Vertical Garden Inspiration { Part 1: #DigIn}

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.  I know, a sponsored post.  But keep reading because the project is awesome and they let me say whatever I want!  Which you all know is dangerous.

Last month I discussed joining the.  As a member of the Garden Club you receive a $5.00 coupon.  (Bonus!)  There are also a bunch of fun outdoor project ideas.  Nate and I have decided to take on the Vertical Garden.

What exactly is a vertical garden?  Good question. Vertical gardens are basically hanging flower boxes.  They are like fancy pieces of outdoor art.   Vertical gardens can be used to grow flowers, succulents, herbs and even vegetables.

Before heading to the Home Depot, I did a little internet browsing to gather some vertical garden inspiration.

{clockwise:Home Depot,Brooklyn Limestone,Apartment Therapy,Inspired By Charm,Jillbert}

I was really debating succulents and herbs.  Mainly because succulents and herbs are all hipster blogger like. After much debate, Nate and I have decided to place the vertical garden on our deck.

Our deck is looking pretty boring and we decided that a vertical planter full of colorful flowers would brighten it up!  And who am I kidding?  I can only dream of being a hipster.  Until next time little succulents.

I learned that vertical gardens have many benefits.  I’m always a fan of aesthetics over function.  Vertical gardens are great for adding visual drama and hiding ugly walls.  Nate is more of a function over aesthetics guy so he enjoyed that weeds are controlled in these gardens and the plants are less accessible to disease and pests.

Armed with our new knowledge and a supply list, we headed to the Home Depot.  We first stopped by the garden center where we picked out our flowers.  I will share more about our flower selection on Friday.  There will be a vlog.  It will be awesome.

After selecting our flowers, we headed to our second home (aka: the lumber section) to grab our building materials.

We will share a project tutorial next week complete with supply list.  Here’s a sneak peek of what we used.  (Hover over the image.  Ooo, html magic!)

We pushed our full cart to the front of the store and headed on home to start the project.

Read more!

Part 1: 

Vertical Garden Insipiration

Part 2: 

Choosing Flowers for Your Vertical Garden

Part 3:

How to Build a Vertical Garden (A Tutorial)

Part 4:

Planting and Caring for Your Vertical Garden

Did you tackle any outdoor projects this week-end?  Any big plans on your to-do list?  Are you hip enough for succulents?  Who's pumped for the vlog?

April Monthly Recap

When did it become May?  Oh, 3 days ago.  Got it.  I’m having trouble returning to normal life after vacation. I still think it’s the middle of April.

A few random thoughts before I recap the month of April.

We are having a garage sale on Saturday.  I hate having garage sales.  But I do love purging junk.  I’ve become a hoarder.  It’s not my fault.  It’s hereditary.  I totally went nuts yesterday though and gathered things to sell left and right.  It’s supposed to be cold and rainy on Saturday.  Work with me, Iowa.  I need to rid my life of this excess.  Or something.

I have kicked Ike out of our bedroom for the next week.  I felt fantastic in Florida.  I come home and my sinuses and lungs are instantly inflamed.  My allergy testing came back that I am allergic to dust mites and dogs.  I am in denial about the dog thing.  Wire Fox Terriers are supposedly hypoallergenic.  But it doesn’t always work that way.  We’ve also had him for 6 1/2 years and my problems started about a year ago.  But people can develop allergies at any time.  My allergist recommended that he not sleep in our room (beings we spend a good majority of our lives sleeping).  He is ALWAYS in our room.  I think it’s actually harder on me than him.  We’ll see.  Part of me hopes that I still feel like crap after a week so we can go back to normal and have our naps together.  If it’s not the dog, then we have larger issues to tackle.  Like carpet.  But new hardwood floors aren’t all bad, right?

Nate and I are on a vacation craptastic food detox.  We have done super well at only eating things made from scratch.  I think the only “processed” food that ate this week was a small bun, a whole wheat English muffin and a little flour.  I even ate vegetables.  Weird.  Any great healthy recipes for me?

And now, April in review.  Maybe you missed something.  Maybe you want to re-read something.  Maybe you’re new (Welcome!).  Maybe you don’t care.

Amazing Monster Cookies Sibling Dress Up Storage Blog Questions Answered Instagram Life Update Easy Lily Display Homemade Dog Biscuits Spring/Home Depot Garden Club Elusive Plans Ombre Striped Tea Towels Home Sweet Home Sprinkle Art Freezer Paper Stencil Totes Sharpie Mugs- Easy Craft Siesta Key Vacation

InLinkz.com

Updates on Some Things

That title is going to win me some search engine optimization points.  Boo-yah.

Today I’d like to update you on some items around our house.  I get e-mails on these three topics so I figured it would be good to cover them.

First item: The Tile Setting Mat from Simple Mat

We loved the ease of install but were slightly concerned about how well the backsplash would hold up. We had some lose/wiggly tiles before grouting. It made us nervous. We carried on.

Verdict: 6 months later and all of the tiles are still intact. I have scrubbed pasta sauce, cupcake batter, etc off of the backsplash and no movement. We are now confident that this backsplash is going nowhere.  That backsplash still makes me smile every day.  Good life decision.

Second item:  Under Cabinet Lighting

Look how naked our kitchen looked before that backsplash.  The kitchen is embarrassed. 

Anywho, we installed the under cabinet lights we purchased at Sam’s. Let me start this story by telling you that Nate always reads reviews before buying anything. ANYTHING. Except for these lights. We used the lights twice and then they stopped working.  We thought maybe we left them on on accident.  Nate then decided to read the reviews.  The reviews were all terrible. We decided to replace all of the batteries in the off chance that we did forget to turn them off.  The lights died again after about 3 uses.  We’re done with them and we are looking for an alternative. 

Verdict: FAIL!  Super duper Heidi Montag like fail.

Third item: Burlap Wallpaper

Yes, I did have blond hair.  Yes, we look like babies in that photo. 

This now brunette decided to use burlap to line the back of the book cases in the office. I used a cornstarch mixture to adhere the burlap to the back of the bookcases to add a little texture. 

Verdict:  Still going strong.  The burlap has not moved and it’s been hanging for over a year.  And I’m not sick of it yet.  Even more impressive.

Who has under cabinet lighting suggestions for us?  How do you decorate the back of your shelves? Is my blond hair still weirding you out?