DIY Outdoor Garden Storage

I have to admit. I lost my touch for awhile. And maybe that's not even the right way to explain it. I've been in a funk and haven't been posting. I wish I could say it was because of something greater than me… but honestly, I've been busy with real estate. And the shop. And family. And everything else that life continues to throw at us. And you know what also was consuming my time. Not feeling good enough. I was too busy focusing on the things I couldn't do rather than the things that I could. And the things that were important rather than the things that weren't. I was too busy comparing myself to other bloggers and other people…and their homes. But you know what? I have a home. We own it. That is such a huge accomplishment within itself! Second, we have our health. And I have the opportunity to work and provide along side my husband for our little family. Ultimately, we are more blessed than 75% of people! WHY am I beating myself up?

 I've been searching for awhile now on why I blog. And where did my fire go? Why don't I ever post anymore? Why am I so hard on my house and myself? How come I don't ever post pictures of my house and we've been here a year in a few days? What is up with that? If I don't enjoy it, why am I even doing it? Why would I even devote time to something I have no faith in?

That all needs to change today. You see, this is personal battle with myself. And I vow to overcome it! I enjoy everything about "home" more than anything! And my dream is to one day help people with their homes. I want to be on HGTV. I want to be that person that folks like to look to for inspiration, advice and everything home. I want to be well known for good things about the home. I want things for Home by Ally, large things… things that are not going to come easy. But anything worth having is worth fighting for…and guys, I wanna fight! I won't go down without a fight.

So, today, is my first blog post back here at Home by Ally after a much needed break. My goal for our cute little beachside cottage is to inject as much character, functionality, storage and personality into this home as I can! Today, we are going to touch on storage.

In my head, I love to garden. But mostly, I just love flowers. I haven't tried to really garden yet but that is coming! Since we have a one car garage and we are saving up for a shed out back, I came up with this unconventional but functional garden area for myself out back. I challenge you to look at your space in a different perspective next time you are outside and get creative! Look for unconventional spaces to add storage that will functionally make sense for you and your life.

The planks you see in the background would be part of an outdoor shower we have on one side of our home. My husband calls this "his" space. I have to say its been totally convenient being so close to the beach and coming home not tracking in sand everywhere. We just walk to the back yard, (this is right off of the side of the house.) and wash off all the sand…etc. We also use this outdoor shower to give our puppies their bathes! I love that part! Have you ever tried to bath a lab/great dane mix in a bathtub? And did I mention he doesn't like bathes? This was the best thing ever for us.

So, back to the storage. In our garage, I had all of my gardening tools and supplies in one little corner and thought they'd be better accessible here in this little storage area off the back of our garage and against our outdoor shower. This space is the location of our A/C unit which is to the right of that irrigation pump. We only had trash cans back here and some other things such as grass feeder, extra stepping stones, watering cans, etc.

So here's what we did. We took a trip to Lowes and got some thick & chunky, pressure treated wood that could serve as the shelves. And then, I re-located this iron brackets from our open shelving in our kitchen to out here. More on that later. I could see it in my head. Here's what you'll need...

SUPPLIES

Level

Brackets

Measuring tape

Treated lumber (Pick your size)

Drill

Fencing screws

A husband, spouse, friend

Sharpie

I have a really bad habit of getting excited about a project and #1, forgetting to take a before picture and #2, forgetting to take our "steps" pictures. Forgive me just this once ;-) But I will do a quick run through… for y'all and if you have any questions, please ask in the comments section!

The first thing we did was measure our boards (6') to the length of the outdoor shower. They fit perfect.  We then got out our 3ft level (Any size will do) and our measuring tape and marked off where we wanted our brackets placed and also made sure we had a level service to work with.

We then drilled all brackets in and simply placed the wood shelf on each set of brackets. We took our level back on and placed on each wood shelf to ensure we were still level. And that we were! Hubby took more screws and screwed through the tops down to the brackets for extra support.

Up close and personal view of the brackets. I will be painting those screws ORB to better match the brackets. But you can see how chunky our wood was.

This has been a wonderful space for me to store my plant food, watering cans, flower pots and anything else I can think of! I really love that it actually gives just a plain old wall some depth and character. I would love to show you this space with all of my things on it but right now, it's raining cats and dogs in Florida so I hope you can envision my pretty space :-) We also plan to add some hooks for my tools underneath this storage so I will definitely do another post after we add those!

Do you have a spot where you can add some storage for yourself? Just do it! I encourage you again, to think outside the box and create spaces that are beautiful, add storage, are functional and most of all, spaces that you love! 

On the horizon...

Gosh, it's been awhile.

And I'm sorry about that. In case anyone is reading this…

We've been working a lot. It's been almost two months since my last blog post and that is definitely not like me. But I felt the need to disconnect and not feel "pressure" of posting to keep up with other bloggers. There should be no competition when it comes to this, at least for me. I enjoy decorating and creating/recreating… and that's just it, that simple. I enjoy it. But I don't ever want it to feel like a job. And I let it get there and shouldn't have. So, I've been on a "blog break" for a little while although the rest of my life unfortunately/fortunately has not slowed down. Real estate is very busy right now and our market here in Florida is definitely seeing more of an upswing and it's definitely beginning to be a seller's market. That is promising after everything that the housing market has been through. 

Ryan finally came home from Afghanistan in the beginning of August. It's been so nice to have him home and have someone to just talk to at night besides our fur babies. You take for granted all the little things when they are here… and seem to miss them more when those little things come around again. We've been in full swing with a honey to do list getting our house where we want it to be. I was so focused for the first 6 months of owning our home with injecting things that would pay us later and help us with re-sale but you know what? Re-sale, sure, does matter… but it shouldn't cause you not to enjoy your home, try new ideas and make it your own. So, that's exactly what we've been doing.

I named this blog post "on the horizon" because I feel like new things are just over the horizon for Home by Ally. For a long time, I've been at a constant battle with myself over being a "good" wife. And have the most "pretty" home. And having a "great" blog. And being the "best" realtor. I've been so caught up in all that I am doing wrong and everything that isn't going well to realize all of the things that go right. For starters, I woke up this morning. Hallelujah! What a blessing to be given each day on this Earth. Wake up and make yourself have a great day. You are the master of your fate. And you control the direction of your smile. And for the longest time, I didn't want to believe that. And I still have my days.  But I have realized that life is what you make of it. And it can be gone in a split second.  

We lost a great man recently and it put a lot of my feelings into perspective and made me realize maybe it would be good for me to share my feelings, my thoughts, my constant and ever changing emotions. Maybe that would help me see that life was worth living, more than I ever imagined.

I'm really excited to share with y'all all of the projects that I have been working on. The house has really started to come together and a lot of things have changed over the past few months. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, I can share how much our kitchen has changed. And we are tweaking a few small details in the master and that will also be ready for a reveal. 

I'm excited for all the things to come and I hope that you follow along the way! Please leave a comment and let me know… how you're doing. What's going on with you lately? 

Sunroom changes & Lucketts shutters

Today was one of the first days "off" that I finally got to have in a while! Which it really wasn't a day off, just a day to play catch up on my personal life and things that need to get done around my house… but I did still speak to clients, send emails and answer a lot of phone calls. So much for a day off ;-)

My friend, Kim, had these fabulous chippy green shutters in her space at our show this past weekend. I spoke with her about them because I swoon over this green, especially chippy green… and she told me she purchased them at The Old Lucketts Store. Man, I need to go there soon!

So, what's a girl to do? Buy the shutters of course! Thank you Kim!

I really didn't have a "place" in my head but I wanted to try them in a few areas, some areas together and some with them separated. This is where they ended up tonight… 

Not sure if they will be staying here…

Wanted to show you the other side of the room as well. I'm on the hunt STILL for a french door and I will be making window mantles for above all of those beautiful windows :-)

Do you ever KICK yourself for not buying something? I adored these candle holders… and there was one more set. And I SHOULD have got them! I love them where they are at and I'm so sad I can't mirror that on the other side of the TV. Did I mention how heavy these suckers were?

Here's a close up of these beautiful shutters! They still have the metal piece attached that would hold open the shutters to the home! Love it, in all its chippy glory!

And here's a set back photo. 

And here's the view looking from the other corner of the room. Still unsure if or what I want above that TV. Don't you hate those dilemmas?

I swear they have such a hard life...

Look at this one, this is his perch. 

Lots of elements have been added that I love and I'm slowly appreciating everything in here and learning as I go to "enjoy the process." I encourage you to do the same.

Dining Room updates: Old vs new

Happy Independence Day! Let's all remember the real reason for this holiday and be thankful for the freedoms that we have. Remember what our flag stands for and the proper ways to honor it. And lastly, never forget the men and women who have and still pay the ultimate sacrifice for our country, my husband included. God bless them all and always keep them in your prayers! I am proud to be a military spouse to someone who selflessly gives their life for their country. And I am still proud to fly the flag and to be an American.

Today, as I was setting our dining room table… I thought about how much my style has evolved. So I wanted to go back in time and take a look at a few different dining rooms that we have had in different houses. I thought it would be a fun way to compare how much I've grown into my own style. When I first started writing this blog, we were in Minot, North Dakota. Why not, Minot?! I went through many style changes in that house mostly because I hated the house. Looking back now, I had decent bones to work with, besides the pink kitchen… but here's what it looked like right before we moved and before I changed my blog name! It's the only decent photo that I could find but the table and chairs were yardsale finds as was the entryway table, mantle and chair. The corner hutch was in the family for years. Other than that, that dining room was done on a shoe string budget and still looked beachy/cottage-y even in the tundra of North Dakota.

Then, we got orders to Florida and moved into a rental home off of base. It was big for us and had a lot of wasted space. So, naturally, we just kept purchasing stuff to fill the home up when this actually made it really hard for us to downsize once we bought the home we are currently in. We went from almost 2,000 sq ft down to barely 1275 sq ft. But I LOVE our house now and wouldn't trade it for the world. And to be quite honest, I'm really glad we had to downsize because more than half the stuff we had, we didn't really need or didn't serve a purpose. And I'm all about functionality and being intentionally. There's  nothing intentionally about a piece of furniture that just takes up wall space. I want spaces to have purpose and to be able to be lived in. In that house, I obsessed a lot about keeping everything clean and would constantly be picking up/cleaning. In this house, I'm finding the beauty in the chaos.

Towards the end, it was pretty simplistic and basic. I found myself evolving towards a more natural and neutral palette rather than a bunch of colors.

We sold that beautiful trestle table to a reader off of the blog… it was SUCH a pretty table! But it was too large for our space and quite frankly, we didn't use it as much as I thought we would. I used to hear people say that round tables were better for families because it brings you closer… ;)

All of those things above the cabinets were bought just for that, to be above the cabinets. Well, that was silly right? Maybe not silly because it worked for that house but in this house, we have 42" cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling so I sold off all of my plates along with the shabby cabinet, the barstools and some other furniture.

Enter OUR home. Yes, our home. We purchased this home in September of last year and I can't believe we are well on our way to being here a year already! So here's the old trestle table when we first moved in, in our space. I immediately took the chandelier they had down because I was eyeing new ones. It was beautiful! But really, too large for this type of space.

So, enter my newer-older table I found through a friend. And then I went out and purchased my new chandelier and the new Ikea slipcovered chairs. It was taking shape but something I didn't like. It wasn't until after we got our new couches in a light sandy beige that I knew, what I really wanted and had in my head was a more linen slipcover.

So, today here is what everything looks like now. The cupboard will always stay…I don't think that I will ever get rid of that piece. I love it, practically stole it and it has followed us since the last house.

I purchased the new dining room table off of Craigslist and used my old Ikea chairs with new slipcovers. We also don't have a rug in here right now because one of our dogs got sick on the other one. Jute and sisal don't clean very well unfortunately which left a stain on it permanently. I am currently searching for our perfect rug in here and sadly, I am still drawn to an 8ft round jute rug. I love the texture that it brings and the warmth. 

These slipcovers were exactly what I had in my head. They tie up the back and have a linen, drop cloth material. I adore them. The wrinkles need to fall out some more or I need to get a better iron. Probably both… but I am still enjoying them anyways!

 Overall, I am always pleased to grow as a person and find my style in our homes. It's never felt more like home until we got to this house because WE are doing all the work, WE are finding the character and finding the beauty in chaos. I am really trying to enjoy the process and am *trying* to remember that everything does not happen over night or "Rome was not built in a day" as my mama would say.

Now come sip sweet tea with me and let's talk about life.

New family member: Mr. leather chair

 Wow, what a busy few weeks I have had. There have been a few things I've been looking for while I've been redoing our home. One was either a coordinating ottoman for this chair we got a few months back… or a new leather chair with coordinating ottoman of course.

 The previous chair was definitely more feminine with her little curves and cute little queen anne feet. I posted about her and the adventure I went on to find her here! She has been a great little family member but unfortunately, I found a new chair and ottoman a few days ago that was a little better for the space. So, she will be for sale! If you're interested, shoot me an email at homebyally {at} yahoo.com 

Now, onto the man in the room now. In all of his masculine, rustic, hardy, time worn self. Isn't he pretty? Hehe. I'm still not crazy about the legs on this one either.. only because I prefer a more antique style leg… but that can always be changed just as I said before! Did I mention how SUPER comfortable it was? The dachshunds have already tried it out and one of them is already snoozing!

The owner said their family originally purchased him from Ethan Allen…and he's been very well loved. Well, just so happens, that is just the way that I like it!

It will remain in the same place that the other chair was in. This is located right near the door from the sunroom to our back patio. We are still hunting for a french door on the cheap for that room.

I found these ticking striped Ralph Lauren pillows at TjMaxx a few months ago also. I just love the simplicity of them. I think I want to look for a more interesting lamp… but for now, I am just bringing color and interest in with greenery and some small accents. 

I would really like to get some darker bamboo blinds and install them on each window (rolled up of course) in this room and then do some nice, thick bright white panels on each end. Hmm, maybe soon!

And I can't believe that I have not showed y'all this. If you're a frequent reader, you might know of my obsession with architectural salvage. We love to inject character into any of our homes and this one is no exception. These old chippy corbels we bought from a fellow vendor… and we just adore them! All that chippy goodness… all the colors underneath and oh how many stories if they could talk!

Here's a detail shot. These are hanging into the entryway into our sunroom. I've been contemplating with framing out a faux framed out column on either side to kinda chunky up this entryway.

Aren't they lovely?

All in all, things are coming together around here. And I've been doing SO many projects… all of which that I need to post about! I really am loving the direction that things are going… it's just hard to not want everything done at once but hey, we're supposed to enjoy the journey right?

Front door facelift in 15 minutes

I'm really getting excited about my house y'all. And I cannot wait to show everyone everything! But I'm trying to take one project at a time. Along with that, I have been super busy with real estate! And opening up the new shop if you haven't heard! Whoop! Visit the Facebook page for more information!

Today, I wanted to show y'all how I updated the INSIDE of my front door in under 15 minutes. Most homes that I have been in, the interior of your front door is likely white. And here lately, trending is painting interior doors charcoal grey or black. And I LOVE that. But I'm one of those people that gets tired of stuff quick. I really don't want to have to paint it twice… so I painted her white. And guess what, the whole entire room feels 10x brighter. So whether you're like me and just wanted it to be cohesive and lighter… or you're a bit of risk taker, try painting it a fresh color or coordinating!

I'm not sure why the photo below looks like the way it does? 

Here's another from when we first viewed the home while it was on the market. I really loved the wood look and we've had it like that since we purchased this home back in September of last year. But I stare at it all the time because I wanted to paint it white so it would not compete with the other wood tones in our front living space… so whats' a girl to do at 11pm at night? Paint, of course.

Here's the after.

This photo is super grainy because I took it late in the evening so I had to play with some photography settings and in photoshop for you to really see.

These were taken today so they are much better. All of our walls are painted with Valspar's Oatlands Subtle Taupe which is a perfect greige in the Valspar line. If you also notice, we have originally cove ceilings which I absolutely adore… it gives the home so much character!

And here's a step back. I have an idea for above the hooks to the left but I haven't finished the project.

You may have noticed the curtains to the right. Yes, they are FABULOUS! One of my great friends and fellow vendors, Dana from The Painted Dresser made just for me! It's a linen like fabric with charcoal grey pin striping. They are very similar knock off's to some that Pottery Barn sells. I am currently swooning over them everyday and can't thank Dana enough! If you are in the area (Melbourne, FL) and want to try MMSMP (Ms. Mustard Seed's Milk Paint), come to our new shop at 5555 US Hwy 1, Rockledge, FL and get some from Dana! It is set to be called 

"Vintage Living Marketplace."

I also need to find a tiny rug for the front door. Did I tell you I bought a new front door while I was home in North Carolina? My parents are supposed to bring it to me. I really like this one but I want something that allows more light into our space. We will see how it looks when it gets here.

Small updates sometimes make a huge difference. 

DIY Entryway Table using corbels/architectural salvage

Well it's been around three weeks since I lasted spoke with y'all! WOW! I've been so busy with real estate which is SUCH a blessing! And I also have more good news coming your way, especially if you're local so you definitely do NOT want to miss out on that! 

I've been searching for the perfect entryway table for some time now. I wanted something narrow, long and a statement piece. And I really wanted it to be old as dirt. I'd rather have something with some history, that's not perfect and that tells a story than I would something new. I searched and searched and searched and came up with nothing. 

Enter these two corbels that I found at HomeGoods of all places! Shout out to HomeGoods! Love that place. I practically stole them for the prize and get this…. I found one here in Florida and took a trip to North Carolina around Mother's Day. Wouldn't you know that I found the MATCHING one in North Carolina?! It was totally meant to be. I may or may not have jumped up and down that day in the store.

I apologize for the sorry cell phone photos! I took this really quick to document what it looked like as the process kept going! I was way too excited to actually get my real camera out! So here is the BEFORE photo of the space and then a few cell phone photos of it as it progressed. I'm not sure why this photo is oversaturated like it is but just try to see past that. To the left of the front door is a longer wall that serves as our entryway which is also open to the front living room.

Here is the cell phone photos I was speaking about earlier. First thing that I did was get my level, some wall anchors with screws and a drill to make sure my corbels were the correct length apart and were anchored correctly to the wall as well as being even since I was making a top!

I got really excited at this point but the balance was a little off with how thin the plywood top was compared to the chunkiness of the corbels below. So what's a girl to do? I found some scrap wood in the garage and created a skirt for the wood top to hide cords and chunky it up!

You can somewhat see under the last picture that I hid the cords with good old tape by taping them to the bottom of the wood top. From standing you can't see it at all and really can't even see it unless you are looking when you are sitting. That makes me happy, no cords that is :)

And here's a view with the new lamps on. I'm playing around with how I want the top styled and I still want to do something creative with the cord in the old crock. But I am really loving the look, especially because no one else that I know has something like this. It is unique to our house! Let me know what you think and if you want to pin this to remember on your Pinterest boards, just hover over each picture and click the Pinterest icon to pin!

SOURCE LIST:

Mirror: HomeGoods

Lamps: Kirklands

Corbels: HomeGoods

Boxwoods: HomeGoods

Chippy bowl: Found

Harp salvage: Found

Crock: Found