Plants Need a Place to Stay Too

Miguel and I recently purchased some plants from our local farmers market. The patio is the only part of our yard that gets any sunlight because of the huge live oak trees. So the plants we've already been  accumulating along with the others we bought at the market have been getting placed on the patio floor. I don't like them sitting on the ground, especially with the dogs playing outside... particularly Jack whose favorite past time is eating grass. So I've really wanted a plant rack for our back patio. I wanted one that looks something like this one below:

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However, most plant racks like this cost anywhere from $100 and upwards. That isn't in our budget right now. So today I perused some furniture thrift shops. I found a couple of options that might work at some of the stores, but the price point was still too high. Then at the last store I found the perfect option! I found a three tiered plant rack/bakers rack for only $18!! Score! It was white and a little rusty but it was the perfect size for the space I wanted to put it in. It folded up and fit it in the backseat of my car.

Obviously I wasn't going to leave it looking like that. So I picked up some Rust-O-Matic spray paint from Home Depot. I chose an antique brown color that has some texture in it. The great thing about this particular paint was that it can be sprayed directly over rust and also helps prevent rust in the future. I'm all for products that let you skip steps! Double Score! I purchased two cans for just a little over $5 each. So in total this project only cost me a couple dollars short of $30! Much better than the online options! Triple score! =)  I gave the rack a good spray and let it dry.

Ugh, I forgot how much spray painting hurts your fingers. I'm also sporting a nice mark on my feet and a now ruined pedicure. =)

After the rack dried in the sun, I filled it up with some potted plants. I'm hoping to get some more herb plants in the near future and move some of the potted flowers, like the mums, somewhere else. But right now I'm extremely happy with the way everything turned out! 

... Loads of Fun

I hate doing laundry. What's more is that our laundry room has no windows which makes it really dreary. This isn't an original idea of course, but I thought it was a cute saying and an easy way to perk up a room I really dread going into.  The photos are a little washed out (har-har, no pun intended), the bubbles are actually a little more blue than they appear here.  Only took me a couple of hours with spacing everything out and doing a couple of coats. Easy Peasy! You can see it when the door is open and that makes me smile. I don't think this will really change my attitude towards doing laundry, but it makes me more willing to go in the laundry room. =)

This photo makes it look lop-sided, but it's not! I used a level, promise ;)

What A Doggone Mess!

I'm used to having to clean up after the dogs. Our floors look like this daily:

Jack sheds more than ANY dog I've ever been around. I feel like I am CONSTANTLY bending down to pick up these large tuffs of his hair! But, I remind myself that that is part of having a dog. Dogs shed. Okay. Fine. At least the floors are hardwood and that is easy to clean up. Plus we have the Dyson Animal so it's really not that awful and I shouldn't complain. However, thanks to the constant rain over the past week... my floors are looking like this:

Trying to catch the dogs and wipe their paws when they come inside is quite the adventure. I am SO ready for the rain to go away! Hyper and muddy dogs make for a dirty and crazy house and perhaps maybe a cranky dog-mom! ;)