Tuesday, July 31, 2012

DIY Vertical Succulent Garden

I really wanted to incorporate some sort of living wall into the new place (on a budget, that is ;)).  I found an old frame for $2 at a garage sale, and figured that would be perfect.  It has been fun being home and getting to work on projects with my dad - I am very thankful for all his help on this!

I followed this tutorial (check out the follow up pictures...big lush success!)...and here is where we deviated a bit...

1.  We still used the 2x2 pieces of wood, even though Luna-See said she would have used more shallow pieces.  Once we saw how successful her garden has been - Sean encouraged me to stick with 2x2s b/c he figured the plants may just need that much soil. 

2.  We added metal L brackets to the back of the frame on all 4 corners.  Then, my sweet dad notched out the 2x2s so that they would sit flush against the frame.  We thought this may provide additional support.

3.  After seeing that Luna-See used 4 coats of urethane and the paint looks to be flaking off a lot after a year, I figured I wasn't going to break my back to prevent peeling.  I only did two coats.

4.  We did use screws instead of nails (lots of them).

5.  I stapled a black contractor trash bag across the back of the frame after it was filled with the moss/soil just as a small buffer for the plywood.  Not sure that it will help at all, but figured it couldn't hurt.

I forgot to put hanging hardware on the back before I planted the succulents, so we still need to do that.  It is VERY heavy.  I am hoping to put on a wall in the new house; however, if it seems too heavy, I will prop it somewhere.

I planted some of the succulents that I already had, and I intend to get some more varieties for additional color, but I will do that once we settle.  Let's hope these little plants make it in the car/u-Haul :)

Fingers crossed that this takes...

We glued and screwed the 2x2s in...

Ready for plants...

Let the planting begin!

Take 1...

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Kansas, here we come...

Hmmm....I wonder how long this blogging attempt will last.  Bets?

Quick recap - We said goodbye to West Point and oodles of fond memories and dear friends.  I became way more attached than I had anticipated.  We trekked to IL for time with family, trip to the cottage, time with family, trip to Colorado Springs, more time with family, trip to Indiana, and more time with family.  I am beyond thankful that my parents have welcomed us for such an extended period of time.

Next stop...Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  Due to a shortage of on post housing, we have to wait a few extra weeks to get our house.  We will now be there for ~ 9 months before heading to our next home (location TBD).

So, thus begins the design challenge....
1.  I want to get the house up and running as quickly as possible due to our very short stay in Kansas.
2.  I have never lived in a new house...this is a newer home with an open floor plan.  As I was sketching out rooms and furniture placement, I am shocked at how much furniture won't fit, despite this being the biggest house we have lived in.  Good thing that there will be storage room in the garage :)
3.  I have chosen to not paint...so I need to figure out other inexpensive ways to bring in color...

I have very high hopes for Kansas.  I have heard nothing but great things about it, and I am chomping at the bit to get out there, settle in, explore as much as we can, and soak up every second of family time.  I personally hope to focus on my interior design class and also simplifying/organizing our home (Sommer gave me this book recommendation...loved it!).  We will see how that goes (along with the 50 other goals floating around in my head!)  :)

This summer, I have managed to fill up a lot of my parents' garage with new finds/projects...which I probably shouldn't have b/c of #2 above.  I thought, as always, that there would be more downtime than there has been, so now, I am in crunch time with all these endeavors.  Hopefully the pressure will help :)

A few things that I need to hop to...

 recover these seats...

finish cleaning this up...

finish DIY vertical succulent garden....


clean up this old beauty...