Espalier, Take 2

Remember our inspiration post a couple of weeks ago about the espalier? Well, we finally made good on our promise and found the perfect spot to incorporate just that into our own yard. 

Behold the garage wall, a thing of beauty. 

A.K.A John's pet project. He planned, purchased and planted this whole bed which consists of four gardenia and three confederate jasmine. As well as the new home of our espalier. 

The process was pretty simple (for him) and was completed in an afternoon. Eye closures connect the copper wire to the base of the wall and the roof trim of the house, creating a giant rectangle. Within the rectangle the wires are strung and crossed to create several diamond shapes. We opted to connect to the wall as infrequently as possible in the event we ever need to take the entire grid down to repaint the house. Fingers crossed that works out for us :)

Once the wire guides were in place, we simply strung the longer jasmine strands around the wires. Not much to see right now, but we're hoping for some quick growth. Not to worry, I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Looking good, hubs, looking good. 

until next time,

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Inspiration to Reality {Backyard Updates}

It probably comes as no surprise to learn that Monday's inspiration post was the lead up to an easy and reasonable backyard update. Take a peek at our newest garden ornament addition. 

There are so many things to love about these concrete orbs… to name but a few: a little pop of interest in a green space and a great filler while waiting for plants to grown in.

Lucky me, I received both as birthday presents this year. Initially I had them placed side by side, but eventually flanked the boarding bed with them - even I'm a sucker for symmetry.

target

Remember when I said this was a reasonable addition to the garden - yeah, they're from Target. I could barely believe it myself. #TargetDoesItAgain

Go on and get yourself some. 

until next time, 

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Fairies in the Garden

Last summer our girls fell head over heels for fairy gardens. We promised we'd recreate one in our own yard, but the summer got away from us and before we knew it, it was almost a year later and no garden of our own. With a 7th birthday in the house, it became the perfect time to address the lack of fairies in our garden. So, we coupled a fairy house and accessories with one of her favorite books from the Rainbow Fairies Book Series to give as one big gift for her birthday. Even we were surprised by how excited she was to receive them. 

We added some pint size plants and pea gravel, 30 minutes later our very own fairy garden was born. The girls are loving it (and who doesn't love another excuse to get them outside!?) and we even made sure to leave space for any additional houses should the need arise. Like for someone else's 4th birthday...

Items used:

fairy house

fairy garden accessories

fairy pond

mini gardenia

mini lemon cypress

ajuga ground cover

creeping jenny ground cover

until next time, 

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Sign of the Times

I already told you that we've made great progress in the backyard over the last year, now I'll show you. Remember when the little bump out looked like this, then we planted and it looked like this? Yeah, it's grown.

If you look really closely you can see the wall of arborvitae we finally finished planting. In about 20 years we won't need to worry about shade - at least that's what the guy at Home Depot said to me after I finished packing my 3rd car load.

We're also in the midst of bordering the entire bed with lambs ear.

Being in the South now we wouldn't be a respectable yard without the addition of a magnolia tree. We picked up this little guy at the end of the season last year. He didn't do much over the winter but just now started sprouting - go baby, go. We also transplanted an existing boxwood and crepe myrtle to the corner and added new knock-out roses and lavender. We still need to mulch…but you know, baby steps.

The kitchen garden is all planted and fenced in for the season. We downsized to three beds, from four last year. In truth, last year just about did us in with all the work and no glory. We rejuvenated the soil and added bagged garden soil with each planting this time around. The largest bed is growing entirely from seed while the two smaller beds are planted with pre-established plants. Wish us luck, we'll probably need it.

I stuck with my white accent color theme again this year. What can I say, I like it. The main planter is filled with a snake plant, white geranium and sedum. Geraniums get such a bad rap, but they're pretty full proof. I like them so much I added them to the wall hanging planter and the basket on the back table, too.

Last year, this back garden was planted with lettuces, kale and spinach but this year we added catmint and ajuga and I couldn't be happier with the low maintenance combination. My three tier planter is full of new guinea impatiens in white (shocker) and hot pink.

Sadly our first round of seeds didn't fare too well due to cold and extreme wet, so I don't have much to share in the way of progress. But, we do have a lot of strawberries!

Because the front of our house is in flux, awaiting it's potential remodel, I decided to fill the pots simply. Ferns for the shade and pre-established hanging baskets just plopped into the planters. Neither of which are actually planted, which will make it easy to change out should our front plans change. Kind of cheeky, but good bang for the buck!

until next time, 

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Holiday Back Porch 2014

One of the many benefits of living in the South is the mild weather this time of year. In fact, on the weekends we've been know to enjoy a cocktail or two on the porch after the kids go to bed - especially after we purchased a patio heater from Home Depot a couple of months ago. Just the other night we were chatting away about decorating the back porch for Christmas this year and even threw out the idea of putting up a tree.

Remember when I said I bought a shed-load of deeply discounted arborvitae? Some made their way to the front porch and even more landed on the back porch. Instead of one big tree, we added 5 smaller trees! 3 replaced the potted hollies on the steps and 2 flank the french doors - and they are all wrapped in lights. Not surprisingly!

Welcome to Christmas on the porch.

Our temperatures may be mild, but it's not warm at night. We like to keep the chill at bay with a warm beverage, in Christmas mugs naturally, and a snuggly blanket.

The poinsettias like to visit outside when the temperatures are up, but I bring them in at night. It's definitely an extra step that some may not want to bother with, but nothing beats that pop of red when you're looking to really highlight the season.

When the containers at the front of the house went from fall to winter, we moved the ornamental cabbages to the back porch.  I love that they can transition from one season to the next.  More bang for my buck!

Speaking of containers, we replaced the ferns in the hanging baskets with white pansies, fresh cut greenery and pinecones. We've been living in Charlotte for a year and a half now and it still seems strange to see flowers blooming in December. Fortunately, it's a change I think I can get used to.

The reindeer container found a new home outside on the coffee table. This guy has definitely made the rounds throughout our homes over the years - it's nice to see him outside this time. As per usual, he's stuffed full of fresh cut greens and pinecones.

Christmas lights on the back porch and the front porch - I am one lucky girl! 

Happy Holidays indeed.

until next time, 

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Christmas Decor Inspiration: Front Entry

It's the first week of December, time to start thinking about holiday decorating. Although, I've seen and know plenty who are not only fully decorated, but have all their presents purchased as well. Not around here, I'm afraid. We're still savoring the calm before the storm. Although, we do have plans to cut down a tree (or two) this weekend and start decorating the front of our home. Here are some ideas that are jumpstarting my creative process, and might help you along, too.

Calling it Home

Calling it Home put together a compilation of holiday containers - especially love this one - but they are all good. Loving the birch paired with greenery, red berried and pinecones - a beautiful traditional combination that could work with any style home.

BHG

Better Homes and Gardens has a great round up of front porches with the holiday spirit - covering every style of home and decor. I especially love the idea of using poinsettias outside. Of course, this wouldn't work for every climate, but you get the idea - mix it up and use something unexpected. 

source unknown

Garland, wreaths and urns - oh my! Talk about pulling out all the stops. I love it. Although the idea is similar to the image from BHG (above) the garland is fuller and more dramatically draped, causing a larger overall effect. Yes, this is my favorite image thus far.

Remember my design crush, Brian Patrick Flynn? Well, ever since I fell in love with his mountain home makeover and more specifically his use of potted greenery, I wanted to incorporate a similar style into our Christmas decor. All those little potted arborvitae make me think of little Christmas trees! So cute and festive.

I'm finally feeling in the spirit of things and can't wait to tackle some serious decorating this weekend!

See you Monday.

until next time, 

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Hmph. Front Porch, take 3

My front entry seems to be on constant rotation these days - sporting a couple of looks this last month alone. 

Throw in some dead mums (all in the name of halloween, of course!) and it's time for another reincarnation for the remainder of the fall season. 

With 3 weeks until Thanksgiving there is still plenty of time to get your fall on! So off to the grocery I went in search of gourds, pumpkins and squash - oh my! - plus a quick stop at Home Depot to collect an assortment of ornamental cabbages and it was time to welcome Fall back to the front porch. 

Here's my secret: I stuffed an empty, upside down plastic pot into the existing dirt in the planter to get the leverage I needed. Then I stacked in my squash, gourds and pumpkins. Any big spaces, I filled with ornamental cabbage and finally, any small spaces were stuffed with yard clippings. I went for camellia branches because I think the glossy leaves offset the rustic texture of the cabbage and go along way to soften the whole look. 

So happy with how they turned out, it almost makes me want to host the big Thanksgiving feast. Almost. But not quite.

 Now, I just need to keep these suckers alive for the next 3+ weeks. Hopefully the cabbages will be a little more forgiving than the previous mums - I swear, in Chicago, I never watered our mums. Hmph.

until next time,  

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It's fall y'all, part 3 {outside}

Spending Sunday outside winterizing the garden, reminded me to sort out the front porch as well. 8 days into October, time to get the mums out. 

Of course, receiving a new set of beautiful clay pots, curtesy of my parents' recent downsizing (a trend you'll be seeing often on the blog in the upcoming months), helped spur me on, too. 

The little terra-cotta pots are mine, stashed in the garage,  perfect for covering up your basic plastic container. 

I can't bring myself to throw out our super sized ferns when they still look so lovely. Besides, who doesn't love a layered vignette? Plus the green ferns provide a nice transition to the season. If I do say so myself.

Have you seen these new multi-mums? Perfect for the indecisive decorator in all of us. 

Happy Fall, y'all. Tomorrow I'm planning to share some updates in the front hall. And you guessed it, more furniture from my parents will be featured. Have a good one!

until next time, 

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Fillin Out the Bump Out

The other morning when I snuck outside to grab a couple of shots of our new porch stairs, I realized I never shared our little border bump-out garden that we planted a couple of weeks back.

Shame, shame. How dare I leave you hanging like that. 

So without further ado, here you go…

This garden is directly across from our breakfast room double window - a decision we made pretty quickly when regrading the yard early this year - we love to throw open the shutters during breakfast and take in the view. 

Don't you just love when a quick decision works out!

Anywho, when we were planning this garden, I knew I wanted to stick to a white, green, and purple/blue overall color scheme to incorporate and playoff our gigantic transplanted hydrangea. 

One of my favorite plants we managed to incorporate is the white knock out rose. I scoured the city and managed to find 3 from two different nurseries. 

Of course, now they have truck loads of them at Home Depot!

I love using white blooming plants because they pop against the green and really shine at night.  That's why I snuck in an extra peony in white, too!

I also made sure to include a bunch of lavender. There are a lot of varieties out there, these are Provence lavender. To bump up the lavender look and feel, I also planted purple salvia. It has a very similar look, but blooms more consistently. Sneaky, sneaky.

When it comes to placing plants, I'm a firm believer in trial and error. But a couple of rules I attempt to follow are:

1. stay away from straight lines

2. plant in odd numbers, typically groupings of 3

3. stay within a cohesive color pallet

source

Our original plan didn't include arborvitae as a hedge but then I stumbled upon this image on Pinterest and I was sold. 

Here's a zoomed out image of the area we are talking about. That's a lot of arborvitae to make a hedge, so we're planning on tackling it a little at a time … like two arborvitae at a time. Needless to say, it's gonna be awhile. Fortunately, we have the neighbors' worlds worst hedge for privacy until we fill out our hedge … in approximately 5 years! 

Anyone else feel like I overused the word 'bump' in this post? Zoinks.

until next time,

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The State of the Deck {stage 1}

Today, I'm sharing the beginning of our back porch makeover. As I mentioned earlier, we made a couple mid-contruction changes that   set the whole project back a little, plus we've had some supply issues, but we're making progress and are really excited by what we are seeing.

Watching the porch being dismantled was like a dream come true…a dream we've been dreaming since we first laid eyes on it almost a year ago!

Here she was in the beginning - in all her moldy, ripped awning and stair-less glory.

Going…

Going…

Gone.

Getting rid of the awning and the railing really opened up the sense of space, and added so much more natural light into our den. 

Yeah for that!

Our original plan was to add stairs and then build the pergola…but, then our carpenter suggested expanding the deck and once the idea was in our head, we just couldn't shake it. 

{change #1}

Soooooo, we added another 5 feet to make the whole deck 15' x 25'.

 {change #2}

We had originally planned to keep the existing boards, but then our contractor suggested flipping the boards to utilize the covered side. Seemed like a good idea until the labor to remove the boards stretched over 3 days and the boards weren't looking that great. So, we gave up on that idea and decided to invest in all new boards. Obviously, it was an added expense but now the whole deck will have matching new wood. 

Next up: the stairs, the pergola itself, paint and stain, accessories (like lights and fans), and styling. Who's excited?!?!?

until next time, 

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