If You Build It, S'mores Will Come: The DIY Fire Pit

Our first renovation was in a condo, so going from being responsible for a sweet little garden, to two acres of wilderness has been quite a tall order. Since the weather is finally amazing, the inside projects have been temporarily put on hold while we get our curb appeal up to speed. This property has a lot of gravel, and stone areas that we had to decide what to do with. We wanted functional areas that we would use, as well as anyone who lives here after us. Landscaping is nice and all - but can it make you s'mores? Nope. 

We decided to build a fire pit in this odd little alcove of shrubs off of our deck/kitchen area. It's underneath a really pretty magnolia, and near the stairs leading to the kitchen and deck so going in and out is simple. This property, besides lots of gravel had TONS of pavers in weird shapes and patterns - very 70s, so we decided to repurpose them. This project cost us Joe's favorite price.. FREE NINETY NINE. With a little left over mortar from the bathroom tile (link), pavers I could't wait to get rid of, and a little sweat equity we got to work.

To start, we needed to level out the space.

Moving rocks and dirt is a lot harder than it looks, we also widened the space to include that very cool rock to the right (extra seating!) that we both love.

Almost even!

Once we picked a center point and leveled out the ground we marked circumference of the pit. 

Then we laid the ground work, literally, and mixed the mortar.

We applied a small amount of mortar to each brick as we laid them down. On the second row we left a space every 3-4 pavers, to allow air to get to the fire from underneath. 

It must have been fate we had enough left over mortar to lay every brick, until the very last one. 

We actually just stood and stared at it for a while, we get pretty excited to see things we plan come together.

We also added a few bricks on the second to last row, facing inward, that would allow a grate to be placed on top for cooking. (Update: We used a grate and made steaks with friends - delicious!)

Add a few bright colored chairs to the mix, and we're ready to go!

We obviously had to make smores immediately. 

On to the next project!

Xo

A&J

The Powder Room Makeover

Hello all! We are so excited to share another room that's near completion! Our powder room is located right near the front door and across from our kitchen, because it's one of the first things you come across when you walk in, and is going to be used by most people who come over, we wanted to love it.  The walls when we moved in we're a little beat up, the vanity was bad 80's laminate and the sink had seen better days - so out it went! We got to work fixing and painting the walls, then replacing the vanity. The countertop was actually a small remnant we found in a pile outside the shop we ordered our kitchen countertops from. If you're doing over smaller vanities that is definitely the best way to go, you can get a great quality stone for pretty cheap!

With the new vanity, counter top and sink in we realized it was a little blah. What better way to add some "wow" than with great backsplash? We picked up some inexpensive sheets from Home Depot and got to work.

Then we grabbed a frame from Ikea, it was the perfect size and simple style we were looking for the mirror to have.

We added a hand towel ring so guests would have a way to dry their hands. We also did a little silver leafing project to create the W & C (water closet), they gave that awkward wall a purpose!

We LOVE the sink in this space. It's the smaller, square version of our two upstairs sinks and it was super affordable! (Our Powder Room Sink )

We originally ordered this adorable hand towel for the kitchen but since we got three for $27 (such a steal) we put one in the powder room too. We found them on Etsy, you can choose your letter, and colors - so awesome! Order some for your house >> HERE

We both really love how far the powder room has come and the whole project was surprisingly inexpensive (we like that)! But since our renovating is never REALLY done were in the midst of putting in new trim, and debating a new tile floor.. so the saga continues. 

The Goods

Furniture Makeover: The Mets Table

We've had a pretty good time making over MOST of the furniture we had before moving in, (check out our Bar Makeover, Entry Way Bench Makeover & Bar Stool Makeover) and this project was no exception! It was one of the easiest (and certainly least time consuming) makeovers and it's become one of my favorite things in the house, a good conversation piece. We did a lot of brainstorming before we settled on our strategy for the table. We knew we wanted a bright color and seeing as it was originally Joe's table it seemed fitting that it been painted for HIS baseball team, The Mets - not to be confused with MY baseball team, The Boston Red Sox (Go Bo-Soxs!). Despite the team choice I think it came out great and is definitely an easy project for the man in your life :)

 Sorry for the quality of this photo, it was the only "before" I could find.

After two coats of Krylon spray paint.. much prettier :)

Then for the fun part - painting the inside of the drawer!

The hardware knob was from Lowe's!

The Entry Way Bench Makeover

Happy hump day! Wanted to share our latest furniture makeover, our new entry way bench! Joe has had this bench for years and in the spirit of keeping and upcycling what we have we decided to give it a facelift. We painted, added a seat and made it easier for shoe storage and now, in my opinion, it's the perfect bench!

I think it turned out pretty great! You can see a step by step below..

Step one was to remove the front panel, so we could put our shoes in when we walked in the house. Then it was time to sand!

After sanding and wiping it down, we primed and painted the bench,

We're ready to get to work on the seat!

Joe cut a board to fit the shape of the top of the bench.

Next we cut the foam pad and batting (we had some left over from our barstools) to the size of the board.

After pulling the batting tight and using the staple gun to secure it, we moved on to the fabric! If the pattern looks familiar, it's because we bought the same sheet set in black as we used in gray for our Barstool Makeover, they're nearby so we went for a little co-ordination.

The completed bench seat!

Testing it out :)

Now time to tape and paint the inside and trim. We could have left it all white but that seemed like it was bound to look dirty quickly with our shoes being in there.

We chose a black gloss paint.

Concentrating on painting the tim.

Once it was dry, we moved it into place!

Perfecto - Entry Bench Makeover complete!