Outdoor Updates & The Completed Mantle

We were lucky when we bought our house that the previous owners had done a lot of landscaping and maintained the curb appeal of the home. We have good bones to work with. Over the past two years, we've been much more consumed with projects on the interior of the house than the outside.

In the fall, we had a new driveway put in. It was a big ordeal and quite expensive, but well worth it. We also transplanted some irises from my sister's house last year that have spread and bloomed beautifully. We inherited a few rose bushes that are very hardy and those are blooming now as well.

Over the past month or so, Bill has been working on improving the front yard. None of the changes were expensive, but they each had an impact. First, he painted the railings on the front stoop. The railings were originally green, but we decided to freshen them up with crisp white paint.

It's a little hard to see because of the reflection of the flag in the door, but I made a wreath for our front door similar to the one I made for my Grandma's birthday. I included our house numbers on ours for a little added functionality.

Bill is not a big fan of painting, but while he had all of the painting supplies out he decided to paint the fence that faces the road as well. Its a wooden picket fence that hadn't been finished, at least not well. This obviously took longer than the railings, but it was also worth it. You can see it peeking through on the left side of the house in this picture:

Last week, I shared how Bill and I took this show our tools on the road to redo my sister's mantle. We left it like this:

Then my sister primed and painted it, so now it looks like this:

I think it looks great! She's still on the hunt for a large mirror to go between the sconces, but it looks fabulous right now. The best part is that she loves it and it checked something off of her busy pre-wedding to-do list. Glad we could help!

Lastly, Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all the men and women who serve this country everyday to protect our freedom. After spending three days touring Washington, DC and witnessing an amazing full military ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I am especially appreciative for all of the sacrifices that have been made so that we can live the lives that we do.

Thanks for reading,
Kathleen