home is where my story begins...

New Outdoor Furniture

   By Leave a Comment

I have some new outdoor furniture on the deck and I’m loving it!

IMG_9032

We had a set of outdoor furniture that I really loved, but we’ve had it for 9 years and it was beginning to show signs of many parties, a fire pit that was too close to the chairs, and too much lounging on warm summer days.  The cushions had seen better days.  I started shopping for outdoor fabric, assuming that I would recover everything.  Once I started adding up the cost of outdoor fabric and the foam I needed to replace, I started thinking that it would be cheaper to just buy new cushions.  Ummm…. Have you ever looked at the cost of new outdoor cushions? Oh. My. Goodness.  It was going to be almost $600 to replace just the cushions and they weren’t even a perfect fit.  I was going to have to do some reconstruction.  The fabric and foam was nearly the same cost, so it was looking like that wasn’t going to happen either.

At that point my hubby and I started shopping for a new outdoor set altogether.  We checked around in a few stores, but everything was getting sold out.  Hello, it was only the end of June so, of course, it was time for the stores to start bringing out Christmas decorations.  We ended up finding our new set on Wayfair.

IMG_9033

It had a couch, two chairs, two huge ottomans, and a side table.  We found the fire table on Amazon. I added a few quilts to cozy it up and bought some outdoor pillows, on clearance, from Pier 1 Imports.  I am in love with our outdoor space.

IMG_9037

Our old furniture is still on the deck and I’m kind of hoping to keep it for times when we have bigger parties.  I just pushed it off to the side, hoping my hubby is just ignoring the fact that I’m hoarding furniture.

IMG_9039

IMG_9040

I had a little table on the deck, but it was really out of place.  I moved that to the corner and put a bunch of herbs on it.  It’s the perfect mini kitchen garden.

herbs on table

It’s also a great place to display my new treasures that we dug up while on vacation in Central Oregon.  (I’m kind of a rock-nerd.)

IMG_9044

I’m loving my view from the deck.  The flowers are blooming and it’s a perfect place to sit and relax.

 

IMG_9048

IMG_9054

Another little perk to having new furniture is that I have a great little table for the lower area of our backyard.  This is the old firepit.

IMG_9057

I guess I’m proof that Wayfair has just what I need.  I’m sure you can guess that shipping was free! (Sorry to put the song from the commercial into your brain!)

IMG_9037

Happy decorating!

Backyard Garden Tour

   By Leave a Comment

Oh, if the rain would only stop!  I’m ready for some dry weather and planting season.  I want to plant my window baskets, get some fresh herbs growing, and do some relaxing in the sunshine.  I spend every waking moment in my garden, when the weather cooperates.  My wish for some spring-like weather had me browsing through some old garden posts that I’ve written on my blog.

Are you ready for the garden tour?  Keep in mind that my yard looks nothing like this right now.  It’s currently in a muddy, mucky, can’t-imagine-anything-worse, kind of place.

Here we go:


Do you open your doors and have a backyard party at the drop of a hat? Are you the first person to invite friends over for a Bar-B-Que when the weather warms up? I love to watch shows like Landscape Smart and Landscapers Challenge. As the designers ask questions, the homeowners usually say things like, “Well, we love to entertain.” Do they really like to entertain? Or do they just like the idea of entertaining?

I really do love to entertain, but I will admit that it causes panic attacks and crabby mom syndrome in the days leading up to a party. I find that I hold off on inviting people over because my house or my yard isn’t “done”. Well, NEWS FLASH… it will probably never be “done”. There will always be something more I’d like to do or a messy project I’m right in the middle of.

So, here’s my yard. I’m throwing open my doors and inviting you to my backyard party. (If you all lived closer, I’d invite you over for real.) I didn’t mow the lawn for you. Heck, I didn’t even sweep off the deck.

Here’s the view as you come in the house. I love my little benches out front. I made the pillows this year, out of Sunbrella outdoor fabric. My hydrangeas are finally in bloom. I just added some True Blue to the soil, which will turn these into… well, true blue.

We spend quite a bit of time out on our deck. We bought the outdoor set at Target, a few years back. Our deck is fairly shady, so it makes a nice place to take a break on a hot summer day.

Our deck extends down the length of the backside of the house. Ahhh, this is one of my favorite spots to sit and watch the kids play in the yard.

Here’s the view from the deck.


When we moved in, this area inside the brick retaining wall was empty. I had no idea what to plant in this large space. After living with the empty space for a year, we decided this would be the perfect spot for a vegetable garden. We built a path out of rocks that were already in the yard. This space sits empty for a good portion of the year, but it makes us so happy in the summer. The kids loved digging the potatoes.

In addition to veggies, I have quite a few flowers in the garden as well.




These little guys don’t grow as well as my mom’s, but they give us a little summertime snack.

I’ve always thought I needed a window box on my cute little garden shed.  I haven’t gotten around to buying one yet, so I moved my old wagon over to the shed.  It adds a little “vintage” to the shed.

I had just repaired my wagon when a large branch fell on it and broke the wheels off again.  It’s not functional anymore.  It just looks cute.

I also added a potted hydrangea back behind my little plow. It hides the fact that we haven’t finished our wall and that the fence is falling down.

The Annabelle hydrangeas, on the side of the house, are my favorites.

I’m just loving my Country Gardens inspired shed.

In case you’ve never seen my “before” picture.  This is what the side yard looked like when we moved in.

Here’s the inspiration from Country Gardens:

Thanks for hanging out in the backyard with me. Stop by anytime. If I don’t answer the door, you know where to find me. I’m probably out back.



Happy gardening.  It’s almost here!

 

Creating An Outdoor Learning Space

   By Leave a Comment

The seeds and starts have been planted in our little garden and my attention is turning to how we use our outdoor space.  My daughter is 10 now, and she has used the playset behind our garden, less and less over the past two years.
I always said that, when the kids outgrew the playset, we could get an above ground pool for this area.  It’s a nice flat spot that gets lots of sun!

The problem I’m having is that I just don’t see them using a pool.  We love swimming and go to the local pool several times a week in the summer, but my kids are spoiled.  The pools are really warm. (Side story:  When they were little I would hook up the hose to the hot water heater so we could have warm water in the blow up pool.) We live in the Pacific Northwest, and nights are not warm.  The pool water in an unheated pool is pretty chilly!  I truly think that if we put a pool in this spot, I would go unused.

My mind has been wandering toward the idea of Outdoor Learning in my classroom lately.  I’m kind of obsessed with Reggio Emilia and Reggio Inspired learning spaces.  You can read more about my Reggio obsession on my literacy blog.  I’ve been reading about wonderful outdoor spaces that simply invite kids into nature, and it made me start to wonder if I could create something inspiring out here.
Can’t you image a little arbor or bridge inviting a 10 year old and her friends into a mini outdoor school to play?

I’m picturing a few Adirondak chairs, tree stumps for side tables, maybe a table made from a tree round, a chalk board on the fence, and balance beams made from logs.  Little outdoor lights, hanging from the fence would complete the space.  The little kids (the 10 year olds) might use it to play school, or games on the chalkboard, while the big kids (the 14 year old crowd) could use it as a hang out that’s a little further away from mom and dad on a summer night.  Maybe I’m dreaming, but I think this could be a really cool space!
I’ve created a Pinterest board with ideas for my outdoor learning space.  Some of the ideas are more suited to a school environment, but there are lots of ideas that could be used in the backyard as well.  

I can see using lots of natural materials, which might keep cost down.  Now, I just need to find a neighbor who is cutting down a tree and doesn’t need the wood.
Happy outdoor space planning!