Hello there! It’s back to school time around here…I can hardly believe it. The weird thing is, now hubby is home with me during the day while the Bub goes off to school. I LOVE it. So far. ;) Seriously, it is so amazing that he will be home most days to help get him off to school and off the bus…it is truly a blessing and I’m so looking forward to this fall.
Today I’m sharing a super easy project that I didn’t think was going to be quite so easy – don’t you love when it works out like that? It’s my first project on the True Value Blog Squad this year and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. This isn’t a pretty project necessarily, but it’s an organized one…and that makes my heart sing, truly.
We have two water spigots on our house – one on each side. We added one in the building process and I’m so glad we did. But one is in a weird spot near our air conditioner on the side of the house – actually right behind the air conditioner which is just seriously brilliant planning. (That’s sarcasm.)
It’s an odd little spot that also houses the gas meter and other ugly stuff and years ago I installed pavers back there to clean it up a little bit. I didn’t put any weed blocker down though, so we’ve got lots of weeds that come up through them and a lovely tree that started growing right by our foundation. It was impossible to kill but we finally did it…but little sprouts come up every year so we have to keep on top of those. Who knew how invisible trees are??
Anyway…that corner is always a hot mess. We have used a hose holder thingamajob that you roll up and it’s a total pain in the butt. And somewhere along the way another huge lawn hose got added in (ask hubby, no idea), so we had, like 150 feet of hose there:
I think the deal was that one wasn’t long enough, so we needed two, but two won’t fit on the hose reeler-inner-thing. And, can I just say, that black hose ALWAYS looked like a snake to me? Not cool.
Seriously, I can barely look at it in that picture. Ick.
So…I had an idea to tidy up that corner, and it first came in the form of a little spot at my True Value that I stop at every. time. I visit:
They have a huge selection of iron plant hooks and holders, and I always admire them but don’t really need another hanging plant, so I keep on walking. Well, this idea allowed me to pick one up on our trip there a few weeks ago – but more on that in a bit.
First of all, I needed a four by four post. I had one already, but ended up cutting it too short, so picked up one of those at TV too.
At first I was planning on digging a hole about a foot deep and using quick drying cement to secure it. Then I was told I really needed to go about THREE feet deep, and use one of those hole digger things. I was like, whoa. Not what I had in mind. And the more I started thinking of it, the more I realized I wasn’t sure I wanted to have this thing permanently in that spot.
So when I saw this option, I knew it was the solution:
So it’s a post holder and normally you’d use it on a deck or other wood surface because you can drill down into the holes to secure it. But it’s super heavy steel so I figured it would be heavy enough to hold it upright all by itself.
And I was right:
I cut the post at about 40 inches with the saw and then put it inside. Those bolts on the sides tighten up and make it super secure – it’s not going anywhere.
You can see that I just pulled out one of the pavers and it fit right in there…like it was meant to be!
Next up was the hose holder part. That’s where the iron plant hook comes in:
I just installed it upside down so there was plenty of room for the hose to lay in there. It’s perfect!
OK, let’s talk about that hose, shall we? You’ve seen these on TV right? Well, I’ve wanted one forEVER now, and last month while at the Mall of America, we came upon the As Seen on TV store…also known as the Greatest Store Ever.
We found one there and decided to try it out before we got another one, and I have to tell you, they ROCK. Because it rocked so much, I picked up one more at True Value:
I think each one grows to about 50 feet long, but they stay scrunched up when not in use. I’ve used it a ton and so far it’s held up great. I LOVE them. We now have two connected on that side of the house, so it reaches around all the way to the front or all the way to the back of the patio easily.
I highly recommend them! The bonus is that they are super light and don’t take up much space. And they don’t look like a snake. Triple bonus.
Because I can’t leave well enough alone, and because I love adding a little bit of pretty when I can, I also picked up one of these planters at True Value for the top of the post:
I can’t remember what that plant is, but I had it in two planters on the patio and one just completely died for no reason (well…it could be the whole I didn’t water it enough reason, whatever). So I transplanted the others into this planter -- they were needing some sun and water but they’ve already perked up since these pics. It’s a beautiful, full plant when it’s happy.
All in all it took me maybe 20 minutes from start to finish – the not digging and no cement certainly helped!:
I’m planning on doing this to the other side of our house too, since we have the same mess over there most of the time.
Now if you are using a regular hose (that’s a little heavier) you may need to secure the post into the ground better…but I’m actually thinking it would be OK as is. You could also put some stakes through the holes into the ground to help.
Like I said, it’s not a beautiful after…but it’s much cleaner and organized:
OK, that’s beautiful to me. ;)
We can now walk right over to the spigot to turn on the water for the first time in years. It’s the little things. I love it! Of course the little planter on top is optional, but I think it’s cute. I also found it’s useful for holding extra sprayers too, so that’s an option.
How to do you keep your water hoses under control? Does your husband collect them like mine? :) Next up I need to redo that whole paver area, but for now I’m just enjoying the clean space!
I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. For more DIY inspiration, take a look at True Value’s Pinterest boards!