All Decked Out: An Outdoor Room

I may have mentioned just a few times that this past winter was pretty brutal.

So when warm weather finally arrived, I was ready for it. I wanted to spend as much time outside as humanly possible.

To take advantage of the great outdoors, I wanted to turn our deck into a "room" where we could entertain and relax.

For years our deck furnishings consisted of a table and chairs, two wooden Adirondack chairs and a grill. It was fine for dining al fresco, but it didn't offer much in the way of comfort. When the Adirondack chairs fell apart, we wanted to replace them with something super comfortable.

Enter new outdoor furniture from the Provence collection at Restoration Hardware...

A sofa and two lounge chairs provide the perfect place to kick back and relax.






It's no big secret that my thumb is not green. My flowers always start out looking good this time of year, and I always vow to keep them looking good through the hot summer. My success rate is dismal. Maybe this year it will be better.

One of my favorite things I planted this year is a mini succulent garden.

I found this shallow limestone planter at HomeGoods, and filled it with soil, sand, rocks and a variety of succulents.

I don't know why, but it makes me so darn happy!

The teak coffee table was a steal at a local hardware store, and the teak side tables I moved outside from my sunroom. They will eventually weather to a gray patina.

Our teak dining table and chairs were damaged in a hailstorm last year, and I'm in the process of sanding them.

I used to oil them to keep them brown, but it was way too much effort. I'm embracing the gray, weathered look from now on :)

On top of the table, I potted a citronella plant. It smells wonderful, and supposedly rubbing the leaves on your skin keeps the bugs away. We'll see about that.

Here's a little tip for my fellow lazy gardeners: buy a beautiful hanging basket, plop it into a planter and cut off the hanging wire...

Our deck gets pretty hot during the day, so umbrellas are essential. The large one over the lounge chairs was from the Frontgate outlet a couple of years ago. I found the smaller one at Lowe's last week. I think they coordinate rather well.

We are really enjoying our new outdoor room! Hoping Mother Nature gives us plenty of nice days to enjoy it.

Have a great day!!


Sharing at Wow Us Wednesdays

Ode to the Fiddle Leaf Fig

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Oh, fiddle leaf fig... how I adore thee.

I admire your unique, sculptural beauty.

Your lush green leaves are incredibly charming.

Your natural allure is quite disarming.

You grace the rooms of many a stylish home.

I knew I wanted you for my own.

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I searched for you at nurseries, big box stores and the internet.

But, finding you nowhere, I began to fret.

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Then one fateful day, I squealed with delight...

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When at a local nursery you came into sight.

So happy to find you, I knew just what to do.

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I said "what the heck," and came home with two.

I've professed my love for you, and I haven't been shy.

So do me a favor, and please don't die!!

Hydrangeas & Waterscape Vases

Good Morning!

Thank you for all your kind comments about my mudroom countertop skirt. You are so good to me. You didn't even give me a hard time about it taking nearly 2 years to complete! I suppose you realize by now that I am a slow poke.

Did you happen to notice the hydrangeas in my mudroom?

There are few things that make me as happy as fresh flowers. And, I'm especially giddy about these hydrangeas because they came from my backyard.

I normally have a very difficult time keeping my outdoor flowers alive, let alone keeping them healthy enough to clip and bring inside. But, thanks to the unusually mild temps and rain we're experiencing in the midwest, my hydrangeas are looking fabulous.

I'm thinking about trying my hand at drying them. Any tips?

I bought these West Elm vases as an early Mother's Day present to myself. It was love at first sight, and they were on sale, so I thought I'd do my husband and kids a favor and take the gift-buying burden off of them. I'm thoughtful like that :)

Seriously, these waterscape vases are my absolute favorite. I was having heart palpitations when I was picking them out. If money were no object, I would have wiped West Elm clean of them. I'd put them on every available surface in my house. I'd jump on Oprah's couch for them. That is how deeply I adore them.

What about you? Have you grown anything in the backyard (that you can talk about) or made any recent purchases that make you go a little Tom Cruise crazy?

House Plants Even I Can't Kill (Hopefully!)

I've recently added some living organisms to my my abode, and I'm not referring to more kids or dogs.

I'm talking plants. Plants that anyone can keep alive. Even a gardening-challenged person such as myself.

The lucky bamboo I showed you was only one of my recent nursery purchases. I also picked up some more of my go-to, extremely-difficult-to-kill favorites.... succulents.

I love the interesting shapes and colors of succulents.

They're perfect for adding texture and interest to a tabletop, bookshelf or bathroom counter.


It's not strictly succulent around here though. I have tried my luck with orchids, and sometimes I can keep them alive for a pretty good stretch.

Angel's Tears seemed pretty easy to care for, so I put some in the pots on my coffee table.

I was really enjoying the look of this delicate greenery. That was until my brother sat on my couch and started singing, "cha cha cha chia..."

Now I'm thinking I might need to draw some faces on the pots.

What plants do you use around your house? Succulents? Orchids? Chia pets?

Fall Window Box

It's starting to look a bit like Fall around here.

I planted some Fall flowers in the window box on our side porch.

I love adding small pumpkins or gourds to my Fall planting. I like the color and texture, and it helps to fill in the bare spots when the flowers haven't filled in yet.

Some asters...



Some pansies...

 Some kale...

And the window box is complete.

I need to put some mums and kale in my other pots, but now my geraniums and lantana that looked so withered and pathetic during the hot summer have come back to life, and I don't have the heart to rip them out just yet. Does that ever happen to you??

Happy Fall :)

Planters and Pregnancy

Happy Friday! Hope you've had a great week. Ours has been crazy busy, and it's not showing signs of slowing down. Tomorrow we have a soccer game, baseball pictures and a baseball game, a cross country meet and a guitar recital ... all before 2pm. I'm getting heart palpitations just thinking about it!

So, I'm keeping it short and sweet tonight. I just want to share with you the one home project I accomplished today.  Remember these boxwoods I got for the front entrance?

Well, today they finally got new living quarters and a few roommates...

I chose ivy geraniums because they usually do well in this spot. (And, because I know my dog doesn't eat them.) I chose the purple super bells, because they like full sun and require no maintenance other than watering. (Not sure if they're on the dog's diet plan. I guess I'll find out soon enough).

I was so happy with how they turned out. And I was thrilled when the woman working at the nursery told me I was the cutest pregnant girl she's seen. Did I mention to you that I was pregnant? No? Well, maybe that's because I'M NOT!!!!

So add an ab workout and a Garnet Hill tunic-burning to tomorrow's list of activities.


(Oh, and don't forget Sarah's Summer Cottage premieres on HGTV tomorrow night. I can't wait!!)

Making an Entrance

You may recall that I'm trying to shed my rep as a plant killer. 

I posted here about trying to create some new front planters that resemble

this...

So this weekend I went to the nursery and picked out a couple of innocent, unsuspecting boxwoods for my front stoop. Here they are, blissfully unaware that they are standing where so many of their fellow foliage have met an untimely death.

I channeled my inner Edward Scissorhands...

and gave them a new look...

Well, maybe they look more like bonsai trees than topiaries, but I'm hoping as they grow I'll be able to round them out some more. I was trying to be conservative, so I didn't kill them on day one.

And, don't worry... they won't be housed in those plastic black tubs for much longer. I found a pair of planters that I'm considering getting.

I need to make a decision soon and get the boxwoods transplanted to new containers. Otherwise, they're likely to kick the bucket and I'll never change my reputation.