The organizing mania in my craft room is invading other areas and a couple of weekends ago we decided it was time to tackle the area behind my greenhouse, which actually isn’t a greenhouse anymore, but I’ll be sharing that redo in another post.
Here’s the before.
Our poor compost bin was being overrun.
This area is where we were keeping our bonfire wood… pieces of taken down trees, rotted cedar rail fence posts etc…
We finally got the pile down to the landscape fabric so we decided it was time to clean it up.
The lawn mower decided to give us the silent treatment so John used the weed whacker to take the weeds down as far as he could. (I don’t have a pic of this… bad blogger.)
Some cardboard box contributions from our local grocery store are put to good use. They’ll help to smother the weeds.
And we moved the two huge railway ties from behind the non-greenhouse, and permanently borrowed one from another garden. Man… they are h-e-a-v-y!!
Then landscape fabric was rolled on top, and all the seams were taped up with gorilla tape.
Then to the pile of pea gravel that we had delivered a few years ago for some pathway projects. Needless to say we got tired of hauling gravel and making pathways… so it’s just been laying there and mocking us.
Now I know what you’re thinking… I did help to load up the wheelbarrow. I just took a break to take the pic.
I swear this pea gravel multiplies like rabbits because no matter how much we take away the pile doesn’t seem to get any smaller.
Each little pile was a wheelbarrow full, so you can imagine how many loads John had to haul from the pile at the road to the back of the yard.
As I was spreading, smoothing, and leveling out the piles I decided it was too nice to mess up with bonfire wood.
Look Ma… no gloves… I love getting my hands dirty!!!
I’m linking up this photo to my friend Amy’s “This Is Me” self portrait link party at While Wearing Heels because… well… this is me
Here’s the before again.
And after hundreds of shovel-fulls of pea gravel… I just love it. This space is about 11′ x 11″. That’s bigger than my craft room!
I’m confiscating it for the expansion of my non-greenhouse, which will happen next Spring… but I’ll be showing you how I reorganized my non-greenhouse later this fall.
What would you do with this space?
Thanks so much for reading!
I love the pea gravel! It looks so neat now!
I would build a pergola over this space and have crusty, rusty metal garden furniture here with container gardens and vines growing all over the pergola…wait a minute! I am getting so carried away by the space. I forgot it is yours. Great job hauling all that gravel.
It looks much better! And do I spy furniture growing in your greenhouse?!
-andi
What a lot of work and it looks so good! I did notice the furniture in the greenhouse too. I noticed it right away. I would put a nice bistro set out there with some planters.
Cynthia
Wow. That looked like it was a lot of work but so worth it. It looks great. Do you still have gravel left over?
And, thank you so much for linking to my self portrait party. Loved your picture. I love that you aren't afraid to get your hands dirty. In the process, you always create such beautiful things.
I like the pergola idea. You have gotten a lot accomplished!!
Gosh I know that what a lot of work, but what an accomplishment! It always feels good to see results, doesn't it? Can't wait to see how you use it. (I'm sure a break from the craft room felt good too!) Have a great week-end!
I'm tired just looking at that pile of pea gravel but the end result is fabulous!
You need a tractor with a bucket on it girl! Your space looks lovely and I'm anxious to see what you do with it! I like to get my hands dirty too…I always start out with gloves, but seem to ditch them somewhere along the way.
It looks so nice now, I've pent plenty of days shifting gravel hard work but fun 🙂
Wow…what a great makeover! I love the space. Doesn't it feel good to look at this after all that hard work? I envision vintage planters (old wheel barrow, wash tub, funky containers) with flowering plants and trailing vines as well. The pergola sounds good too. I think a seating area of some kind would look very sweet here. I can't wait to see what you do.