wood obelisks

standing on either side of the door.

Brown, of course.

Those square slates to the right are place

holders  for the oversize planter boxes. 

I'll continue the brattle screen right across

 from the potting bench screen to create

 an entry opening.  

Then it will turn to the area behind the planter

boxes creating an "L".  

This kind of project is the best fun!

 I'm off to buy wood for the boxes tonight.

I can't wait!

Linking up!

Funky Junk Interiors