Featuring...The Front Garden

How long has it been?  Too long. 

I got a job!  A wonderful, flexible, perfect part-time job.  I love it.  It's hourly.  I work from home, I can volunteer at the school occasionally and I pick the kids up every single day.  Heaven!

But it's not very conducive to blogging.  Sorry, dad.

So now that I've explained where I've been...how about I show one of the (few) projects we've done lately?!?

Like I said, it's been too long.  Way too long.  Last summer, we demolished and rebuilt our porch.  Then we got as far as painting it...and stopped.  Which was fine - it was September.  The garden can wait. 

Painted...and done.

Here's October.  Which is exactly how it looked the following April.  A bunch of dirt and some leaves.

Halloween!

Until last weekend, when the kids went to Grandma's house for a Victoria Day mega-sleepover!!!

I decided to keep it simple.  No flowers.  Low maintenance.  Modern-ish.

Hakonechloa macra "All Gold"

In the front,  I chose a shade tolerant yellow ornamental grass.  Yellow, because it POPS in front of the green porch.  Shade tolerant, because the front garden gets minimal direct sunlight. 

It faces east, so it gets morning sun...which the car mostly blocks since it's against our parking pad.  I learned long ago, don't fight the sunlight your garden gets - work with it.  So with any luck, this variety of Japanese forest grass should be happy here. 

And if it's happy, I sure will be too.

Buxus "Green Gem"

Behind that, I chose a row of boxwood bushes.  This variety, "Green Gem", is different because it tolerates full sun/full shade.  I've planted other bushes here over the last decade.  Some have worked (hydrangea, variegated dogwood - kind of) and some have not (spirea, burning bush - never turned red in fall, and countless full-sun/part-shade perennials).  Sunlight has been the problem.  So finding a variety that can tolerate a full range of light gives me hope these will survive, too. 

I stressed and slept on and changed my mind and revisited and reconfirmed my simple plan for two rows of bushes and grasses.  A few times.  Multiple times.  Then one more time.  But when the boys were gone and we had a few open hours, Steve decided to pull the trigger. 

Newly Planted

We visited our local nursery and almost fainted at the prices.  So right then and there, in the 'ornamental grasses' section, we googled a nursery outside the city and took a little trip.  Best decision ever. 

Islington Nurseries had a variety of boxwoods in a smaller size (which were 20% off at the register - surprise!) and multiple containers of the grass at a better price than downtown. 

Sold!

Loooove!

Combined with the pop of color at the door in the background, I just love pulling up to our house.  The front garden is complete.  Finally!!!!

Perfect Porch Paint

We made it back home.  The kids are back in school.  I'm back on a schedule.  Perfection.

Kinda how I like my porch.  The porch!  It's been a month!

Behold, the perfectly painted porch.

But, wait!  Last time we spoke, I was figuring out paint.  From afar.  With a neighbor who is attached.  I had a game plan going in...to paint it exactly like it was. 

See, we painted our old porch a few times after first moving in.  The first time, was to neutralize the dark brown floor that showed every single speck of dirt the moment after you finished sweeping.  The second time was to fix that too-light-shade-of-grey on the floor, which competed with the white divider and columns.  The times after that were to freshen up the peeling, scarred, chipped spots after renovating. 

We made the mistakes and finally found the colors we liked.  I crossed my fingers and hoped our neighbor would, too.  And he did.  Mostly...  But we get along well, so it all worked out. 

Color Scheme

We chose the same white as the interior of our house.  Landed on a green that matched our existing brick.  And then found a grey we could both live with.  He wanted darker, I wanted lighter.  Steve couldn't care less. 

Then this happened. 

EEEK!  In the course of two days, the house and porch were complete.  Our neighbor even decided to paint his house the same color as ours. 

But, of course, we all agree to disagree.  That's why we get along as neighbors.  So, while our sides aren't exactly alike, they have the same structure. 

Not that this is a complete before and after.  We're not done painting.  No, sir.  Remember how I mentioned we had to re-paint the floor before?  Well, learning from mistakes is hard when you're out of town and the old floor paint can is somewhere in your basement. 

Old Floor

New Floor

It's just...too...light blue?  Even for an iPhone???

(Don't mind the chips in the threshold.  The silicone holding the old floor boards in place was reeeeeally strong.  Our doormat hides them.)

Bench (and bikes, etc)

And...since we decided to paint the bench the same color as the floor, so the porch wouldn't look and feel super small on the inside, it kills me EVEN MORE to see the wrong color. 

So, I did what any normal neighbor would do.  I found the next darker chip on the strip (that actually matches the old floor paint that I finally FOUND), and told my neighbor he was right the first time.  ;)

And, besides.  It's paint.  Just.  Paint.

I even offered to redo both sides myself, if our contractor can't work a deal with the painter.  I love to paint.  And with the kids in school, what else do I have to do these days?!?!?  Ha.

Wrong paint aside, I'm finally cleaning and pretty-ing.  We re-installed the light, put up a mailbox and numbers (sorry internet, but they do look beautiful) and I even went out on a limb and bought a planter.  Yes, the wrapping is still on because I don't know if it's staying....

Once the painting is finished, I'll update with more details.  But for now, she's lookin' pretty perfect from the street.

Before

After

I guess she's more blue-green now, than before.  But that's ok.  Still pretty perfect.

That front garden, on the other hand, not perfect at all.....!!!!

Progress on the Porch

Still away with the kids.  While they still work away on the porch.  And I'm loving the progress in all the pictures being sent to me!!

Before

When I Left

After

Come on!!!  Can you believe it?  Could I be more in love?  Actually, I could. 

But first let me tell you why I'm in love in the first place.  We live in the city.  The city gives us big garbage bins to use (which we must, or they don't collect).  But they are so big on lots that are so small.  They turn into eyesores against the beautiful curb appeal of the neighborhood. 

Unless you have a contractor who likes to think inside a box. 

Side - Before

Side - After

Or a bench.

Genius

You can sit on it - it's normal bench height.  Or you can open it and throw your trash away without your feet hitting the pavement.  It's dreamy.  And it will be amazing in winter.  Yes, I'm excited to throw my trash away in the middle of winter. 

This porch would do that to you, too.

Notice the slats at the back, above the bench.  They echo the fence.  It's the details.

Side & Front

And although they don't match, they work together.  Form and function in both.

Close Up

I'm loving the details.  It helps to have a carpenter who is so good at what he does.

And by good, I mean great.

Our Side

Actually, fabulous. 

Every project has it's story.  And this one is the divider.  We used to have a wobbly, jerry-rigged, 100-coats-of-paint divider.  It was hideous.  Probably slapped up 4 decades ago, and only meant to last until the next neighbor moved in. 

When we started the project, the most discussion was had over the divider.   Wood, glass, slopes, triangles, planters, shorter, taller, wider, you name it.  Then, when the porch was ripped down and the new base was up, our neighbor preferred a divider-less look.  Which was just too hard for a family with three young kids who have a cluttered porch fulls of bikes and boys who wouldn't understand that the neighbor's porch isn't our porch, too.  So, after one last long discussion, we landed on slats.  To compliment the back, above the bench.  But privacy?  Height?  Depth? 

Our carpenter asked if we trust him.  We said yes.  We were both also out of town.

His Side

The open slats are opposite on each side.  It is the same height as it was before.  There is no jerry-rigged support from above anymore.  He dug down to install support from below.  And he jogged the depth back, so the divider starts just a few inches behind the first step. 

Open, yet private, and oh so pretty.  It's true love. 

Who would have thought we could go from this...

to this.

And we're not even done.  The shingles were just applied and the eaves just installed.  Soon it's paint and finishing up the electrical.

But for now, the husband enjoys a pretty view from the garbage bins. 

Which will probably look even better in the middle of winter.

Can't Stop Won't Stop

That's the thing about renovating.  It's like getting a tattoo.  Finish one.  Think about another.  Suddenly, it's on your skin.  (Be it ink or demo dust)

For us, it was a case of necessity.  Our porch was falling down.  Not like tomorrow, but pretty soon after that. 

Who Lives Here!?!

Oh yeah.  Falling down for sure.  Even photobomber George thinks it's pretty bad.

We are lucky, as semi-detached homeowners, to not only get along with our shared neighbor, but to take on exterior home improvement projects together.  We replaced our (rare in the Annex) parking pads together in 2006.  And at that time, we decided to build a single staircase with railings, too.  Best decision ever. 

But two major renovations for us, one rotting railing for him and a sagging century-old porch structure that supported a basement dig later...? 

Thank goodness we knew a certain trusted contractor who could help us out. 

So, after I left for summer vacation with our kids, they got to work.

Before

After

Oh. My. God.  We gutted two entire floors of our house and found fewer problems than the front 160 square feet that we call a porch.  Rodent -squirrel- carcasses, urine soaked drywall in the ceiling and rotting chewed up beams (thus the sag). 

Eeeeewwwww. 

And we were hoping to save the roof.  Ha! 

Let's Build A New Porch

This is why I love our contractor and his guys.  They're only interested in doing it right.  One could look at it as 'job creep', but he knows it's our forever house.  And our neighbor's side was in worse falling down shape than anyone could have predicted.  So...a totally brand new porch it is. 

With proper brick pillars that are a) able to hold the weight of the new forever porch and b) in keeping with the neighborhood.  Sold.

Then I came home to Toronto for a weekend. 

Before

After

This is our side.  I can't wait to share the little life-altering upgrades we're making. 

Before

After

View towards the neighbor.  Same upgrades there.  Kid-barricading divider to come.   

Before

During

Then I Left

This is as far as things got while I was home.  Which was perfect timing, because I got to see the progress and make some important decisions about structure, electrical and finishing.  I'm not used to being gone while work continues...but that's why my better half is there.

And thank goodness it's just him instead of this guy.

Site Supervisor

My father would be out there every hour of every day, if he could.  But I brought him back to Wisconsin with the kids and I.  Let those guys do what they do best!!!

Stay tuned for those upgrades, the new porch "look" and pictures of the progress :)