Category: Home Improvement

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An Easy DIY Garden Bed

Screwing the fasteners in place. An easy DIY garden bed.

Have you seen those cedar garden bed kits at Home Depot or Lowes? Or the really fancy ones on Amazon? Yeah, I did, too. Then I saw the price tag. Yikes! But cedar garden beds don’t have to be outrageously expensive and you don’t even need a full set of tools. I’m here to give you pointers and tips for an easy DIY garden bed that won’t break the bank, either.

person digging on soil using garden shovel

You’ve seen the simple garden beds I made the first year of my garden in it’s current location. In 2022, I expanded the veggie garden even more and really gave it an upgrade. Yes, I have some fancy tools, but you don’t need anything out of the ordinary to make your own garden beds. It’s a straightforward process to make these easy DIY garden beds, and I know you can do it, too!

The best thing about doing it yourself? You can customize it into a one-of-a-kind piece that works for you and the space you have. Below you will find an example of an 18″ tall bed I helped a friend make with minimal tools and the 6″ high beds I built in my own garden. Let’s get started!

The basic supply list:

  • Cedar fence pickets
    • Garden stakes
  • Fasteners
Cedar fence pickets
Wood garden stake

Cedar Fence Pickets

Head down to the home center and pick up some basic cedar dog-ear fence pickets. They are cedar and usually less than $3. They come in 6-foot lengths, which is great for a bed. It’s the cornerstone of this easy DIY garden bed and the piece that is often the most expensive in those kits.

So why cedar? For decades, vegetable gardeners have avoided pressure-treated wood products when building their beds, thanks to a 1991 paper from Cornell (the agricultural experts!). It brought to light the use of arsenic in the pressure-treating process. By the early 2000s, the manufacturing process changed and arsenic is no longer used. So is it safe to use? The risk is significantly diminished since then, but cedar is a fantastic, natural alternative. Cedar is rot-resistant and keeps bugs away.

Personally, try to avoid using any kind of pressure-treated wood in a vegetable garden. If it’s for flowers only, then I do recommend opting for pressure treated boards.

Garden stakes

In my previous post, I recommend some garden stakes like these 1×2 stakes. I also like these 2×2 stakes, which I used because my garden is on a hill and the soil is sand. I didn’t want them to move at all!

Garden stakes like these are great because they come in multi-packs. The length you need will be dependent on how tall you want your beds. Technically speaking, you don’t need to make them very tall, but, the beauty of a custom build is a custom design. I believe, for the most part, the garden stakes commonly available are untreated. If you can get your hands on cedar stakes, awesome. It’s possible you might have to replace the stakes at some point if you purchase the untreated stakes, but certainly not by the next year.

Fasteners

First of all, what are fasteners? It’s an all-encompassing word for things that fasten to or fasten things together – aka nails and screws.

As you will see in the next section, the type of fasteners you buy will depend on the type of tools you have access to. One thing that you do need, regardless of tool, is galvanized fasteners. These are designed to be used outside and in all weather. Screws are not the most ideal for this type of board, as it is quite thin and brittle, but it will work if you do nbot have access to a nailgun.

Below I have a couple of examples of ways to build your beds; regardless of your final design, the basic concept remains the same.

Galvenized brad nails
Exterior screws

Before You Start:

Safety First

As always, take appropriate safety precautions. Gloves, glasses, and ear protection (with power tools) is a must. Take the time to scope out where you want your bed to live.

Recommendations

  • It’s very likely that the spot is not 100% flat so using a level is key to really making the beds look nice.
  • Having a garden shovel or trowel is a great tool to have on hand to help find level.
  • A mallet or heavy hammer will help make driving the stakes into the ground go by much faster.
  • If you do not have a saw at home, most home centers and lumber yards will gladly make cuts for you for free.
  • Measuring tape – you can attempt to eyeball it, but you might end up re-doing a lot of your work. Trust me, I know.
  • A second pair of hands! Many hands make light work and if you can find a friend to help it will make finding level a lot easier. BUT it’s absolutely possible to do this on your own.
  • Don’t be intimidated! This is an easy DIY garden bed and once you get the first board set up, you will fly through it. Take your time and if you mess up, then your garden will look like mine! A little wonky but totally authentic and made from my two hands.

Choose Your Adventure

If you don’t have a lot of tools:

Supplies:

  • Galvanized screws
  • Garden stakes
  • Fence pickets
  • Screwdriver or drill
  • Hammer or mallet
  • Level (optional)
  • Speed square (optional)
  • Saw (optional) – any kind will do if you have it

Step 1

Start by hammering in the first stake for one of the front corners of your bed. Take it slowly and keep checking that the stake is going in straight, or plumb. To do this, use your level by lining it up vertically alongside at least 2 sides of your stake. Hammer it in approximately as far down as the height of your bed.

Measuring the depth of the stake
Measuring up the depth of the stake

Step 2

Measure out the location of your other front corner stake. Before hammering it all the way in, you will want to see if it is squarely in line with the first stake.

Begin by pushing the stake into the ground far enough that it can just stand on its own. Then carefully hold up your board against both stakes. You can use a speed square or even your level to check for square – do both sides of the right angle on your square touch the wood perfectly? Then you are square!

The bottom board right before use it to check for square corners
Getting ready to check for square

If not, you can make an easy adjustment by moving around the garden stake that is not completely hammered into the ground yet. Once you know you’ve got your stakes lined up, sink that sake into the ground exactly as you did in Step 1.

Step 3

Take your board and place it right up against your stakes. It’s time to check for level. Using your level, look to see if that little bubble is right in the center. Depending on the size of your level, you may have to move it around to be absolutely sure that the board is completely level across the top. The smaller the level, the more you will need to move it around.

Use a level to be sure that your boards are, in fact, level.
Leveling with the level

This is where the trowel comes in handy. If you notice a gap between the board and the ground at one end, you can use the trowel to move around the dirt. Either dig into the ground where the board already touches the ground and slightly bury this end or transfer some dirt to fill in the gap.

Step 4

If you’ve opted for a short, single board bed, this part will be easy. If you are going for several boards, you might need some extra hands.

In Step 1, you made an approximate guess as to how far in the stakes needed to go for the height of your bed. You may need to push one or both of the stakes just a little bit further into the ground in order to match the top of your level board. This might mean that one stake is 6″ above ground and the other is only 5.5″. Once the tops of your stakes are in line with the top edge of your top-most board it’s time to fasten.

Screwing the fasteners in place
The top of the stake is at or slightly below the top of the board

Step 5

When fastening, use 2 screws, one above the other. This will help ensure a good fastening but comes in handy in a minute.

Begin with your bottom-most board and check again for level. Slowly, screw in your first fastener; ideally the top one first. Try to avoid getting too close to the edge of your board in order to avoid splitting it entirely. Going slowly allows you some control but also helps to prevent massive splitting of the dry board. Typically, this is why brad nails are the better option, but not everyone has access to a nail gun.

Start with the top screw; if your board goes out of level at this stage, you have essentially created a hinge that allows you to move the board up and down with ease.

demonstrating where to apply the fist fastener in order to create a hinge
Apply the top fastener first to create the hinge.

Step 6

After fastening the first screw, go to your other stake – this is where you will use that hinge you created on the other stake to confirm your board is level. Once it is, you can fasten both screws on this stake and go back to the first stake to fasten the board completely. If you have additional boards to install, you can repeat this process. All subsequent boards should be level after ensuring the first one is, but it’s always a good idea to check. If one board was cut crookedly and then sits funny, it might make the board after it also not level.

Step 7

Repeat this process again from Step 2 all the way around your bed! If you have lengths of board that are longer than 2 feet, add at least 1 additional stake to the middle. This will strengthen the board(s) to hold the dirt and also will help prevent any warping. And just like that, you’ve build this easy DIY garden bed!

View from the inside
A view of the boards from the outside of the bed
Remember to screw these in, too!
View from the outside

If you’ve got access to a lot of tools:

Supplies:

  • Galvanized screws/brad nails
  • Garden stakes
  • Fence pickets
  • Drill or nail gun
  • Hammer or mallet
  • Level
  • Speed square
  • Circular saw

Step 1

Start by hammering in the first stake for one of the front corners of your bed. Take it slowly and keep checking that the stake is going in straight, or plumb. To do this, use your level by lining it up vertically alongside at least 2 sides of your stake. Hammer it in approximately as far down as the height of your bed.

Measuring the depth of the stake
Measuring up the depth of the stake

Step 2

Measure out the location of your other front corner stake. Before hammering it all the way in, you will want to see if it is squarely in line with the first stake.

Begin by pushing the stake into the ground far enough that it can just stand on its own. Then carefully hold up your board against both stakes. You can use a speed square or even your level to check for square – do both sides of the right angle on your square touch the wood perfectly? Then you are square!

The bottom board right before use it to check for square corners
Getting ready to check for square
Nice and snug

Step 3

Take your board and place it right up against your stakes. It’s time to check for level. Using your level, look to see if that little bubble is right in the center. Depending on the size of your level, you may have to move it around to be absolutely sure that the board is completely level across the top. The smaller the level, the more you will need to move it around.

Use a level to be sure that your boards are, in fact, level.
Leveling with the level

This is where the trowel comes in handy. If you notice a gap between the board and the ground at one end, you can use the trowel to move around the dirt. Either dig into the ground where the board already touches the ground and slightly bury this end or transfer some dirt to fill in the gap.

Step 4

If you’ve opted for a short, single board bed, this part will be easy. If you are going for several boards, you might need some extra hands.

In Step 1, you made an approximate guess as to how far in the stakes needed to go for the height of your bed. You may need to push one or both of the stakes just a little bit further into the ground in order to match the top of your level board. This might mean that one stake is 6″ above ground and the other is only 5.5″. Once the tops of your stakes are in line with the top edge of your top-most board it’s time to fasten.

Slightly above the top board
Screwing the fasteners in place
Slightly below the top board

Step 5

Regardless if you are using brad nails or screws, plan to use at least 2 per either end of each board, stacked vertically. This will help ensure a good fastening but comes in handy in a minute. With any project using thin, brittle board and screws, be sure to go slowly and don’t place your screw too close to the edge, in order to avoid as much splitting as possible.

Begin with your bottom-most board and check again for level. Start at the top of your board and place your first nail; if your board goes out of level at this stage, you have essentially created a hinge that allows you to move the board up and down with ease.

demonstrating where to apply the fist fastener in order to create a hinge
Top fastener first
Applying them vertically

Step 6

After applying your first fastener, go to your other stake – this is where you will use that hinge you created on the other stake to confirm your board is level. Once it is, you can apply additional nails to this stake and go back to the first stake to fasten the board completely. If you have additional boards to install, you can repeat this process. All subsequent boards should be level after ensuring the first one is, but it’s always a good idea to check. If one board was cut crookedly and then sits funny, it might make the board after it also not level.

Step 7

Repeat this process again from Step 2 all the way around your bed! If you have lengths of board that are longer than 2 feet, add at least 1 additional stake to the middle. This will strengthen the board(s) to hold the dirt and also will help prevent any warping. And just like that, you’ve built this easy DIY garden bed.

View from the inside
A view of the boards from the outside of the bed
Remember to screw these in, too!
View from the outside

If you’re feeling creative and are looking for inspo:

Read about my vegetable garden upgrade or follow me on Pinterest!

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Returning the Nutrients

Photo of a lavender plant with leaves around the base

Part II: Putting the Garden to Bed

There is no better garden than next year’s garden.

Unknown quote, but it’s my favorite saying

But First, a Snack

Before putting the garden to bed, it’s always a good idea to give the soil and any perennial plants a snack before bed. They might not “eat” during the winter, but they will be awfully hungry upon waking and it saves you time and effort when you do it now.

Photo of the garden bed and my rake

For the garden beds, I give everything a good rake and add some all-purpose fertilizer. The soil put in a lot of hard work this summer, giving everything it had to my plants, so I make sure to mix in some fertilizer and compost at this stage. This gives ample time for the fertilizer to absorb and compost to decompose. I’ll do this part again in the spring, too.

The Perfect Comforter

After putting down some fertilizer and compost (don’t forget the compost around the base of your perennial plants like the lavender and hydrangeas!), I get ready to put down a thick layer of leaves. We have a ridiculous number of trees on our property and they don’t all lose their leaves at the same time. This means I am moving leaves for the better part of a month. When I get tired of blowing the leaves and bagging I take the opportunity to create the most perfect comforter for my garden. I like to use put the bag attachment on my push-mower and chop up the leaves before dumping them on the beds – but you don’t have to do that if you can’t.

Why Leaves?

First of all, they are bountiful – at least in the part of the country where I live. I find there is no point in buying anything expensive or fancy when Mother Nature is providing me with the best all-natural and organic mulch.

Second, as these leaves decompose over time, they prevent weeds from sprouting up and unwanted seeds from landing on the soil to sprout down.

Third, like any store-bought mulch, they do a great job of maintaining soil moisture and temperature.

Fourth, the leaves ultimately breakdown and add to the nutrients in the soil as another form of compost.

And just like that, you’ve put the garden to bed for the winter. Remember to turn off and unhook any hoses you have out and tidy up any trash. I’ll see you in the spring when we help the garden to wake up!

Photo of a lavender plant with leaves around the base
Happy Lavender
A photo of the lemon verbena plant with tubing around it before covering the plant
Happy Lemon Verbena
Photo of leaves in the garden beds
A warm and happy bed
Photo of a garden bed with leaves as a preparation for winter.
So many leaves put to good use

<<Part I: Planting the Garlic

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Say Goodnight and Sleep Tight

garlic and cloves on white surface

Part I: Garlic Planting

It’s November and getting quite cold in upstate New York, so it’s time to put the garden to bed. It was plentiful this past summer and the best gift I can give it is to give it a good rest and a treat.

But First, the Garlic

I’m still learning to be a better gardener every year. I make sure to jot down my notes in my garden notebook so I can implement changes in next year’s garden. Some veggies always do well and others, never. Some, like carrots, I am convinced can do well, I just haven’t found the right method or technique. Garlic is one of those plants for me.

Fresh garlic scapes from the summer

I am obsessed with garlic. I put it in everything, I make garlic confit and garlic olive oil. Next to salt and pepper, garlic is a guarantee in every dish I make. It was a logical next step when it came to expanding my garden. The summer of 2022 was my third season growing garlic. To date, the only thing I have successfully harvested and used has been the scapes. But I know I can figure this one out. I feel confident that this year would have been a success, if it were not for the extreme heat and drought of July and the fact that we were away on vacation during one of the hottest weeks, thus cooking my garlic to a crisp.

How to Plant Garlic

Garlic is a bulb, obviously, and like any flower bulb, they are planted in the fall. This is because bulbs need vernalization in order to root properly and develop bulbs come spring. Basically they need the cool temps to start growing roots before going dormant in the winter. This gives them the best chance to grow and be ready in late summer. Garlic takes a long time to grow.

Map of USA Hardiness Zones.

I live in Zone 5b, but you should take a look at your zone and decide the best time to plant. According to the USDA Hardiness Zone map, I should be planting garlic around mid- to late-October. However, I’ve noticed in the last couple of years I’ve had to push that back into November because of warm falls. I don’t want my garlic to prematurely sprout and, ultimately, rot or not develop properly. It’s become harder to guess when the ground will freeze, but my goal is to get the garlic in the ground 4-6 weeks before then. Typically this means the daytime temperatures are now in the 40s or 50s and the nighttime temps get close to or just barely dip below freezing.

What Kind of Bulbs Should I Use?

There is no law against using garlic from the grocery store, but you will probably be disappointed. I did that my first time growing garlic and, while the garlic did sprout, I didn’t get much in the way of scapes and the bulbs were microscopic. These garlic bulbs tend to be of poorer quality for growing and may be designed to stay small or not grow much at all. Think about it – the last thing you want to buy in the grocery store is garlic with green shoots coming out.

garlic and cloves on white surface
Choosing the right garlic can sometimes come down to trial and error

I’ve taken a couple of approaches. In the fall of 2021, I planted some garlic that had been gifted to me from friends who grew their own garlic. This was the garlic I was most excited about but then died in the drought. I did get some fantastic garlic scapes, however, so it wasn’t a bust.

This year I am trying out two types of garlic bulbs: one from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds collection (German Extra-Hardy) and one from my local farm store, which specifically sells seed garlic. Both types are hardneck varieties.

When planting garlic, or anything in my garden for that matter, I don’t follow the rules of keeping everything far apart. Sometimes it works (like with potatoes or carrots) and sometimes it doesn’t (like zucchini). I absolutely take the approach of “well plants in nature don’t follow this rule and they turn out alright.”

Photo of a garden bed with leaves as a preparation for winter.

In this case I buried the garlic bulbs, points up, about 2 inches into the ground and a few inches apart, mostly in rows. This bed is entirely dedicated to the garlic, so I didn’t feel that organizing them was necessary. What’s awesome about garlic is that you don’t need a bed or formal garden to grow it – just a big pot, soil, and sun. You will want well draining soil to keep the bulbs from rotting. My natural soil in the ground is sand, but over the years I have added some garden soil and compost, so it’s a good mix.

Missed the timing for this year?

Don’t sweat it! Get ahold of some garlic bulbs ASAP and get a big pot. You can plant some garlic in the pot and keep it in the house or in your garage for a couple of weeks so it can get established, then put it outside to freeze.

Part II: Returning the Nutrients >>

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A Vegetable Garden Upgrade: How I Took My Garden to the Next Level

A vegetable garden upgrade

If you saw my post from 2021, you will remember my affordable and DIY alternative to those fancy cedar garden beds. I was so happy with my previous creation, that I decided to do an entire vegetable garden upgrade and add some more beds and put up a more permanent fence.

The TL;DR:

Vegetable Garden Upgrade Back to Basics

I’ll be honest, when I went back to my original beds from last year, I have no idea why I measured the depth of each bed less than 36″. To make things easier, I decided to go with 36″ because it was half a full board. Building more beds behind my original beds was super simple and only took 3 cedar boards per bed. I also decided to shore things up a bit more and add 24″ stakes as the main supports and one in the middle of the front boards to prevent warping.

The first iteration of my garden, two simple cedar beds.
My 2021 Garden

No More Free Lunch

I love where we live, especially the wildlife that pass through our property. I don’t love how they often think of my property as an all-you-can-eat buffet. Our biggest offenders are deer, rabbits, and gophers. Now that I think I have the final footprint of my vegetable garden mapped out, I am ready for a more permanent fence.

I put together a total of 8 garden beds, with some room for 2 more beds at the back for another year (I just ran out of time ahead of the growing season!). To solve for the gopher problem, I committed to digging a 24″ trench around the entire garden area. Why 2 feet? From what I’ve read online, 18″-36″ is the key depth to keep those pesky critters from digging into the garden.

A photo of a 4-foot long tree root that was cut from the ground to make the trench around the garden for the fence. All part of the vegetable garden upgrade
The first giant tree root

I purchased this galvenized fencing to put in the trench. I went with a 4-foot tall fence so that some stuck up above ground to dissuade any gophers that are inclined to climb and stop bunnies from nibbling their way in. This was a critical step in my vegetable garden upgrade. There is nothing worse than watching , waiting, and tending to the garden only to have it completely sabotaged by some furry friends who don’t even have the decency to finish eating that squash.

Let me tell you, getting this fence into the ground? This was the hardest part. And my soil is sand. But when I get an idea in my head, I go all out. I will NOT lose this game to some furry residents. I also had to contend with tree roots. Some of these roots were easy to remove with hand clippers, others required the Sawzall. But boy, oh boy, I was getting a work out removing some of the heftier roots by the biggest stump. It was completely unavoidable. This is the sunniest spot on the property where I can put a garden and I was all in on this vegetable garden upgrade.

The one that almost defeated me

The Deer Fence

From there, keeping the deer out was relatively simple! These green t-posts were perfect for the job. Because this fence is for keeping visitors out, I installed each post with the studs pointing out. Each post is also 2-feet below ground, leaving me with a 4-foot high fence. A simple deer barrier was hung on the posts. The barrier came as an 8-foot wide roll, so I just doubled up the fencing as I went around the garden.

The end-of-season result. Well worth the effort!

The Final Steps in the Vegetable Garden Upgrade

To get in and out of the garden with ease, I made a simple door by attaching the end of the barrier to a garden stake. This attached to the middle post with clips. You could get an extra t-post and make an actual doorway, but I’m not fussy and the deer don’t have that kind of dexterity!

Voila! My vegetable garden upgrade is complete. Just in time to plant the carrots, too.

What if I don’t have all of these power tools?

Come back next week!

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Mid-Summer Gardening: A Check In

mid-summer gardening

As promised, I am updating you all on the traveling home adventure of restoring my mother-in-law’s flower garden. I’ll be honest, I was skeptical that it would be successful. Lavender is very fussy and it was absurdly hot the day I did my heavy pruning. Both activities cause a LOT of stress on plants and they might just give up the ghost right then and there. If you haven’t seen the state of the garden before I got started, check out my first post here. Mid-summer gardening can be full of weed-pulling, so I braced myself for a boring visit.

garden rehab - wrong shoes
Once again, I forgot my sneakers.

At First Glance

I was so nervous when I pulled in. My spouse had been by the house a week or two earlier to mow and he said things “didn’t look dead” but that wasn’t a very helpful description.

The Bloody Cranes-bill (a type of geranium) was in full bloom and had already spread quite a lot since I was last in the garden. I hate to pull healthy plants, but I absolutely needed to in this case. I did grab some for myself to transport back home. You can see the before and after below of how much the geraniums had grown and spread. I took the right-hand photo from behind the retaining wall you see in the left-hand photo.

garden rehab - overgrown
Weeds ‘n’ things
Bloody Cranes-bill in Bloom
Bloody Cranes-bill in Bloom

I was pleasantly surprised by the progress of the lavender. So much so, I did a little dance and cheer! Not only had they not died, I saw evidence of new growth and flowers starting to grow up from the shrub.

As I left the shrub last time with some baby growth
The blue blobs in the photo are flowers!!

The shrubs were still wonky-shaped from years of competing for sunlight. My goal is to give them another haircut after all the new growth has been established and eventually remove all of the crooked part s of the plant. Eventually, these beauties will be back to fighting shape

Where I left Things

I didn’t have as much time to work in the garden this time around. I went through and did a quick weeding and clean-up. I snagged some peonies or my garden as well. I’m going to take a look in again sometime in early fall and get things ready for the winter.

It’s looking well, all things considered.

To be continued…

As I mentioned, I plan to give it another clean up before winter. My hope is that it will be ready to be put to bed with minimal effort, since I can’t be sure when I will be back in later fall. Stay tuned!

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Garden Rehab

crop farmer carrying seedling tray in field

Welcome to my traveling home adventure! Last weekend was my mother-in-law’s birthday. We spent the weekend with her in Vermont and it was incredibly hot – and it was only May! She’s been in down-sizing mode, so I knew I had to be practical with her gift this year. I decided to tackle the very over-grown garden at her rental property. This is definitely going to be a long term garden rehab project. I was also completely unprepared to garden this particular weekend; I thought of the idea to do this on the drive up.

garden rehab - wrong shoes
Sandals were all I had – whoops!

How it started

The people who used to live in this house loved their outdoor plants. I think when the woman was younger and more mobile, this garden bed area was probably really amazing. Everyone I’ve ever heard speak of this lady (who is still with us, just in an apartment these days!) always talks about her garden.

When I saw the garden for the first time last summer, it was already over-grown so I’ve probably been thinking about how to go about it since 2021.

garden rehab - overgrown
Weeds ‘n’ things
Lavender overgrowth

As you can see, the lavender (right photo, lower right corner) was taking over an enormous portion of the garden. Last year I took a few plants home and I harvested an insane amount of flowers. While completely unruly last year, the plants did look generally healthy, at least on the outside. This year, however, I could see that they were not looking as great. I expect it was the combination of lack of regular care and that the plants had finally had enough trying to fight for light.

Some new growth peaking up
Still in rough shape

The weeds weren’t too bad, actually. A few of the spreading plants, like this Lamb’s Ear, were growing into the garden path. I got to the house at 9:00 am in the hopes of not sweating to death, but I was filthy and soaked by the time lunch rolled around.

How it’s going

This isn’t really the time to prune lavender plants, but I wasn’t sure if I would be around at the right time to wait. Plus, the plants were on their way out if I didn’t try to do something now. There was definitely new growth coming up on the old wood, so that was promising. Lavender, like with other old-wood growth plants (think: hydrangea, lilacs, and forsythia), needs those dead-looking branches to develop new shoots. Pruning is very tricky and aggressive pruning to rejuvenate has a high failure rate with lavender. If this plan doesn’t pan out, I am fully prepared to start all over again and buy my mother-in-law some new lavender plants from the garden center.

Here’s hoping that sunlight on the lower branches help fill them out a bit.

I pulled up nearly every bush, closely inspected them for truly dead branches, pruned them, and re-planted them with plenty of air and light in between. After closer inspection, I think this mass of lavender started out as only 3 or 4 small bushes.

To be continued…

I kept a few plants for myself to add to my new terraced garden and left this garden covered in dirt, dripping sweat, and happy with my progress. It took a grand total of 4 hours just to complete the middle section of this relatively small garden. I’ll be back in 2 weeks to see if anything survived and to work on it some more – this time with my proper tools and clothes. Fingers crossed!

Part 2: Mid-Summer Gardening

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The Main Bathroom Remodel – Part 2

main bath remodel

Who Doesn’t Love Avocado?

If you recall, a couple of weeks ago I shared the story of our avocado green bathroom remodel and the demolition process. Let’s get back to where we were!

As a delightful reminder, the before photos:

Image gallery image
Tiles…
Image gallery image
Tiles…
Image gallery image
And More Tiles

The new plan

main bath remodel
New insulation
main bath remodel
keeping things quiet
main bath remodel
and warm!

Since our options for real change were limited to the footprint and layout of the bathroom, I had to come up with a vision for a modern galley bathroom. I knew that I also had to think of some solutions for storage, since we were removing the closet by the entryway. We also kept a short column of drawers by the toilet and we liked the storage it provided, but that had to go. Pricing out a mini counter turned out to be much more than anticipated, so we went with an over-the-toilet hanging cabinet that more than gets the job done.

main bath remodel
New storage by the toilet

After the new insulation and dry wall were installed, I had to make a quick decision on paint colors. I swear by my technique with paint chips: hand them up in different parts of the room and visit the spot throughout the day and with different lights on to make sure that the colors are right. I definitely nailed the neutral color I wanted, but I really, really struggled with the green. In the end, I still am not 100% happy, but it will do. And who knows, maybe someday I will fine the color I had in my head.

Hooray for Jack and Jill

Priority number one was getting a counter top that have us two sinks. As I mentioned before, it was getting to be a challenge to share the space with two other people. I also hated the top/over mount sink from before and, fortunately, Central Heating also sold the single piece countertops by Bertch in the exact same style as the downstairs. While I was looking to tie the two bathrooms together, I didn’t want an exact replica, so we went with the same finish (matte) but a different pattern (Vanilla Bean).

We like to shop and support local businesses and our carpenter gave us the name of a new place that we didn’t know of when we remodeled the downstairs bathroom. In fact, it was a new place to him, too and he was impressed when he went there once day to pick up a fixture for another client of his.

We decided to go for a visit to check out their showroom and (hopefully) get a little inspiration. After meeting with the consultant and walking around, I knew that we’d be working with Central Plumbing and Heating out in Glenville, NY. The name does not do it justice – it’s not only a place to buy boilers and fixtures – it was a full design company! In an effort to keep some continuity between the two bathrooms, this business also carried some of the same brands as the other company and we were sold.

main bath remodel
The New Countertop and Vanity

Linen storage

I gambled on a linen cabinet with drawers and I won big. It turned out to be even better than expected. It even provided more storage than the sizeable closet that we used to have. Plus, with the drawers underneath, I now had my own drawer storage, which I previously did not have in the old vanity. I was using plastic drawers from the early days of our marriage back in the stone age. The mini drawer on top was absolutely perfect as a make-up drawer, too!

The tub

The shower/tub was something we did end up buying from a big box store (Home Depot). It was a bit surprising how much more expensive these tubs are at local companies, even when they are nearly the exact same product. Normally we don’t have a problem paying a little more for something unique, but in the case of a plain white tub that was going to be hidden behind a curtain, we just couldn’t justify the expense. And since we bought our downstairs shower from Home Depot, too, we were able to find a matching shower/tub combo for the upstairs – a Delta Classic 400 style.

main bath remodel
The New Tub going in!

The floor

We had some tiles leftover from the the downstairs job and, again, in an effort to tie the two rooms together we decided to buy some more. These also came from a great place that is a smaller chain – Pro Source. We’ve purchased pretty much every new floor from this place.

The final result

I was literally blown away by the final result. I was going for a modern and clean bathroom and I got a beautiful hotel spa as well! We saved up for this room for an incredibly long time and we made an effort to do as much as we could on our own to save money there, too. But we also recognize that an updated main bath is a huge investment that can only increase the value of our home. While this house is intended to be our forever home, you never know what life will throw at you – so you might as well enjoy every part of your home, too!

main bath remodel
main bath remodel

<<The Main Bathroom Remodel: Part I

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The Main Bath Remodel – Part 1

Main Bath Remodel

Who Doesn’t Love Avocado?

I do, but this was a bit much. Welcome to my Avocado Bathroom. Sister to the Harvest Gold bathroom. This main bath remodel wasn’t our physically largest project, but was the most anticipated and *cringe* most expensive one to date. There is a reason why they say bathrooms and kitchens sell houses – and our main bathroom felt like a spa when we were done!

This glorious almost original bathroom featured floor, wall, and ceiling tiles. They were identical to the 4″ tiles downstairs…but in more abundance. We were also aware of the fact that the ceiling was being pulled away from the joists in the attic. We made this fun discovery while up int he attic one day. The weight of those tiles over the course of 40+ years was literally going to collapse into the bathroom. This job was not only a “want to do” it was a “must do” job.

main bath remodel
Tiles…
main bath remodel
Tiles…
main bath remodel
And More Tiles

The Plan for our Main Bath Remodel

We lived with this galley-style bathroom for about 5 years before we finally could make changes. It’s our largest bathroom and the most used, as it’s on the main living floor. Changing the footprint wasn’t really an option, since our bedroom was on one side and the kitchen on the other. The challenge was how to make this long and narrow space into a more efficient and roomy space. There were some things on the list to go right from the get go:

The single sink situation

Woof, this was a challenge to live with, especially after our daughter became big enough to stand at and use the sink. My husband didn’t think a Jack and Jill sink was particularly necessary (but he has since re-canted his statement!). I appreciated the long counter space to the right of the sink, but the rest of the counter didn’t make much sense. There were no drawers under the right side (possibly because of the baseboard heater likely would have overlapped) and the mirror was clearly not original to the bathroom, because it didn’t take up the whole space. You could also see where the original mirror was installed.

Old Counter
The Old Countertop

The linen closet

While the closet storage was useful, the location of said closet was terrible. It made the entryway into the bathroom much narrower. The door to the closet and the door to the bathroom constantly would tangle. If someone was in the closet it was inevitable that someone entering the bathroom would bang that door into the closet door. We’ve literally bounced off of each other trying to pass by each other. The storage options in this bathroom were just impractical.

The Linen Closet
The Linen Closet

The tub

I did like the size of this shower-tub. The walls were a bit curved to give the illusion of space. But that’s all that was going for this shower-tub. There was barely any shelving or storage to hold soaps, shampoos, etc. I couldn’t even hang an under shower caddy because of how the tub came out from the wall. A caddy just wouldn’t stay hanging. Plus it was avocado and very much so an original to the house. Amazingly, the toilet had been updated right before we moved in, so that was not avocado.

Green Tub
The Green Tub

The floor

In addition to feeling “squishy” in parts, the itty bitty mosaic tiles were starting to pop up off the floor. We had to glue quite a few down over the first 5 years int he house. Honestly, we were terrified of what we would find under the tile.

It was oh so satisfying to bring up when it was cooperating

Demo

As per usual, we took care of the demolition ourselves. While this particular home reno job needed the skilled hands of a professional, we aimed to save money where we could. That meant doing demolition and painting on our own. The wall tiles were a bear to bring down. I had to channel all of my stress into swinging my hammer to break into the wall. The mosaic tiles came up incredibly easy in some places and were also a challenge in other areas. The sub-floor was (miraculously) not in terrible shape. We never did figure out why the floor was squishy, but it probably had something to do with the tile.

Image gallery image
Image gallery image
Image gallery image

The ceiling tile. Oh that ceiling tile. We made sure to put on hard hats for this part. As soon as my husband took down the single over-head light fixture, the ceiling visibly sagged. He swung the hammer twice and the whole thing came down like a cartoon. The tub also came into the house during the build phase, so the only way to get it out was with our trusty reciprocating saw in pieces. The whole demolition took about 3 days to take down and clean up.

Just a few more taps and it was down

The Main Bathroom Remodel: Part II>>

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It’s the Harvest Gold for Me

We were very lucky to find a house with 2 full baths in our price range back in 2015. That being said, we knew that both bathrooms would need to be gutted. Like every mid-century modern home, ours came with colorful bathrooms. At least the toilets weren’t colored. That saved some money! Let’s get started with this bathroom remodel.

Let’s Get Started

We decided to start with the downstairs bathroom for a couple of reasons. First, it’s smaller, so it would be a faster and less expensive job (which, yes, that was accurate – at least the price tag). Secondly, we knew that when we were ready to do the main bathroom, we’d be forced to use the one downstairs for as long as the upstairs job took. So we might as well make it as comfortable an inconvenience as possible!

Just like with all of our home improvement projects, we did the demo ourselves. We may have budgeted for 1 big house project per year, but it doesn’t mean we don’t try to save were we can. A good carpenter or contractor can be expensive, and if we can avoid having them do the jobs we are fully capable of doing, we take advantage of that.

As if it were a future prediction, this was an adventure in bringing a tiled wall down. This room, however, had a drop ceiling, so we didn’t have to contend with tiles on the ceiling (like upstairs!). This bizarre drop ceiling (not normal tiles, but definitely rigged up by the owner) also made the ceiling very low. The bathroom was also dark and the very dark hallway just outside of the bathroom had an “office” drop ceiling.

Paint choices
Goodbye drop ceiling. Hello new framing!

Design Decisions

This was our first remodel that would set the color scheme for the whole downstairs. While we did the big utility room ourselves, we painted it white and like to consider it our “basement”; thus making it a bit separate in my mind, to the rest of the downstairs. Let’s go gray!

I don’t mind painting, but I hate painting around things, so once the drywall was up, I did my painting. Behr came in clutch again with seagull gray and pencil sketch. I did have a spell of bad luck when I had to buy more seagull and the paint mixing person actually messed up the order – all of a sudden I had painted with a different shade of gray. I thought the painting would never end.

We also made a point to replace all the pipes that we could and frame it out correctly.

We also opted for a standing shower instead of the shower/tub combo. This allowed us to create some shelving or storage in this room.

Since it was a tight squeeze, we also opted for a pocket door. It’s about as small as you can get, but it made such a huge difference in that room. It was probably my favorite feature.

Surprise!

That’s the last thing you want when it comes to remodeling a home. But we’ve had one with every single project. After a very successful and basically stress-free bathroom remodel, we discovered some pretty serious mold when we took down the drywall in the utility closet. The drywall came down when work on the shower connections took place.We knew there had been some kind of flooding from a burst pipe a long time ago, and we’ve seen some evidence when we took down the drywall in the laundry room and a little bit of the bathroom. But this was something else.

We ended up taking down drywall all down the hall and then into the den. The den was NOT our planned next project. But we discovered mold four feet up the wall. We properly treated the wall sections and had them taken down.

The back corner of the bathroom. From ugly yellow shower tub to elegant shelves.
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Strip that down for me

Stairs Update

I hate the stairs in my house. Like nearly every bit of wood trim in the house, they were stained a very dark, very dated brown. It’s hard enough to bring natural light into our home, living at the bottom of a hill in the woods. When we first moved in, I attacked nearly every bit of dark brown trim with off white paint (Swiss coffee). As we’ve remodeled, all of the new trim starts out as this color. Doors are painted (campfire ash) before they are even hung. But now I am ready for a DIY stair remodel.

The way before

Initial improvements made – you can see in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs the full extent of the brown stain.

I wasted no time painting the side trim of the stairs, but everything looked dark and dingy. While the sellers were aiming to do some quick and cheap improvements, most of them were superficial and just looked awful. I figured a little paint certainly wouldn’t make it look worse.

For some strange reason, the upper half of the stairs had been poly’ed. I have no idea if that was new or old, but in addition to being ridiculously unsafe (duh) it made the lower stairs look particularly like garbage.

The semi improvement

Painting the risers and the spindles made a dramatic improvement

Painting the risers and the handrail spindles certainly improved matters. Whenever anyone is looking for a nice, dramatic improvement, painting the risers and spindles always looks great. This served us well for 6 years.

My current mess

Downstairs on the left, upstairs on the right

The cheap carpet that was put down right before we moved in. In the past 6 years it has quickly become matted, stained, and no longer truly cleanable. I am counting down the days to a new floor. Before we did that, I decided it was time to attack the treads on the stairs. If I couldn’t rip them out and replace them, I was going to do my best to make them look completely different.

The lower stairs were fairly easily stripped. I bought this varnish remover from Home Depot. This stuff is no joke, so be sure to wear gloves, glasses, and ventilate your space. It probably helped that there was no finish on top of the stain. The second set of stairs proved to be much more difficult and it is an on-going saga. I was able to successfully remove the poly, but not much of the stain. That will be the next “step” (haha) in the project. So stay tuned!