Welcome to the Shepherd Residence!

Today's post is pretty personal for me...because it's actually OUR house.  But it started out as my house!  For the past few years, I've been a single momma raising a sweet toddler.  With a busy schedule of full time teaching and then coming home to my sweet little girl, no much time remained for playing in my yard.  I bought the house as a foreclosure several years ago and while I've been able to create a beautiful interior, the outside just wasn't a priority...and it has been a huge embarrassment for me!  I've dreamed of the outside matching the beauty of the inside but with limited funds and even more limited time, it was a struggle just to keep the grass cut most days.

Like many of you, my front landscape was packed full of boxwoods that over the years had become overgrown and seemed to smother my front entry.  It was dark and uninviting!

 

 

Yep, pretty ugly, huh?!!  I had no idea where to even start.  I, seriously, would just stand in my front yard with a blank stare. 

 

It all changed with I met John Shepherd...ha!  In an effort to when my heart, that sweet man started cutting my grass.  And I fell head over heals <3!  After helping to get the lawn somewhat under control (it's still a work in progress!), we started talking about simple and inexpensive ways we could up the curb appeal.  Little did I know that blond-haired cutie would go from boyfriend to husband a few months later and this eye sore of a yard would go from "mine" to "ours"...He's so lucky!  LOL!

 

Fast forward to about a month ago...

 

I get a text message while a work of a picture of the front of my house.  I knew he was planning on working in the yard...but had NO idea he was going to dig up the entire front landscape!  We hadn't even finalized exactly what we wanted to do with the yard.  All I could see was $$$!  How much is this going to cost us?  I probably should have mentioned that in our marriage, he is the dreamer and I'm the financial adviser.  It has worked well for us so far but I was started to question things when I pulled into the driveway later that afternoon.

 

 

Guess there was absolutely zero turning back now!  So we spent my spring break getting the front yard put back together.  John drew up a design, we shopped for plants, prepared the soil, and got to work.  The results...AMAZING!  I have never been happier coming home each day.  I am so proud of what my house looks like from the outside.  The crazy hubs of mine gave me the front landscape of my dreams!  And the best part for this budget-loving girl...It was completely affordable.  It was actually MUCH cheaper than I anticipated. 

 

 

So here is the nearly finished product!  Isn't it beautiful?!!  To help keep costs down, we opted to purchase smaller plants that will grow in beautifully over time.  Also, the plants John chose for this design are very low maintenance and do not require the weekly pruning of those monstrous boxwoods!  With two children under the age of 4, we are always on the run so low maintenance is the best choice for our yard.  I can't wait to come back and show updated pictures as the landscape continues to flourish.  My little slice of heaven finally looks like heaven!  I'm completely in love <3!

 

Jen