Hi Friends!
How are you? It's been a while since I have popped on here. We have been busy with an exciting project and I want to share it with you.
The front yard on the north side was so ugly and the grass was non existent. As soon as we closed on the house, I began to brainstorm about giving it some curb appeal. Below is a before picture of the North West corner of the yard. The only thing in the photo is the little well house. Anything else visible through the trees is at the neighbor's house.
Early in the spring of our first year, Bill built four raised beds. This area gets the best sun on the property.
Additionally, we had a deer blind left in the back yard. It got a white shabby makeover and we dragged it around the the front yard and placed it in a corner. It reminded me of the Mr. McGregor's garden shed in Peter Rabbit. Bill would be happy if it disappeared, but I love it and I thought it added an anchor to the yard.
The well house got another new coat of paint.
I just knew a pretty greenhouse would finish off this part of the yard. Two years ago, we had so much going on with our addition to the main house that the greenhouse took a backseat to everything else.
In late February, we staked out a 16 x 10 foundation.
Bill dug the footings, laid the rebar and in March we poured the foundation.
I had hoped to help with every step of this process and I did help with the rebar and concrete but it wasn't fun. I must have complained too much because by the time it came to set the haydite blocks, I'd been fired.
We hired a wonderful young man from church to help us. My role in all of this was providing lunch and treats.
Bill followed the Fibonacci Sequence and the golden rule of building as he created this plan. It was a step by step process rather than a master plan at the onset. We did a lot of design consultations along the way. The partial wall and the pitch of the roof were two of these design consultations.
Once the rafters were installed it was easy to envision the finished product. We were about a month into the build at this point.
Painting each piece before it was installed was so much easier than doing it afterward.
I was the primary painter.
He began sheathing the lower portion of the walls.
We intended to use some antique windows that we bought a few years ago. They were in the way when we worked on the main house so I set them by the curb. A lady snatched them up within an hour. She had some windows on her greenhouse that needed to be replaced. Perfect!
Rather than antique, Bill wanted to build the windows so that they would be uniform and easier to install. I love that they mirror what is on the main house and they should be maintenance free for years to come.
There are ten windows that open for ventilation. The rest of the openings and the roof are ribbed polycarbonate sheets. We were a little over two months into the build at this point.
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It took some special primer to stop the bleed through on the wall panels.
The floor is brick look concrete pavers and rocks.
It was time to work on the gable ends. We found a darling stained glass window for the east gable end that faces the house. I wanted to be able to see it from the house rather than from the street.
The street end got a window of seeded glass. Unfortunately, we couldn't find two matching stained glass windows.
Bill created the gable vents.
We found a baker's rack on Facebook marketplace for $40.00. Once the west gable end was finished, we were able to put it in the greenhouse. Initially, when we went to see it in person, it looked huge but it's actually a perfect size for the proportions of the greenhouse.
The sidelights and door were the final step in the build.
This is beyond my anything my dreams could have imagined. It adds the focal point to the front yard that this house needed.
This will be a working greenhouse but it's too hot for anything right now. I don't over winter a ton of plants but there will plenty of room for those that make the cut. We do need to plan heating before winter gets here.
I'll also start a few seedlings early for next spring.
Here are some interior photos and a photo dump.
It took 14 weeks from start to finish.
I'm so proud Bill. He and our helper did such a great job.
This is a definite labor of love from my husband and he's added tons of skills to his word working abilities.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
I appreciate all the support that I've received over the years.
I hope to blog again soon. I think it's time to ditch posting to Instagram because no one ever sees it and Pinterest is just filled with Ai images.
I long for old school photos of real homes.
That's all for now,
Katie
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