The Delightful Eclectic Abode

Potting Table Makeover - It's January will Spring be here Soon?

 

It's January and I'm already thinking about spring.  So much for staying in the now moment right?

 

 

In Michigan, it's 42 degrees in January so why not?  Really, I'm thinking about spring because today I'm linking to the beautiful blog "Celebrating Everday Life" with Jennifer Carroll.  She's looking for DIY Recyled and Repurposed projects to feature in the May/June issue of her magazine.

 

Oh, a girl can dream!  To get featured in a magazine would absolutely make my day, week, month and year!!  Heck, I was featured once on a blog and my heart was singing for weeks.

 

So.....today I'm featuring my enamel baking table turned potting table project.

 

I've long dreamed of having a pretty potting table on my back porch. So you can imagine the wheels of my brain spinning with delight when I found this old enamel baking table at a barn sale.  Cost $40.00. 

 

Mr. Delightful and I transformed her into this.

 

and this.

 

See the original handle on the drawer and the huge gap (hole) above the drawer?

 

Mr. Delightful took care of the issue. 

 

 

He measured the opening and went to Lowe's and purchased a piece of wood.  He then measured twice, cut then sanded the board to fit into the opening. 

• He created a longer piece of wood for the front of the board and attached a new knob.
• He also attached new hardward to the actual drawer.

It now operates as a little pull-out shelf. 

 

 

An afternoon of painting, a little bit of measuring and cutting, installing new drawer handles, and this table was transformed!  Total cost was about $50.00 including paint, wood and new hardware.

• First I wiped the table down.
• I primed so the paint would go on easily and smoothly.
• Then I painted with a soft canary yellow satin finish.

Now, what about storage?

 

No worries, I found this old bookshelf at a garage sale.  She matched almost perfectly with the light canary color of the table.

 

Cost, I think it was about $10.00?

 

 

She was given as a gift from someone special.  I promised I would take good care of her.

 

 

Now I have a great place to cut fresh flowers from the garden!

 

 

 

Soon....we'll be spending time outdoors enjoying our gardens and back porches!

 

In the meantime.......enjoy today!

 

 

I love having visitors so please leave a comment or two and come back to see the next DIY project.  We love change so we're always tweaking and creating something new around here.

If you like what you see, you can follow me on Pinterest.  I'm a veteran pinner and you can be too!

Garden Tours - Two Different Styles

 

Come along and join me for two separate garden tours. 

 

The first garden belongs to a friend of mine named Jan.  She lives near me and has a wonderful woodland garden.  Visiting her garden feels like being at a country estate.  Her home sits at the end of a quiet street with a river down below surrounded by woods.

 

 

 

Jan's garden is serene and zen like. We sat on her porch a spell and listened to the wind rustling the leaves and enjoyed the soft sound of wind chimes.

 

 

This little fella made a few sounds pecking on the wood.

 

 

 

Good thing she has hand rails to help navigate some of the steep paths.

 

The scent of these roses were heavenly!

 

 

Molly wants to come out and investigate.

 

Sweet little Lilly.

The next garden belongs to Sally.  I met Sally this weekend at her garage sale.  While swooning over her garden, she asked me to feel free to explore and walk around. 

 

I gave her my blog card and asked if I could come back to take photographs.  She said her garden was open and that I could come back anytime to take photos. That was very kind of her.  I brought a friend of mine with me who lives just a few short blocks from her.

 

 

This is Mary Jo who will be our tour guide today.

 

 

Sally's yard is quite small but once in her garden it doesn't feel that way.  Everything is layered beautifully.  She tucks little things in between plants so there is always something interesting to discover.

 

 

She has lovely paths.

 

 

She even made her garage part of the garden!

 

 

 

 

Both gardens are absolutely gorgeous!! One is surrounded by meadows and forest, the other garden is on a small little plot of land.  Both are simply delightful!

 

Come on back for more garden photos and garden tours.  I'll be featuring lots of gardens this summer!

 

I would love to hear from you!

 

 

The flowers are holding on during the midwest heat wave

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all staying cool!  For those of us in the midwest, we are experiencing one heck of a heat wave!!!  It was 95 degrees today and tomorrow it's supposed to reach over 100 degrees.  With the humidity, it can get pretty uncomfortable!  Thank god for air conditioning!  Sure hope we don't lose power, but if we do.....we have a nice finished basement that we can retreat to.

Thought I would post a few garden pictures while things are still blooming and they are relatively healthy.  With the high humidity.....plants are prone to powdery mildew, black spot and other types of fungus.  I like to keep pesticides to a bare minimum and I prefer to use organic solutions or if a plant gets diseased I usually cut it back or completely rip it out.

 

You just never know what type of wild life will show up while gardening!  No matter how often I see deer they still cause me to pause......I don't mind them at all because fortunately they don't bother any of my flowers.

Just added this little step ladder.  Bought it for $5.00 at a thrift shop and spray painted it blue.

Racoons are cute when they are babies, but not so cute when the population grows too large! As long as there is a food source we have to be careful.

We feed the birds and apparently feed everything else too!

My little Kensie boy is sitting on his perch in front of the window.

My window box is doing well.  I love this type of pink begonia.

Now for a stroll over to my friend Lise's garden.  We both have a serious addiction going on......we adore gardening and like to decorate.  We consistently visit Home Goods, garden shops, vintage stores, and garage sales......We always get a bargain, but we both agree it's seriously getting out of hand.  After all.....I do have to save up for some new items for the kitchen that I'm updating (stay tuned).

But.....gardening is so much fun!

Yeah....it does but you have to agree we both have some pretty cool stuff going on.  Each of our gardens has a different flavor.

Recently, the little town of Plymouth (near us) had their annual art fair.  They always have great stuff for the garden.  Lise took out her wallet and contributed to the artists (that's where she got the kick-ass little sign for her garden).

Love the colors of this little bird house!

Doesn't the wrought iron window look charming?

 

 

 

I've never seen coneflowers with the little tinge of yellow that these have.  I'll have to ask what they are called, but....maybe next year Lise will give me a clipping????

Wow!  It's midnight already!!! I've got to get up early for work in the morning.  Gotta have a day job so I can afford more stuff for the Delightful Eclectic Abode!!!

 

Stay tuned....when I figure out how to post a video I'll take you on a walk through the garden!

Good night and pleasant dreams.

Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment.

Cyber hugs,  Sandy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Innocence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using mirrors in the garden

Don't know about you....but I love garage sales! Many times its just someone elses junk, but sometimes you can find some real treasures. I'm always on the hunt for something for the garden. I usually drive by and scope the place real quickly to see if there might be something interesting.

A couple of days ago...this is what I got for $20.00

This particular mirror isn't exactly what I had in mind but...if it doesn't work in garden I can find a place for it inside the house. The mirror is in fantastic condition! I got it for $10.00.

Time for some experimenting.....

I placed it next to the garage to get an idea of how the use of mirrors can trick the eye.

The mirror is too nice to leave outside in the elements so I think I'll use it on the covered porch for a few days to see if it creates the desired effect.

See it against the lattice wall? It reflects the skylights, but if you're sitting on the couch or chair it reflects the garden.

The mirror on the left is something that was created from a wall hanging that was purchased at Home Goods. The original dark brown color was similar to the color of the lattice. I used a rag and dabbed some of the turquoise paint from the door color to add some spark. I placed a cheap $5.00 Target mirror behind it to create a gorgeous mirror.

The garden is reflected from every seat on the patio.

Everything is beginning to bloom!

The red bee balm attracts lots of hummingbirds and (bees). The bees are pollinating honey bees so they don't bother anyone.

 

Thanks for visiting. I hope you'll come back to the Delightful Eclectic Abode!