It's a jungle out there

When we bought this house, it had been on the market over 2 years. Two years of weeds not being pulled, leaves not being raked, etc. It did not look cared for. No fresh mulch anywhere, which is apparently in my mind what a cared for lawn looks like. There were pots hidden in the back of the house by the garage, some filled with soil that had accumulated lots of rainwater without draining properly. Those smell really awesome. There were the contents of someone's purse strewn across the yard. Not exactly what you want to see when you're considering making such a huge purchase. That made us feel a little iffy about our safety living on such a busy street, one of St. Paul's main drags. Every time we walked through the house, which was A LOT (special thanks to our realtor's assistant, Allison, who walked us through once at around 8pm) we found more garbage in the backyard. We hoped it was squirrels dragging things from the dumpster next door. Sometimes we still feel a little less safe than we would be in the 'burbs, but I guess that's life in the city. And that's definitely what we wanted, for the immediate future anyway. Enough talk, let's get to the pictures.

front of house

dead bush. wop wop

side yard. eek! 

first things first, put up a flag. Isla approves.

We haven't done much to the front of the house since this was taken right after we moved. Sam did start to build window boxes for the two sets of windows to the right of the front door, but summer got in the way. When you live in a state where it's nice approximately 3 months a year, you don't really want to spend much time in a dark garage. We plan to finish those this spring (fingers crossed for no snow in May this year!!) and get them up so we (I) can fill them with colorful annuals in the summer and evergreens and branches in the winter. Those big ugly bushes have got to go, and we'd like to replace them with boxwoods. That's probably going to be one of those easier-said-tan-done tasks, as I assume the roots of the bushes are pretty deep. I'd also like to paint or stain the arbor, depending what we decide for an exterior paint color. That's right, new paint job. Cha-ching. The white with green might look ok in pictures, but in person it's pretty drab. I'm a sucker for gray/tan houses with crisp, white trim and think fresh paint will make the biggest difference. It's not cheap, and at this point not something we are interested in tackling ourselves so in the meantime, I pin, and pin, and pin gorgeous gray houses with white trim. 

Here's our fall set up, looking a little better without the the storm door. I totally get the practicality, but  just prefer the look of this better. I also want to mention that I wanted to buy approximately 37 more pumpkins, but Sam cut me off. Next year...

Now for the backyard, aka the jungle:

see that tiny bit of white? that's the garage

thanks for the fake ficus, previous home owner

Luckily, a few weeks after we moved, my parents were in town for Isla's first birthday party (I don't recommend moving and then throwing a 1st birthday party, by the way). They flip houses on the side and helped us a TON with our old house in Iowa, so we knew we could count on them. 

weeds, but OMG GREEN grass!

looking a little better 

bare, but less weedy

fresh MULCH!!!

side of the house

Our backyard isn't huge like our old house in Iowa, but I think once we fence it in (one of the first projects we'll be tackling this spring) it'll feel a lot more functional. The key seems to be setting up little zones. Our backyard in Iowa was 1/3 acre, but we only ever used the small spaces we set up with seating. Eventually we want to build a pergola off the back of the house between the two small dining room windows, where that ugly tall tree is in the picture below:

I can already picture myself drinking a Blue Moon out there. Ahh. That might not happen this summer, but I think it'll be worth the wait. I'm imagining something like this http://jacqulynnsplace.tumblr.com/post/51492986633. Back by the garages, I'd like a little garden. Nothing huge, but enough space for green beans, tomatoes and green peppers. Sam recently mentioned residing the garage with cedar shakes, and I am 150% on board. I plan to paint the garage door a fun color because I love a bold front door. I really liked the color of old door in Iowa (Sea Glass by Martha Stewart) and how it gave a little life to that little tan ranch, so I think painting a door we use multiple times a day will make me so so so happy. I'm currently on the hunt for something that will complement the existing siding. 

Lastly in the backyard, we want to remove the ugly tree on the right by the little back porch and the one I mentioned before between the dining room windows. I'm looking at you, arborvitae. Your days are numbered. 

Whew! That was a lot of pictures. Thanks for sticking with me! We have so much we want to do out there, and although time-consuming and labor intensive, nothing sounds better right now. Is anyone else dying to dig in and get their hands dirty? It's 27 today, so I guess that's a start. 

obligatory Isla shot from her 1st birthday

Interiors next! Happy Thursday, friends!