Patio Blueprint

These pictures are similar to the look I want to achieve for our deck. These are inspiration/reference only. Price and availability matter, and will effect the overall outcome. No worries here, I have been down this "decorate for less" road many tomes before. 

We have a open, wood deck (that needs refinishing) with a firepit, a rug, an outdoor loveseat, and an outdoor chair. The above picture bares a general resemblance of the look I want. 

I want an umbrella for some shade, but something simple, with a bold color. I want it to stand out, but not in a bad way.

I saw this, I don't know if I'll go this way, but an umbrella stand side table look is nice and functional...we'll see.

Nice, bold outdoor pillows, that coordinate with the umbrella. I may make some. Any pattern I like, is too expensive, but the cheaper pillows have "eh" patterns. Why spend $$$ on a piece of fabric filled with fluff?

I think lights hanging from the umbrella might be a cute, fun way to light up the porch...plus it's easy and inexpensive.

I ordered a storage bench, and I can't wait for it to get here. Yay pretty, functional storage! It's big enough to fit our small grill and some outdoor balls/toys.

If I can find a solar lantern that doesn't have any glass, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, I would like to place one on a side table with some small potted plants. We have strong storms here, things get blown around. Something that won't shatter is a must.

I would also like a bigger potted arrangement like this one. Eclectic, colorful, and little maintenance.  

This is a lemon tree in a pot. I like this idea a lot. I want something larger on the other side of the deck for balance, I want it colorful, and lemons drive away mosquitoes! Lemons can be used in a lot of foods and drinks, and don't rot fast, or attract bunnies for snacking.

I am still thinking about a hanging baskets, or wall-mount baskets, a shallow metal shelf? I think I need to wait and see how much sun reaches the deck after we set up the umbrella. I also don't want things I need to water a ton. Drought season is becoming year-round unfortunately. I'm pretty excited about the final look...I just hope I stay in my budget, and pull it together without too much effort. I know, ha ha, right?

M.LEWIS

The Outdoor Project

I have been done with household updates for quite awhile. In fact, this spring marks a whole year since I started to update the kitchen. I thought I was a little crazy for undertaking that project with a newborn, but I am so glad I did. My newborn was pretty chill at the time, and now she is a fussy attention-hungry almost one year old. I would have never been able to prime, paint, etc. with my Addy baby screaming at me and getting into everything!
Since the kitchen, I have done a few smaller projects. The starburst mirror; which went into our slightly updated master bedroom. Then there was the paint stripe that conveniently covered the previous owners' terrible spot job. Lastly, I did some bargain shopping, and fancied up my foyer. All these things have been minor, in my opinion.

I truly love making, creating, updating, and designing in my home. If I go too long without doing a project, even a minor one, I become antsy, fidgety.

Therefore, I have a couple things I am planning.

The first is a redesign project for the study/school room. This one is taking awhile. Funds were needed for home repairs and the right furniture was hard to find, but things seem to be falling back into place with this adventure; and hopefully I can give an update on this project soon.
The other project on my mind, is the backyard. I am not much of a "lounge around outside" person, mainly because it's only pleasant for about 3 months out of the year here, and partly because there are bugs and allergies that attack me the minute I step outside. My girls (and husband), however, love outside. So, I am trying to put my own feelings aside, and make it a more pleasant place to play and relax.

Right now, spring is creeping in, but things are still quite...well, dead. Chris has already been cursing the weeds, so I have been trying to rip up a lot of those so he doesn't have a meltdown. Ideally, we need to sand our deck, stain it, and seal it. Should I do that this spring? I think I should. I want to, but I don't know if my family wants me to be tied up in that...we'll see.
We have some patio furniture that is in good shape, a nice firepit, and we recently bought an outdoor rug. Plants will help a ton, but it's hard to find inexpensive, drought-resistant, heat-tolerant, thriving plants that I like. I want something tall and umbrella-like to plant around the deck for shade and privacy, but I don't know if that would look too crowded, and therefore, make the rest of the yard look sparse. We have a long, but shallow yard, so we don't have too much space to work with. I think I am leaning more towards shrubs and green plants and less towards flowers. I like flowers, but they seem fickle and die fast on me. Plus, they tend to attract bees and wasps which is not preferred in a relaxing, kid-friendly play area.
We have a small, collapsible grill that resides halfway under a bench outside my bedroom window. It's in a great location to collect all the rainfall off the roof, and ping loudly off the the aluminum cover. This would annoy me more if it rained here more often. Though, either way, this guy needs a better residence. I found a nice deck storage bin that should fit it with room to spare. I ordered it, and am crossing my fingers the measurements check out. If not, it will still be great for some tools and outdoor toys and double as a sitting bench if we toss some outdoor pillows on it...though we'll need a plan b for the grill.
I was also thinking of a wall mount flower planter, though I think the poor plants would shrivel up and die into week one of summer down here. *shrugs* I am still thinking about that one.

How much will all of this cost? Will it last more than one season? Will it look like the picture I want in my head? Will I still refuse to sit outside past June? All valid questions I am still pondering over. I do know we need to spruce it up, no matter the usage...it needs some love. This will be my semi-big project this spring. Even with it's uncertainty, I am looking forward to another upgrade. :) Updates to follow (hopefully with pictures)!


M.LEWIS

Home Repair Updates and a Couple Highlights of Life

The craziness continues over here at our house. Nothing we can't handle, but still...

The garage door saga seems to have concluded. We were out of a fully-functioning door for almost a month. Every time Chris seemed to get it working, it would fail in a new, confusing way. It took several new parts, and far too much time and patience, but it has been functioning normally for days with no issues. Hopefully, this is the end of the story.

The other house issue we have been dealing with, is the possibility of getting a new roof. A section of the roof has been lifting for years, but no leaks; now we have some missing shingles due to the high winds recently. We got a couple roofers out here, and the second guy recommended we get an insurance adjuster out here to look at it. While the adjuster agreed we have some damage, it wasn't severe enough to warrant a replacement. She also said that one more hail/wind storm this spring, and she might have a different answer. So, our second roofer patched the roof for a steal, and now we sit and wait.

We also have a new bunny friend that is determined to live in our backyard. I keep shooing it away, but it keeps returning. This concerns me for one reason: Phoebe. This bunny seems to be injured. If it's not injured then it has some defect with it's leg. It doesn't move very efficiently, and it doesn't react very quickly, and our little dachshund could catch it if she tried. Now, I know it's nature, blah, blah, blah...but come on, I don't want my dog to kill the poor thing. I had a bunny growing up and it was killed by my grandparents' dog. I have always been over-protective our the wild bunnies because of this. That, and, who wants to clean up a dead bunny? Yuck. Plus, Lorelai would be devastated; my animal-loving girl. So this bunny must sense my compassion, and keeps returning to nap under the deck and sun-bathe in the grass. Thus, Phoebe is being trained to accept the poor thing, and not to attack. This takes a lot from Phoebe. I just hope the bunny and the dog continue to cohabitate peacefully.

Switching gears, winter came to a sudden halt this week. We went from 39° to 75° in a matter of days. This motivated me to put up the few winter decorations I had out, and begin to clean out and organize things around the house. This is needed, seeing as space is rare these days. To my surprise, we have filled up this house a lot faster than I thought. We plan to hold out a few more years, but talks of a bigger house have already begun.

Switching again, Adalaide turns one in less than a month! What? Yep. My monkey baby, though still petite, is getting so big! She can stand up from sitting all by herself, she can standing for long periods of time, she can walk very well if she has something to hold on to (even if it's just one of my fingers), and she even took first step the other day. Sure, she hit the ground pretty fast, but it's only a matter of time before she is running away from me...just like her big sister.

A couple more things:

Potty training still stinks.
I wish the Olympics would end.
And, teething is exhausting...for everyone.
;)


M.LEWIS