{upcycled} $20 planters for free

This yellow door is inspiring all kinds of projects for me. First among them...planters. I knew I needed to get some yellow flowers in front of the house to go with the fun yellow front door, but when I bought these Mums from Costco for $14 each, I wasn't happy with the wimpy round containers that they came in.

Enter Ana's $20 planters. Except I built them for free. Well, almost free. I had the screws on hand but I had to buy a new bottle of wood glue. The glue cost about $6, but since I only used about an eighth of the bottle, I don't think it really counts as a cost. The wood itself was free -- I took it from a pile of old fence wood at a friend's house. One of my favorite things about my friends is that they are all good DIYers. This friend, in particular, loves to re-purpose old wood and he builds stunningly beautiful furniture from it. Thankfully, he was generous enough to let me pick from his pile of wood so these planters were nearly FREE to me! What could be better? Rustic planters, no money. I know I'm a dork, but this is my idea of fun.

I modified Ana's plans to fit my mums, so the panels are 17" wide, making the planters about 21" square and 20" tall. Because the wood is old and wonky, I also added a trim piece to the tops of the planters to help them look a bit more finished.

For the 2x2 legs, I used some 2x4s from the bargain bin at Home Depot. I'd had them around a while, waiting for a project like this. They were new cedar -- bright golden yellow like new cedar is. I ripped them down to 2" wide on my table saw and then oxidized them with this solution which has been sitting in a jar in my garage since May, but works just as well as ever. I just keep adding more vinegar to it. I love how the new legs match the old weathered wood perfectly.

With these new pops of yellow, I think the shocking yellow door fits in a bit better. Clearly, I still need some yellow among my perennials, but that will have to wait until spring. For now, these Mum-filled containers will do the trick.

{juice} Royal Flush

I've been playing a bit of poker lately, so when I made this beautiful purple juice and realized that I'd juiced 5 ingredients (it wasn't until later that I blended in the sixth ingredient), it seemed like Royal Flush was a fitting name. So, no, it's not named for what the juice does to your body...that is, unless your body isn't used to eating veggies. Then this juice might cause you to experience a royal flush.

I'd love to blend some kale or spinach into this juice, along with the blueberries, but I'm always afraid to blend green with purple because it makes...brown. Ugh. I try to keep my green juice green and my purple juice purple.

When I've got super fresh beets, I juice the beet greens, too. These greens had seen better days, though, so I left them out. I scrub the beets well before I juice them -- I'm not a fan of grit in my juice. Most of my beets and apples fit into my juicer uncut, but occasionally I need to halve or quarter them to get them through the chute.

Be careful with this juice -- it is refreshing and tasty and maybe a little bit addictive. Kinda like poker.

Not-so-Forceful Orange

Forceful Orange turned out to be less forceful than I had expected and more like a really cheerful yellow. Think Caution Sign Yellow or Sunflower Yellow or Inside of a Perfectly Ripe Peach Yellow.

So much for all the thought that went into choosing Forceful Orange, right? And the hours on Pinterest finding inspiring orange doors?

Here is what happened. I called our closest Sherwin-Williams store to order a quart of Forceful Orange. They were having a 40% off anniversary sale. I make it a point to buy good paint when it is on sale because, frankly, at $22/quart I don't get too excited about buying full-price paint. Unfortunately, my store was out of the vivid yellow base that they need to mix Forceful Orange. So I called another store. The next store had one quart of vivid yellow base. Whew. So I ordered my paint (and they honored the 40% off from the other store, yay!).

I went to pick up my paint and the girl hadn't had a chance to mix it, but she had set aside my vivid yellow base. I watched as she opened up the quart and put it under the machine that squirts out the colorants.

Then we both gasped in horror. The machine burped. Or spit up a little. Red colorant went everywhere except into the quart of paint. The last quart of paint. The quart of paint around which I had planned my whole weekend. Apparently the new no-VOC colorants dry out easily and clog the dispenser. Sherwin-Williams is trying to fix the problem, but in the meantime this burping seems to be happening pretty regularly. Hooray for no-VOC colorants, though -- to me, the hassle is worth the lower VOC paint.

So the sweet Sherwin-Williams employee, whose shoulders drooped as much as mine did when she saw the colorant go everywhere, cleaned up the mess and tried to get as much colorant as possible into the paint. Then she added a bit more and mixed it up. Once she was done adding colorant and mixing and testing and adding more and mixing and testing some more, it seemed to be a perfect match.

But somehow the paint, once it was on my door, didn't match the sample.

I'm going to chalk this one up to happy accidents, though. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Even if it is...yellow.

Here's a little before and after for you:

And from farther back so you can see the whole house (sorry, the before was taken a few years ago -- we've lost a few trees and gained a few perennials in the meantime):

Since I think this is the first time I've officially talked about the front of our house on this blog, I'm going to show you a before-before, also. As in, this is what the house looked like when I made an offer on it:

I know, right? Wow. It's the same gravel in the driveway, since the previous owners had just laid it that spring (oh how I wish it weren't pink). It's the same roof (which we loooove!). It's the same deck but it's been stained to match the new siding and paint. Other than that, it pretty much looks like a different house, am I right? Crazy.

And, just so you know, we didn't purposely get rid of those Aspens in front of the house. Aspens seem to have a relatively short life span and most of ours started dying around the time we moved in. I swear I didn't purposely kill them. The good news is we've got a few volunteers popping up in the front yard and of those few, one or two seem to be making it despite the deer and drought.

So, there you go. What was meant to be a Forceful Orange door is now a Cheerful Yellow door but, maybe because it's such a happy color, I am absolutely fine with it. I'm not sure how long I'll love living with a yellow door (it is by far the brightest door in our neighborhood), but for now I love the punch and character it adds to our otherwise boring, ho-hum house.

Forceful? Or Raucous?

Those are the names of the two orange paint colors I decided to try out for our front door. Actually, I tried "Mandarin" too, but it was too pink-toned and so it is officially out of the running.

So that you can see what "forceful" and "raucous" look like when applied to a painted front door, I've (poorly) photoshopped some before and after photos. Even fake before and after photos are fun to check out, right?
Here is our front door today:

It's a Pella door and that is the factory finished color -- sorry I can't remember the name. The door is nearly five years old, I think. The finish is fading and chipped and has my kids' awesome hand prints all over it. I like the color...I'm just ready for change.

Here is "Forceful Orange."

Here is "Raucous Orange."

Now you can vote.

Well, not really...Scott and I have already made the decision. I did actually let some friends vote today, though. I had both color samples painted on 1' x 1' pieces of cardboard. I hung them up next to the door as our neighborhood CSA members were stopping by to pick up their fruits and veggies. I let them vote and share their opinions; it was fun hearing their reactions. Older and younger people tended to choose "raucous" orange, the more red of the two colors. Middle-aged people, who also happen to be the people who know me better, chose "forceful" orange, the brighter and more yellow of the two colors. Some of them said that it was because the yellow-er "forceful" orange fit me better.

I didn't tell them the names of the colors...hopefully neither one would have fit my personality perfectly. But, I do think some of my friends recognized that I was going for a more shocking, less conservative color.

"Forceful" is definitely shocking and not at all conservative.

In fact, my HOA might send me a letter...

I guess we'll find out!

Sunset. Tangerine. Kumquat. Marigold. Pumpkin.

What do all these things have in common?

Yep...orange. I've had orange on my mind lately. Actually, orange has been on my mind for the past six months or so. My front door needs to be painted and I think I'm going to go orange. Bold, fun, a bit whimsical. As I get older, I seem to take myself less and less seriously (which is great, especially if you know where I started out). I think orange reflects my evolving go-with-the-flow, enjoy-every-minute side, and I'd like my house to reflect me.

So, orange it is. Don't bother trying to talk me out of it. Instead, check out some of my inspiration photos and get on board. (Haha...I told you my fun side is evolving.)

Source: styleathome.com via Hillary on Pinterest

Source: fourthickwalls.files.wordpress.com via Hillary on Pinterest

Source: letschipit.com via Hillary on Pinterest

Source: ths.gardenweb.com via Hillary on Pinterest

Source: letschipit.com via Hillary on Pinterest

The cat's out of the bag...

As Ana mentioned here in her post with plans for this end table, that black entertainment center in the background of this photo? I've been trying to keep it under wraps because it is in Ana's new book, The Handbuilt Home!

It was really hard to photograph -- I think because it is black and up against a light colored wall, plus the days I shot it were unusually cloudy so there wasn't much light to work with. And, clearly, I'm no photography expert. I'll talk more about the whole process once Ana's book is released.

Pre-order your copy now!

{juice} Rose-Colored Glasses

Juice has become kind of a big deal in my life over the last four months. In fact, when we're away from home for a few days, Scott and I start to crave juice. We drink it daily or almost daily; sometimes I even use it as a meal replacement when I'm too lazy to make food. I use the Breville Compact juicer and I mostly juice green stuff like kale, cucumbers, and celery mixed with yummies like ginger, apple, and lemon. Sometimes I combine the juice with whole berries or spinach in my blender.

But then CSA season arrived.

For me, CSA season means an abundance of beets which I don't really care for. In fact, I still have some roasted, frozen ones in my freezer from last summer. But guess what? When you juice beets, they're awesome. Beets are nutrient-dense and their juice is a beautiful ruby color.

I have been known to drink juice that is the color of mud, but I prefer not to.

So today when I created this gorgeous concoction and realized that it was tasty, too, I knew I had to share it with you. It's the prettiest colored juice I've made so far, and it made me feel happy. Optimistic. Like I was seeing the world through rose-colored glasses.

{oxidized} X End Table

With the popularity of the X Coffee Table and X Console, I thought I should put together an X End Table to complete the collection. This table is built almost completely out of scraps from the other two tables; all I had to buy was one 1x12 and a 2x4 to complete the table.

I built this table using the plans for the X Coffee Table, just modified to be taller and narrower. The finished dimensions ended up being about 27" square by 24" tall. The finish is the same oxidized finish as the other two tables. We're really happy with the size of the table -- it fits nicely between our big sofa and big chair and the height makes it a perfect place to set a big bowl of popcorn while we watch a movie.

I'm still on the lookout for a big basket or canvas tote or maybe a galvanized tub to go on the bottom shelf. I've been keeping a down throw on that shelf, but if I can find something bulky to put it in, I think the table will be complete!

Psst...Ana White put together plans for this end table and posted them here! Thanks, Ana!