Pepper Design Blog

Adding a Little ‘Bloom’ to the Patio

Hope you had a wonderful 4th! I’ll be back soon with a round-up of pictures (once I get through sorting them all…) from Liv’s first beach day.

Meanwhile… a little patio update. Kevin finished the outside grill/fireplace area two summers ago and we’ve been enjoying the fruits every since. It’s always needed a little something green though – I get a concrete and stone overload every time I peer out through the new kitchen doors. But the minor update was relatively low on the list… (forgive the random photo I have of the fireplace – we just stocked up on extra wood).

Then came an afternoon at Lowe’s with a friend who was landscaping her front yard, and the wheels started turning.

Hours later and I had purchased two ceramic pots and two each of three different ‘high sun’ plant varieties (these babies will get zero shade so flowers that can handle 100% sun was a must).

I would have added nutrient rich potting soil to the mix but the soil from these gallon and half gallon pots was more than enough.

After pulling your plants out of the plastic container (a gentle kneading of the plastic should do the trick), break up the roots at the base to encourage growth.

After planting, water water water. And unless your new pots are on a drip system, keep up with frequent watering on an every day or every other day basis.

Yeah for a little summer green!

Plant choices are 100% reliant on your climate – be sure to choose plants that meet location criteria (shade, partial shade, full sun, etc) and that can live within your seasonal changes (snow, humidity, intense heat, etc). Here’s a helpful climate zone map to learn more about where you live and what grows best.

Liv gets some old fashioned vitamin D while attempting to discover who this big furry friend is:

DIY Furniture Addition: Overlays

How clever is this idea? O’verlays by Danika and Cheryle are ‘toppers’ for standard Ikea furniture (though they’ll cut to any size you’d like). A quick addition and the overlays immediately transform dressers, tables, screens and even crown molding.

Thanks to Full House for sharing this neat find.

Love how the overlay looks placed under glass and atop this console table! Beautiful.

Office Makeover: Inspiration for a DIY Desk

Now that the office makeover is back in full swing, it’s time to get serious about what great projects and finds we can fill the space with.

You might remember my layout dilemma and how the room has to serve as a guest bedroom + home office (+ craft room of sorts) without any closet space (boo – but impossible to fit in) and therefore storage and functionality are tops on the design list. To make it even tighter, we nixed the daybed idea and have opted to crowd the back of the room with a full-sized bed that will comfortably sleep two without any extra assembly required.

Despite the lack of space, my office desk needs to be big + mighty to fit the projects that I’m always juggling (I’m not the type of person who can neatly stow away a days work each and every evening – I’d love a desk big enough to hold organized chaos ) so I’ve settled on making my own. Not from scratch but hopefully from materials I find through Craigslist.

You might remember the original inspiration for the space from here, and shopping round-ups of favorite bookshelves and desks under $300. I’ve purchased the bookcases (more on that soon) and can’t wait to get started on the perfect desk!

But what would this desk look like? What materials should I make it out of? What about storage? A Google search ensued for diy desk inspiration, here’s what I found:

Manhattan Nest designed a diy desk out of mdf and an old nightstand (love those industrial looking legs). A bit of fabric inspiration from Southern Living below left.

Above, Aubrey & Lindsay built a desk with a wooden top that I envy. Below is an idea that I haven’t thought of – Alicia of Thrifty and Chic cut apart a huge dresser to create the perfect desk and set of drawers!

A reader mentioned using an old door as a desk top too – I love that. So many great ideas out there!

We’ll see what creative materials I find to work with but I’m imagining that my new desk will be part warm wood tones/part industrial dark metal – maybe?

Here’s to a week of productive hunting!

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: desking hunting for under $300, bookcases under $300, inspirational rooms, room layout options, demo part 1 & demo part 2.