Garage Addition

When we decided to build our house we had a short list of absolute "must haves". One of those was a three car garage. Since the floor plan was custom deigned, it was really easy to tack on a third bay to the house and have it look like it fit with the rest of the plan. We'd make it a through-and-through (doors at the front and back of the third bay) and it would be awesome. Yep, we thought we were so clever.

We were so happy to be moving forward once the plan was complete that we started construction guns a blazin'! But, uhm, take a look at the space behind the third garage bay. Yeh, that BIG, EMPTY space. Well, we realized after we moved in that it gets NO sunlight. Not such a bad thing, except we had planned to plant a garden and some bushes and creeping vines back there.

Darn it!! Not feeling so clever anymore.

Fast forward to this week. After countless ideas for the space while developing our landscaping plan, we finally decided that the best idea is to add to the garage and enclose the whole space. So, this week I am having a contractor come and give me a quote for the project, including the price to add a bathroom to the garage (think about it...no one running in and out of the house to use the facilites when having a BBQ, or cleaning paintbrushes in the kitchen sink).

On the down side, this will seriously eat into my landscaping budget for this year. On the plus side, we will have a four car garage, and will be able to right an error our contractor made by putting a basement window in the wrong location.

Wish me luck! For once, I have zero clue about what a project will cost. Yikes.

Christmas Decorating 2011 - Part 2

The second stop on our little tour is the upstairs Christmas tree in the bonus room. I used my black pre-lit tree in here again this year. I switched up the colours and decided to use white, silver, crystals and red.

Here we go.................

It's kind of hard to tell, but as well as some silver and red geo mesh at the top of the tree, there is also a white feather star.

 
I am so happy with this tree! It's really festive and not typically what I would use as colours. Gotta love those trips out of your comfort zone!

I tackled the banister next. I use artificial green garland and build it up with lights, ribbon, mesh and ornaments. Most of my garland is el cheapo and can look a bit skinny. Adding to it beefs it up and makes an inexpensive garland a little more luxe! This took me a total of 45 minutes...I think that's a record! I had a great time creating those wreaths, I even had a few extra to give away. I also indulged Mr. Mel's love for multicolour lights (gasp) and I have to admit that I love them!

I was well on my way to getting the house done, and then it happenned...BAM! An old back injury came back to haunt me and I was out of commission...just like that. I was so frustrated. So, with limited mobility for the past few weeks, I only managed to dump glass balls into every container I could get my hands on and put out a few other random decorations. Certainly not what I had planned, but it'll have to do for this year, health comes first!

This Santa stands about three feet tall and he's one of my favourites. I received him as a gift from my mother-in-law when Mr. Mel and I were just dating, and I also love that my kitty, Butterball, has licked the coating right off one of those fake berries! It makes me smile every year when I see it.

I also couldn;t resist putting up my little Disney Princess tabletop tree. It's impossible to have a bad day when Cinderella is smiling at you each morning. Over the years I've picked up some mini cupcake ornaments and Martha Stewart floral glass balls that are super cute.

Whew! Now that that's done, it's time to snuggle up with Mr. Mel and the kitties and reward myself with a cup of hot chocolate.

Peace out, and have a wonderful Christmas, everyone!