Dog House Door, Gates, Potted Plants, and Organization Project

Winter Dog Door and Threshold for Dog House.

In the winter one door and side vents will be blocked off in the dog house. The second door will have a raised threshold the dogs will have to step over. The threshold will help keep cedar chips in the dog house. I made the dog house door to look like the front door.

House Front Door vs. Dog House Door:

Dog House Winter Door and Threshold: (fringe's head shadow)

Gates and Fencing

I have been slowly painting the wrought iron fencing and gates. I also had a gate installed down in the "pit"area by the pool. This area only had an old piece of chain link fence propped up against the wall with rocks. I installed the footer and threshold block before the gate was installed. The dog yard originally had a single gate up against the house which made it difficult getting things into the back yard. I had the fencing reconfigured and a double gate installed. New gates and old gates and fencing are painted anodized bronze.

"Before" fence in need of a repaint:

New gate in pool "pit' area:

Reconfigured gate and fence in dog yard:

Potted Plants in Ramada Area

NE corner under Ramada:

Plants on each side of gate to dog yard:

Organization Project

I needed a sturdier way to store my various paper/office products. The cheap cardboard organizer was not cutting it. I built these two storage boxes out of 3/4" oak plywood. The shelves (which can be removed) are out of 1/4" masonite. The boxes were stained with English Chestnut and topped with a tung oil finish.

Metal Roof, Gong, & Fountain Area

The metal roof over the bar area and on the dog house are now finished. (The sections of fence in the lower left are surrounding a desert willow until it is big enough to be dog proof. And the red thing on the right is the concrete mixer that I need to get out of the dog yard.)

I bought an Indonesian gong from gongs-unlimited. It is 18 inches in diameter (sorry I couldn't spend over a grand for a 36" one). It is hanging across from the front door since I don't have a doorbell.

The fountain area was surrounded by ugly white rock. (I like natural rocks.) The metal outlet for the fountain was rusted out from being too close to the ground. I repaired, raised and replaced the outlet, bought a new pump and planted Liriope (monkey grass) around the fountain.

Fountain Area Before:

Fountain Area After:

Well, I think it looks much better. The pot with an aloe is to partially block the electrical outlet box. The big bush is a jojoba which probably took up residence by itself (They are one of the most prolific desert shrubs and it does stay (grayish) green year round.