Organization, Shelving, Decorating, Building a Swingset, and More

With the endless projects that we have going on here, we added a few more in the last few weeks. We got a used swingset from our neighbors and for Father's Day, Patty chose to add shelving and paint to the garage. There was shelving before but it was old, built in shelving. It was a very scary design decision made years ago by those unknown. I'm almost embarrassed to show what we are dealing with in this demo...

WTF Shelves...

This metal desk had shelving built on and around it and installed to the walls. This is the kid of stuff you inherit when you buy a foreclosure and we probably should have destroyed this design disaster when we moved in, but we were too busy with getting the interior livable with appliances, lighting, flooring, restroom, etc. Plus, it is true what you've heard. It is expensive to live in Southern California and we didn't really have the extra cash at the time to pour into the garage!

Lowes give store cardholders 10% off for Father's Day weekend! 

Hubby ripped it all down and put up some nice metal shelving from Lowes. He started painting the walls grey. The cool thing I didn't even realize, but to KNOW for next year is that Lowes gave us 10% off for Father's Day with our Lowes card!

What a great deal and reminds me pay a little more attention to their deals like that. Like Amazon Prime Day coming up this week. * Disclosure: These links are Amazon affiliate links for Prime Day and cookware I want to buy. If you click my links and make a purchase I will get a commission.

I hear that on July 15th the Amazon deals are going to be insane. Better than Black Friday.

I am looking for some new cookware and will be looking for Calphalon, Cuisinart or??? sets in Stainless steel.

Our garage was probably the most crowded, cluttered spot in this house and it is finally starting to look better. There was a time when it all seems overwhelming, but it is so nice to see it all coming together little by little.

Nice Shelves! Still a little bit of a stuff pile for a BIG garage sale we will have coming up.

FREE Swingset!!!

We also acquired a new (to us) swingset from our neighbors whose kids outgrew it. It was in great shape, they took great care of it, and it was nicer than the one we have so we moved it over. 

We saved a BUNCH of money on a FREE swing set.

Our neighbor took good care of this swing set and it's nice to save a bunch of money by getting it for free. We had talked about buying the one at Costco two years ago when it went on sale for $900 - I almost bought it but our backyard was NOT ready. Then I leveled this area with a rake and shovel on my own and bought the metal swing set in the background for $100 on Target.com.

Our neighbor was floored when he saw how fast it went together. He spent many, many weekends putting it together initially and my husband strategically took it apart (like a LEGO model!)

Still lots of work to do in the backyard but at least there is a big swingset, a trampoline, and lots to explore here, now.

We are definitely on a larger than typical lot in this area (which isn't saying much) and we have big plans to make the most of it. If you're lot has a view in our neighborhood, your yard can be as small the depth of our back patio. We scored with this yard. No denying.

I just need to replace the swings on Amazon for under $100.

He loves the loft on this thing. Of course he brought up his LEGO weapons.

 I figured our old set in the background would tide us over until we got a bigger set. Our son never showed much interest so we kind of forgot about buying a better playset for him. Plus we have a few other issues to attend to...

Are you dizzy, yet, from all these projects? So are we. What a mess. We are going to be tearing the roof off this place in the next month. Don't worry. We are hiring a professional for that.

We are going to need a carpenter, too. Know any? At least we have the decorator covered!

And yes, the Decorator did get a new haircut. Look out for that post coming up soon, too!! Check out our sponsored by Great Clips #MoreMinutes post!

We'll be featuring the Craft Cave/Office this week, too. Wait until you see it organized...