The Gardens At Sweet Pea

Well it's official~~the dog days of summer are here. We go from one extreme to the other. No rain, too much rain. I am actually quite surprised by the stamina of my gardens this year, as usually most of my plants are looking more than a bit tired by now. It isn't easy to garden in Florida. Early on I tried to achieve the cottage garden look, and I will admit that I wasted a lot of money on fussy perennials that never stood a chance even though Jackson and Perkins guaranteed they would. Those plants are but a memory now, and while I long for peonies, snapdragons and delphiniums I have learned to use what works in this brutal climate I call home. Here is a look inside the gardens at Sweet Pea...

Concrete Counter Tops

When I requested help for my kitchen countertops, a number of people suggested concrete.


One of them -- Kevin Ritter of Timeless Kitchen Design -- even sent a link to a kitchen he did that featured tin wall tiles and concrete countertops. Looks good, doesn't it? I've also experimented with staining concrete (your garage floor is a great place to experiment), and you can get some nice color tones -- copper is one of them.

There's an Instructable for making your own concrete countertops, if you'd want to take that on. It looks challenging and time consuming, but quite possible for the handy.

7 Concrete Designs.

In addition to staining, there's lots of possibilities in concrete -- you can embed things in it, or score it, or combine ideas to make something particularly spectactular.

Absolute Concreteworks

I don't know what I'll end up doing, but concrete is definitely worth thinking about. It would add a nice industrial edge to my traditional cabinetry.

Brassing up the old dishwasher

Lee sent me a link to these instructions on how to make old appliances look "new." The new they are referring to here is faux stainless steel, but the same type of contact paper is also available in brass....



In fact, I think brass contact paper could have a multitude of uses in a steampunk home. (Or copper, if you prefer.) Covering a boring side table? Papering a wall in a bathroom? Adding interest to the interior of a bookshelf? Any other ideas?


Now, if only someone can come up with a way to antique it.