Our Starter Lawn and Entryway and then a Garden Party

It is hard to believe that we are already on the fag end of 2016 summer. With all I know, August will pass in a flash and schools would re-open and we would be celebrating yet another Halloween. While all these seem routine, for us everything is new. It has just been two weeks in this new home of ours, and here I am celebrating a Garden Party already :-)

Please join me on this fabulous party hosted by Ursula of Home Made By Carmona and be inspired with some outstanding outdoor spaces.

Now, a very hearty welcome to all those who are new over here. I am Anima, formerly a software engineer with no clue on what was going on around me - turned mother, home maker and a design enthusiast and student. I live in Aldie, Virginia with my small family in a sub-urban builder spec home. We moved just a couple of weeks ago and this is a story of our newly laid out starter garden.

Well, I am not really sure if we can call our lawn, a garden yet, because it is still in its initial days, with a number of patches yet to turn green. Have you ever imagined the amount of work it takes to build those lush green lawns in the neighborhood homes? I never really thought about it until we were thrown an almost golden lawn at our faces and asked to water it, nurture it and turn it into green. It is scary for a black thumbed one like me. .

As of now, we are advised to water it, given the temperature twice a day. Early mornings are the best time to water, so we start around 6 and it goes on until 8 and evening we do it around the time of sunset. Ours is a fairly large backyard that is open to neighbors and while we are not allowed to dig or build on it for initial months when it is under warranty period, all I could do to feel at home was to set up a few plants in the front entry. And that is what I did. A little curb appeal doesn't hurt anyone right? How do you add a little pretty when there is no much budget or time? Let us find out.

The front Door - As I said earlier - there are limitations on me as how far I can play with the things around here - so anything I add must be cosmetic. What better way to decorate your front door than a cutie wreath?

I made this pretty and functional planter with the help of a tutorial from Home Depot. If you are not aware, they conduct weekly workshops for small DIYs which I have found to be very useful. This was supposed to be house number display plate, but since I do have house numbers displayed prominently on a number of spots, I just turned it to be a welcome message board. More on that in another post - that is when I figure out how to put that up on our vinyl siding ( Couldn't find a suitable hook - and drilling is a non-starter with my husband.) Any help there from you would be highly appreciated.

Here are some of different angles of the yard and some close-up shots for your entertainment. :-)

Here is a glimpse of the street.

And some pinwheels - must have for summer right? Even though they magically disappear when ever my little one is out and about :-)

With that we conclude this impromptu garden tour. Please do come back to enjoy some of my easy, frugal tweaks to get this builder spec home into one with charm, personality and character and lots of love and happiness.

And before you go, do check out all these wonderful spaces.

MODERN FEATURES AND FIXTURES

We are at a house hunting phase and I have been seeing a lot of houses. One thing that I have noticed is how rare it is to see modern architecture and decor in this part of  Virginia. If at all I saw any modern design, they were condos and apartments. Not single family houses or townhomes. It is not that I have seen it all by now, but as much as I have seen in real and in the real estate sites, 90% of them are anything but modern.

A WORKSPACE TOUR

If you are a reader here for a while, you already know this. I am a stay at home and a homemaker for past few years. I am also an avid crafter/maker and I love decorating my home and blogging about it. As much as I adore blogging I don't consider it as a job or business. It is a passion.

But to be honest this passion is also work. Those who blog know that I am understating it when I say it is a lot of work. And it is also a passion that is fuelled by validation too. Yes, I mean it when I say it. It is incredibly encouraging to have your work noted, being able to talk about it. I think it is with like any other job, though with regular job it is so subtle and common to be part of a team that no one stops for these thoughts.

I must say I like the comfort of calm and peace while I write or make. A place where I could shut down all the noise around me, which is also a dream but for a few hours since I have a little girl. But I didn't take that thought seriously until I came across WeWork, a co-working company with an incredible thought and mission. They strive to create co-working spaces and an inspiring community for freelancers who can rent an office space with all necessary services (food and coffee included) on a monthly subscription basis. You can meet like minded peers and interact and feel the force of community if you choose to do so. A creative space to work and the feel of community, both something all freelancers and makers like me crave for. Interesting isn't it?

So on to the work space "the inspired me" created -

To be honest, it is a basic space though it has all the minimum necessities to function as a creative space. A desk, a comfortable chair, storage, colors for inspiration, knick knacks for decor and simple tools for an organised space.

I have tried to pretty up the shelves and pair down my belongings so that the place and shelves don't look or feel cluttered. It also gives space to grow as and when I need more storage.

There are a number of things I want to add to the space -  more artwork, a DIY Calendar etc. Stay tuned for them.

So how do you feel? Would you be thrilled to join a community that believe in empowering their team to create their own life's work and look after each other and care about the work and welfare of the team?

This post is inspired by WeWork, a co-working company. Please check out the details HERE. Interestingly among the offices they have in almost all the major cities in US and around the world , we have three centres in Washington DC,  here they are. That point is especially interesting for me - a DC girl.

Anima