I gotta hand it to Lowe’s.  Their marketing / advertising team made a smart call by appealing to woman-centered DIY projects in this pinterest-dominated era.  And in my opinion, this puts them at a different level than the other big box store.

It’s springtime, and I’m dreaming about having some time to work on my garden & patio.  But since that’s just a dream for now, I thought I’d at least post some of the fun garden & patio themed projects featured on Lowe’s Creative Ideas site.

All of these projects, and more, can be found at Lowe’s Creative Ideas website.  And no, I’m not sponsored by Lowe’s in any way.  I just think it’s a really really smart marketing concept, and I’m impressed.

I think many might agree with me when I say my favorite is Lonny.  Lonny is a lifestyle & home decor magazine that I can always count on Lonny for bold and lively color spreads, like these screenshots from their latest issue:

Leaf is a new magazine focusing on outdoor gardening, landscaping, and entertaining.  Even if you don’t have a yard, the pictures are worth looking at.  Beautiful landscapes and patios such those shown in these screenshots from their current issue:

Nesting Newbies is a “cooking, entertaining, and decorating how-to” magazine.  In this mag, you’ll find recipes, entertaining tips, table setting inspiration, and featured entertainment spaces (kitchen, dining, etc.).  Here are some eye-catching screenshots from their latest issue:

 I know there are other great online magazines out there as well, and I would love to hear what your favorites are!

When we bought the house, our backyard was covered in asphalt, which we attacked with a jackhammer.

This isn’t necessarily a design-related post, however, it is related to kitchens, and I design kitchens.  I randomly happened upon a kitchen gadget store yesterday, so I stopped in to say hi.  It’s absolutely amazing how many kitchen gadgets there are out there.  I commented to the sales woman that I had no idea there were so many things I needed until I walked in that store.  Yes, I’m a sucker for gadgets.  I admit it.

I restrained myself, and ended up with a single item – the Sprout Master Mini.  It’s a simple divided tray system that comes with 2 sets of seeds.  Supposedly, all I need to do is soak the seeds overnight and water them twice a day, and in just a few days I’ll have healthy, edible sprouts.   We eat a lot of sprouts on our sandwiches, and I’m sick of buying them in plastic containers at the grocery store.  Plus, I miss my summer patio garden, so I’m excited to grow something in my kitchen.

Here they are at the end of Day 1.  You can’t tell from here, so take my word for it.  There are already a few little tiny baby sprouts.

Sounds sorta like a chia pet, huh?

Slowly (very slowly), but surely, our backyard is coming together.  We’ve spent a couple recent weekends on the construction of a retaining wall / planter box in an area where there previously had been an ugly chain link fence lined with some plastic ribbed material, which was supposed to be doing important work like holding the neighbor’s fence in place.  We pulled the chain link out and started over.   We found a bunch of inspiration photos using really modern and fun materials for retaining walls, but then realized we didn’t have the budget, and it just wouldn’t look good with our 1899 home.  A major backyard overhaul would be in order, and that just isn’t going to happen.  We compromised by using standard cedar that matched everything else in the yard, with aluminum c-channel support posts that had been salvaged from a construction site (thanks Drew!).

Here’s a quick overview of how it happened (note that I say “we” below, but Mike was most of the muscle behind all this):

1.  We measured, dug a trench, and dug the post holes.

2.  We prepared and pre-drilled the aluminum posts.

3.  We set the posts using redi-mix concrete.

4.  We installed the cedar and added some extra bracing inside the box.

5.  We filled it all in with dirt.

The yard isn’t even close to being finished, but considering it used to look like this…

I’d say we’re making progress, wouldn’t you?

Now, anybody know anything about pruning vastly overgrown rosebushes?

Our backyard is slowly starting to take shape.  We’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us, but at least we can now sit on the deck and enjoy a meal or morning coffee without getting overly distracted by every remaining item on our to-do list.

When we first moved in, the deck area looked like this:

And our old potting containers looked like this:

And now, after a lot of weeding and planting and pruning and spray-painting, (not to mention a lot of bargain shopping at places like ReStore, consignment shops, World Market, Big Lots, Ikea, and KSL classifieds) it looks like this:

And it will look even better once the plants fill out and the flowers bloom!