happy tuesday, friends!

i love the title of this entry. anytime i am making forward progress on projects, as opposed to backwards = awesome!

last week i shared a few upcoming projects that i will be completing this month and in the coming months. today i have small project updates to share. over the weekend, i found some great organization materials for the february pantry project. here is what i came home with this weekend…

13 organization items for less than $40!

in addition to finding great solutions for our pantry, i found great inspiration for the pantry walls. have you heard of Cutting Edge Stencils? i’ve been reading a ton online about these great stencils and checked out the website this weekend. look at these beautiful walls…

i love it!

in my post about the pantry i shared an inspiration photo and considered using vinyl to complete a look like this. but then i remembered we have cans and cans of paint stored away under the house. since the pantry is already a light creamy white color, i could easily use some of the darker brown paint and use a stencil to create that look.

turns out this website has a craft size stencil, which i think will work much better than purchasing a big stencil that is meant to cover more wall space. the craft sized stencils are also more reasonable – around $18. not bad when you consider i already have the paint on hand.

and because no major home project would be complete with me second guessing my every move (ha!), i am going to give the stenciling idea more thought as i come in contact with baskets. i worry that all of the pretty stencil work may get covered up with baskets sitting on the shelves.

we’ll see. it’s always a work in progress – the project and my brain.

while i found some great items for the pantry this weekend, i also found great pieces for my bathroom drawers. was totally not expecting that *find* to occur. but it’s so great when life unfolds that way, right? so look forward to getting acquainted with my bathroom drawers this week. they are in desperate need of some attention. especially because a certain 2 year old i know loves to rummage through those drawers – daily.

am excited to share even more forward progress with you today. this is regarding our outdoor organization spring project. oh no, friends – organization isn’t just for the indoors. you’ve got to think bigger. 😉

last week i shared this photo of what was our swing set…

well, here is the current state of the swing set area…

not only are we in the midst of our dormant season, which is why the lawn is brown and it looks gray/cold, but the scene looks so sad and lonely. but don’t fret. we are thinking forward progress today! come spring, this area of our yard will be fun-filled and full of children’s laughter. i can’t wait!

since we are having some relatively mild winter weather, we’ve decided to move forward on phase 1 of this project. that way, when spring arrives, phase 2 will happen quickly – meaning instant satisfaction for outdoor playtime!

here is the phase 1 plan of action:

** transfer all of the rocks in this area to our rock path on the other side of the house (photos of that area are below).

** level the area as best we can, using dirt. the photo below gives you an idea of how this area slopes slightly downhill. we’d like to get it as level as possible in order for the trampoline to sit flat…

** move the big rocks, that are framing this area, to create a new border for what will be our trampoline section.

** move the sandbox to a new spot in the play area. right now it sits dead center…

** half of the play area will stay covered in dirt (the trampoline will sit on top of dirt) and the other half will be grass. phase 2 of this project will be when the grass comes into play. we can’t lay sod now given the cold temps.

moving on, here is the rock path i mentioned. this area is to the right of our front door…

this path wraps around from the front door/driveway to our back driveway where the garage doors are located. you will notice that the rocks and mulch over time have blended together. what this area is in desperate need of is a border. that way rocks stay with rocks, mulch stays with mulch…

during phase 1 of this project, all of the rocks from the swing set area will relocate to this path…

this weekend we chose a border for this area.

during phase 2, our entire property will get a good spring clean-up, new grass in the play area and new mulch. we love that time of season – new mulch, bulbs blooming, grass turning green again. we can’t wait! and getting this project started only makes us that much more excited for spring!

i can’t wait to share the progress with you!

are you already looking ahead to spring projects? i’d love to hear about them!