Outdoor Terrace Update

I'm still working outside to get the pool area ready for spring, but I want to show you the progress so far.

I recently added these blue and white planters to each of the five stone terrace beams. I mixed hot pink petunias and sweet potato vines so the flowers would eventually cascade over the pots. I found the planters at Wal-Mart for under $15 each!

I know most people dress up Easter weekend for church or egg hunts. We decided to have brunch on our terrace for the second year in a row. Last year, the weather was so nice and we all enjoyed it by the pool. This year was no different! My boys prefer to stay at home, especially when it's early. My husband would much rather cook than go to a restaurant. I just want a place with great ambiance, and I'm okay with this view! These pictures were taken only a couple of weeks apart, but check out the difference in my roses. We also added these blue umbrellas the night before from At Home to provide a bit of shade from the late afternoon sun. My parents came over for dinner that evening, and we definitely wanted to be in the shade since it's already heating up here in Houston. Before dinner we had pina coladas by the pool. The breeze was amazing! It truly felt like we were at a resort.

I'm working on the lower area by the pool now. I just ordered a few items so I'm thinking the patio areas should be complete in a couple of weeks. The next step is to hire a landscaper for the yard. It will take several years to complete everything I have in mind since we have almost half an acre, but I'd love to get started with plantings by the fence line this spring. Stay tuned!

Get Your Patio Ready for Spring: Mediterranean Style

It's almost spring! It's time to get your patio ready! I have a series of posts dedicated to outdoor decor by style. I'm starting with a Mediterranean style that you see in my own home. Some may say it's more French and some may say it's more Italian. The styles are very similar so we'll just go with the term Mediterranean.

I'd like to add a few new items this spring. One of the things that caught my eye this year are patio umbrellas. I've always loved a Capri style umbrella, but I've only seen them from high end manufacturers. This year I'm seeing Target and World Market carry them and for a much more affordable price.

SHOP

How cute is the one with the fringe?! I have my eye on the blue striped umbrella just like the one in my vacation photos from Capri last summer.

My favorite plants to use are cypress trees, junipers, bougainvillea, lemon trees, boxwoods and mandevillea. I'd like to try an olive tree, but I haven't used one before so I'm not sure how one would do in this climate. Terracotta, cobalt blue and aged stone planters are ideal for a Mediterranean patio. I've found them everywhere, but At Home, Homegoods/TJ Maxx and Home Depot seem to have the most affordable prices.

More inspiration...

Shop below to get the look!

My Cozy Fall Porch

One of my favorite spaces in my home is my back porch. It's the perfect place to sit in the evenings in front of the fire to watch TV with a glass of wine or a Moscow mule. My boys have been making s'mores every night after dinner in the fireplace, and then getting in a little trampoline time in the backyard before bed. Our Texas summers are brutal so the entire family is taking advantage of this weather.

I didn't do much this year to decorate the porch, but a little orange goes a long way. I've had this Ikea plaid throw for years and I paired it with a new outdoor pillow I found on clearance for $13 several months ago. I just added a couple of pumpkins and my little orange owl, and it was just enough fall decor for this space.

I have to admit that although I love this traditional look, I miss my light blue summer decor. I had planned on decorating with red next week for Christmas, but I think I'm going to bring the blue back out and decorate in the lighter colors I prefer. It's less seasonal pillows to store, too!

Bring It On, Summer!

It gets HOT in Texas so all outdoor projects have a hard May deadline. The past month I've re-landscaped the front yard and spruced up the back patio. 

I added a pretty french blue color out here for the spring and summer. The fiddle leaf tree that was in this blue and white planter bit the dust so I tried it out here with a new bougainvillea that's still alive thankfully. I found the pillows at Pottery Barn and knew they would instantly go out here. I'm still shopping for a new outdoor coffee table since I'm not thrilled about the two ottomans pushed together. Once I find that and a new outdoor rug I can call this patio done!

I spend every weekend morning out here with my coffee while I watch Behind the Gates on AWE. If you haven't seen this show, you've got to check it out. Coffee plus fabulous houses makes the perfect morning!

All of the flowers are blooming and I couldn't be happier. 

This bougainvillea is huge! I made my son put his head next to one of the blooms for reference. He looks thrilled right?!

The weather is beautiful right now and we spend every minute we can outside. 

The boys are already in the pool even though the water was freezing this day. I went in Friday and it's getting warmer, but still too cold for me to get in all the way. 

Our new dining set is in! We are missing a chair in this picture, but we finally put it together. I found it online at Target and it's the same wicker as our loungers. Since the loungers held up so well the past year I decided to get the matching chairs.

I know this isn't how most people spend Easter, but we're not exactly traditional over here! We made a huge breakfast and enjoyed every minute by the pool. Just a couple of years ago the boys would be running all over the yard looking for eggs and now they are somewhat calmly enjoying breakfast. When they have bad table manners I threaten cotillion. If you live in the south you know that's every girl's dream and every boy's worst nightmare. It's a group of young boys and girls that have ettiequte classes and formal dances if you aren't familiar with it. I just have to say the c word and bad manners disappear.

We also installed these new outdoor lights from Costco over the dining area. I noticed it was a bit dark here even with the floodlight on and they definitely brighten up the entire space.

On to the front yard! It was a bit sad looking this year with dead plants and honestly just a poor design from the builder. All of our neighbors have amazing yards so I'm not sure why they skimped on ours, but we had to fix it. We consulted a landscape architect, but they wouldn't be able to work on it for at least a month so we decided to do it ourselves. Don't ask about the manhole with the circle of plants around it. I have no idea what the builder was thinking, but that drove me crazy to say the least. Don't mind my son out here playing basketball either. At least half the time I take a picture there is someone or my dog photobombing.

After! I just love my new maple tree. Even though I complain about the lack of landscaping from the builder, it's nice to pick out our own trees and plants. Most of our neighbors have oak trees and I like them, but I have always loved maples. The leaves are looking a little distraught on one side of the tree, but I'm hoping that's temporary. We also added junipers and roses. The flowerbeds are in the same shape as before to make it easy and we just replaced or moved plants instead. One day we'll get it professionally landscaped, but this is definitely good enough for now. 

Here's a closer look at the junipers and roses. The yaupon are so similar to boxwoods that act as a border. These were what was surrounding the weird manhole before.

We are finished with our summer projects with a few exceptions to the patio and we're waiting on quotes to come in for the balcony railing on the back patio retaining wall. I was all set on one contractor and then I never heard from them again. So, we're back to the drawing board, but at least it's not us sweating outside in the summer heat installing a railing!

Fall Outdoor Living with Arhaus

One of the things I am most excited about with fall approaching is the cooler weather so I can enjoy my outdoor patio again. I'm already planning on putting away the bright summer accessories and adding warmth with fall colors. Once the temperature drops and the mosquitos are gone I will be planting myself in front of the outdoor fireplace and TV with a wine glass in hand. I created a fall outdoor living board using Arhaus furniture and accessories for inspiration. I love the warm copper, gray, and teal colors together. Typically, mirrors and chandeliers are considered indoor décor. That's why using them outdoors can make your patio feel like a cozy living room. Now who's ready for a Moscow mule?!

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Exterior Updates

I’m finally crossing some things off my to do list and it feels kind of nice! I had two “must do” big projects left in the house and now I have only one. When I say big that means $$$$. I had to decide between the roof and a master bathroom remodel. As much as I wanted to remodel the bathroom I knew that the roof is more important. We had gotten a great quote a couple of years ago, but put it on the back burner once we decided to get a pool. The roof was so stained and brittle that it made the house look uncared for despite not having any major damage. Once I started referring to it as the crack house I knew it was time to replace it. A crack house trumps a 90s master bathroom any day on a remodeling list. I don’t have a before picture, but just trust me that it was not pretty. Here is the after!



Ignore my big car in the driveway. The best part of this update is there was no DIY involved on my part. My contractor picked the color and shingles, which is what almost everyone uses around here. That made it easy. The only decision I had to make was to go with regular or architectural shingles. I decided on architectural since it didn’t cost much more. Now if only writing the check were that easy!

We also finally finished a DIY project in the backyard. Once we put in the pool we had decided to box in the beams that holds up the covered porch. They sat half done for over a year, but we finally got going on it once we planned a Fourth of July party. There’s nothing like having a bunch of people come over that highlights every flaw/unfinished project in your home.

Before we had wimpy gray beams that had seen better days.



Now, we have big beefy white beams that fit right in with the style of the house.









This is such an easy update and makes a big impact. We used four boards per post and nailed them together once we lined them up flush with each other. We did the same with top and bottom boards once they were trimmed to size. If you can use a power saw and nail gun, you got this!

What I am most excited about might not seem like the most interesting update, but if the summer heat and mosquitos are making it impossible for you to sit outside then you will love this.



This fan is amazing! It’s a commercial fan from Air King that I bought on Amazon after seeing them at a restaurant with outdoor seating. It can turn 360 degrees, and points up or down. I love it so much that I ordered a second one. It’s the only reason we can sit outside in this weather without melting. Even more importantly it keeps the mosquitos away. When you live in Texas that’s a big deal! I can’t say I will be doing any more updates outside now that we’re in the middle of July. The only time you will catch me outside now is when I’m in the pool or with my face in front of that Air King fan!

Saturday Morning Gardening

Thank goodness it's Saturday! It was so nice to sleep in today and enjoy my coffee out on the balcony with Mario. I love sitting outside surrounded by pretty plants. I moved a few palm trees around yesterday and finally finished the rock waterfall plantings. It took a while to figure out where everything should go and corrected a few mistakes. Gardening does not come naturally to me, but I'm starting to get a feel for it. This could be my new addiction. Plant all the things!

The small palms (Pygmy Dates/Phoenix Robellini) were moved from behind the waterfall since I could only see the tops of them. I put them behind the patios, which also fills the gaps in the landscaping. My two new queen palms are now behind the waterfall. That's much better! They are a little close to each other, but after looking pictures I see huge ones planted that close. I would have just planted one in the middle, but we have a huge pipe there for the pool.

This is becoming my new favorite spot to sit. I feel like I'm hidden among the plants from the neighbors while still being able to see the kids swim.

The pygmy dates got a little trim this morning since they were starting to look like a palm shrub instead of a palm tree.

I didn't trim them too much because I like to use the palm fronds for décor.

I still have tons of work to do around the fences, but I'm starting to formulate a plan. This shady corner is home to a couple of new elephant ears that will hopefully grow fast and tall.

I love this side of the yard, but the roses probably won't ever cover the fence so they will get transplanted. They will look great in my front yard along with the white crepe myrtles we put in last year. I would like the front to have more of a cottage feel.

I'm not the only one enjoying the backyard. The pool is the big draw for my kids, but they also love to just sit out here with me. They even brought their breakfast out here this morning.

I'm so glad they are enjoying it as much as me. Have a great weekend!