I’ve crossed off several more items from my to-do list. After two weekends and multiple nights after work, my household is finally coming to order. I sanded and stained my outdoor wooden patio table (pictured right); stained the wood behind my outdoor lights connected to my house; finished spray painting two outdoor chairs; downloaded pictures I took in May onto my computer and sent them to friends; bought patio chairs for around the table and an outdoor umbrella; and started my wedding website. Pure satisfaction! Who needs a handyman or a personal assistant? Not me. Who needs a break and a masseuse? Me. ☺ Continue reading ‘Check!’
Archive for the 'decks & patios' Category
My chief goal this summer was to rip out my unsightly, peeling and warped deck, and replace it with a paver brick patio. Working at Angie’s List, I’ve learned a lot while interviewing home-improvement specialists for our magazine’s Comparative Shopper column and other stories. Advice on how to improve my home’s resale value always gets my attention. So, that said, I knew replacing the deck with a patio that not only looks lovely but is also maintenance free was the way to go.
My husband, however, chalked the idea up to a womanly impulse to spend our hard-earned money and nearly chickened out at the last minute. He hated the deck, but he said, “I can build a new one… installing a patio can’t be that difficult, I can do it myself.” Now, that’s a manly impulse. Continue reading ‘The battle of man vs. wife’
Finally, warm weather has arrived. (Well, kind of. We hit freezing temperatures in Indy last night after enjoying a week of 70-plus degrees.) After spending all winter getting my house spruced up on the inside, I’m ready to dig out the gardening supplies and get to work on further improving my home’s value. At the top of my list of outdoor home improvements is the demolition of a hideous red deck the previous homeowner haphazardly installed. It’s gigantic and eats up nearly half of my already small yard. That, and it sits way off the ground, allowing my neighbors a full view over my fence (which is painted a matching hideous red, of course). Continue reading ‘Pave the way…’
