Richlands Rental DIY's

There have been a few easy, small, DIY projects I've been doing around our new rental in the outskirts of Jacksonville, NC to help make it a home and to set it apart from all the other "luxury trailer homes" on our street.

Our bedside tables:

Before

After

We bought these along with our living room couches and a matching coffee table when we first moved here for a grand total of $150! They didn't go very well in either of our living rooms and Tyler didn't have a bed side table. They matched our old double bed, but when we upgraded to a king size master bed basically because our dogs sleep with us, I fixed them up a little bit. It was the first time I successfully painted a laminate/ vinyl  piece of furniture! Eventually, I would like to do the same thing to my dresser so it can match also. 

Thrift Store Side Table

Before

After

See the Antique Folding Rocking Chair 

I bought this solid wood end table along with the antique folding rocking chair I blogged about recently. I fell in love with the gold inlay on top, the really old little casters, and the dark stain. I originally wanted to get new drawer pulls to dress it up a bit, but now that it's done I don't think I would ever part with those original pieces. I think the top it leather, as some old pieces similar to this were back then, which would explain why it would take stain and it was torture to try to get the stickers off! I hate, hate, HATE painting old, antique, wood furniture! But it really couldn't have any other treatment, and I just painted the top a dark rich brown and gave the rest a fresh coat of stain.

Front Garden

Before

After

Our ugly gardens were full of weeds, rock filler, random bricks and leaves from winter's past. Something had to be done to fix it, and for about $20 total, we spent about a day and a half to make them beautiful by pulling all the weeds, rebricking the perimeter, and pouring down some nice new mulch. It's also where I show off my pretty succulents, which really need to come inside now that it's getting cold! We also redid the two gardens on either side of the gate to the back yard, but Slade decided the ornamental peppers I planted were actually edible despite the fence around it. Also when it rains even a little the backyard looks like New Orleans after Katrina and both gardens especially flood! The ferns are still surviving! 

Lawn Decor 

Before

After

These came with the house and really needed to be repainted to match all the color the rest of the garden has. I assume the bottom one used to say "welcome", but I couldn't just throw it away. Also because it technically doesn't belong to us. Our land lords left some decorations behind and I've used almost all of them in my designs!