Inspired Weekend

On Saturday, I wandered around South Minneapolis on the Minneapolis St. Paul Home Tour with my buddy Liz. It was so much fun and provided me with a lot of inspiration. I was also able to reflect on what makes me feel like I am home. The first home we went to was new construction and while it wasn't one of those obnoxious city McMansions, it felt like a model home and I left feeling like the home owners had zero personality. All of the homes we visited afterward varied from the modern to the traditional. While I lean toward a more traditional style home on the exterior, I did find some features in two of the more modern homes that I liked. After our basement construction is complete, I would like to steal one home owner's idea by installing Armstrong rubber stair treads on the stairs leading to the basement.

Sunday was spent gardening from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM. A full work day! I hauled two loads of mulch in the Prius and decided while I was heavy lifting I would pick up some top soil to increase the foundation around our home. While it was important to do this to help drainage, more importantly we needed to hide the pink paint that was showing :).

Thanks to Liz's reminder, I installed the peony cage just in time!

Ugh oh! I just found another home improvement project. Mom and dad- get your paint brushes ready!
Because I managed to kill the climbing rose bush, I made the decision to remove the arch trellis from the entry into our backyard. This will be available to a new owner on my garage sale this spring!

The path into our backyard sans rose trellis arch. I will be redoing the stone walking path at some point this summer.

I took this photo to show the spot in our yard where I would like to add a tree. Our home is not showing but it is on the right and my goal is to obstruct the view from my home into our neighbor's home. I do not want a tree that will grown really wide or tall. I am interested in something that will offer visual interest year-long. Any ideas?