Getting set for summer fun around the house

 hello again friends....I hope you are all doing well and enjoying some sun, we have been getting so much rain here...but everything is very green...so that's a plus I suppose.

I am longing to spend  a whole lot of time outdoors very soon...so we have been focusing on our outdoor spaces...I finally got around to getting some flowers for our pots to brighten up our front porch.

The weather had finally warmed enough for me to get rid of the big brown door colour that we didn't love. I had planned on painting our garage door a pale shade of grey but it turned out to look like fleshy peach so I ditched that idea and went straight for the safest choice...white... and I love it.

I wanted to add some colour to my White wood workshop, why not have a pop of colour on the side of our house facing the farm behind??? I started by framing the back window with farmhouse trim and adding a nice header then I flanked the window with the cutest barn door style shutters I painted the colour Perfect Landing by Behr...it is a soft greyish blue with a whole bunch of perwinkle...I figured why not have a little fun with the back of the garage since I don't have a barn or bunkie...

it is the most charming addition to our outdoor space, the barn style light from Home Hardware goes a long way to personalize this space and to add that farmhouse charm I was after.

Before

 I used steel gate hinges that I painted black as non functional hinges to accent the shutters.

 I built these shutter out of 1x4 pine in an overlay construction and used kreg joinery for the frame and of course I used my Ryobi airstrike brad nailer and impact driver

 One of the must haves for our outdoor spaces would be string lights...we have been known to use them year round on a timer at our last house...we will have to take these down here in the winter due to snow sliding off our metal roof...but for the warmer months these are so charming...

I picked up these Canvas montmarte heavy duty garden lights from Canadian tire...they are very nice lights and the package came with extra bulbs which is appreciated, these lights really require a support line to hang them from...I wasn't expecting this step but after installing the lights I can see why the support line is needed.

 I picked up a medium gague coated wire, some clamps and eye hooks to create the zigzag formation wire framework.We used zip ties to attach the string lights to the wire support.

It's truly magical...and a very simple project to tackle in a couple of hours.

One more small project I was able to complete was this simple yet pretty gate from scrap wood I had in the garage... a bit of white paint and some left over hardware and now Moe has a nice leash free perch to enjoy...

I used this easy to install method to attach the gate to the deck, I just simply nailed the support to the gate then to the deck leveled it and did not have to fumble to attach the hinges...who ever came up with this method was a genius.

It also makes for a great back drop...

I hope that you are all enjoying this time of year...I'm just happy to be spending a good amount of time outside without a parka on.

Spring brings so much re-birth and a fresh start...

 We had our new door installed late last month...it went really smoothly, they did a great job framing in the opening to fit our new 36" door, it looks perfect and it works beautifully and keeps all the weather and critters out...so that is amazing... it sounds like a real door...the wood doors were very loud and there was a wood breaking noise that they would make every time they were opened...we could see outside 24/7 through gaps around the doors and under the doors... so replacing the doors was 100% necessary...the door was bought through Home Depot and is a Doorplex door.

I still have not planted anything...I'm sad about that...but the windows will sadly need to be removed and replaced and I imagine that will cause a mess and if I plant here the plants will surely be destroyed so I will be patient...as well we want to switch out the light above the door and I think that might require scaffolding... 

I am so glad we went with the seeded glass for the door...I can still see through it but it is private enough for us and it has loads of character, I wanted it to blend nicely with our old windows that we thought we could keep, sadly we can't...we really really tried, we honestly don't have the $40,000 laying around to replace them but if we don't the walls will rot...I need a sad face emoji here.

The coffee bar is coming along nicely with the addition of my barn door style chalk board...

I made this table to match our exsisting tables from the old house, one of them worked but this space allowance was tight so I made a smaller version.

I have made several of these antique bracelet holders and gave them as gifts for mothers day...the bottom is old reclaimed flooring from our new house.

Hope everyone enjoyed a lovely Mother's Day.