Feelin' postal

I am deep into nesting mode. This has been one very busy weekend for the Burke household.

Saturday dawned early and spurred me into motion at the ripe hour of 8:00 am.

On the list of places to go:

Sherwin Williams
Lowes
Williams Nursery
Bed Bath and Beyond
Marshalls/Ross

It was a successful day.

I started out at Sherwin Williams to purchase the supplies and to tint my previously purchased gallon of paint for Baby Burke's nursery makeover.

I finally decided upon the color I wanted. I chose "cement" for the walls and "silver linings" for the ceiling. I have to paint every ceiling in this house, as the previous owners decided that they would paint every available wall and ceiling the same color. Ugh.

After purchasing a 9 x 12 canvas sheet, 2 rollers, 2 plastic trays, ceiling paint, and painters tape (the wall paint was already purchased a year ago, but left untinted until I decided where to use it) the total came out to $57.32.... Thanks to some sweet coupons like the $10 off a purchase of $50 dollars and a 20% off coupon. I love coupon stacking.

I then headed to the nursery next door in search of some mum plants. Nothing says Halloween and Thanksgiving like mums.

I got some help from a nice salesgirl. She and I were able to find some of the only not open mums in the place. As a note, if the mum plant is already covered in flowers, you only have about 2 weeks to enjoy the blooms until it goes dormant. If there are not open buds on the plant, you extend your life to 6-8 weeks.

I then searched in vain for 120" blackout curtains to replace the hideous ones in my bedroom, to no avail.

Finally, I landed at Lowes, home of Jimmy Johnson and the #48 race team. I was in search of a post, some quickrete, and a finial or light for on top of a 4x4 post. After the nice gentlemen loaded up the Murano, I headed home to Mr. Burke so as to assist me in the mum download.

Mr. Burke was quite busy himself. While I was off galavanting, he removed 2 dead bushes (1 in preparation for the hose post) and 2 Crepe Myrtle skeletons.

The after pictures for the post are below:

I saw the idea on Katie's "bowerpowerblog.com" under the aptly named "Hosed."

Here are the steps to create your own:

Items to buy:

1. 4x4x8 treated lumber post ($7.88)
2. 50lb bag of quickrete ($3.99)
3. Hose hanger (already had)
4. Finial or in my case deck light ($13.36)
5. Oil Rubbed Bronze exterior paint for wooden surfaces (already had)

Total Cost: $25.23 (not too shabby)

Update: The post light at the top is completely functional, added light in our pitch black backyard is totally welcome at this moment

Steps:

1. Dig your hole approximately 1.5 feet deep.
2. Measure from the bottom of your hole to the desired height of the post using a tape measure
3. Transfer measurement to 4x4x8 post and cut to correct length
4. Attach hose hanger to post using screws (attach finial if using one)
5. Apply several coats of paint, waiting 30 minutes between coats to allow paint to dry
6. Place post in hole
7. Open quickrete and pour evenly around post
8. Following guidelines on the side of the bag, add water, mix concrete until correct consistency
9. Using level, ensure pole is level right to left and front to back
10. Allow concrete to dry
11. Cover concrete with dirt and mulch, add hose
12. Attach deck light to top of pole using construction adhesive
13. Stand back and soak in your accomplishment

You would think that I would be done at this point...... not even close bud.... (love John Bender)

In between paint coats, I transplanted my mums into hanging baskets and pretty planters.

Here is a few after shots, because I completely suck at the whole taking pictures of things....

In the last photo you can see my sweet kitty peeking out of the open window.

Cost breakdown:

Mums ($12.99 per plant x 4 plants)
Soil ($0 used the extra soil from the post project)
Pots ($0, already had)

Total cost: $51.96

Is that all? Nope.

I also decided that I was going to start to tackle the nursery painting...

It has gone from this ugly beige monster with builders grade flat paint and drywall pops.

To this. Remember the color is Silver Mist from Sherwin Williams. It makes a huge difference in the space as to the lighting. Whereas everything before looked blah and beige, now things are starting to look very crisp. The ceiling paint from SW is very good and provides even coverage in one coat. You really do get what you pay for in the paint department.

The board and batten will be covered in the next post, but at this time, just a sneak peek of the primed out stage.

I am waiting 24 hours to allow the ceiling to dry before I tape it off and paint the walls. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, all I will have left is painting the board and batten!