Home Decoration | Art Crafts | Ethnic Decoration

>The last holiday of summer is over and I'm sad that I haven't had much of a chance to enjoy my back patio. I gave it a make-over in the spring. The color scheme has changed a bit over the years.
It was once the colors of ketchup and mustard.Then it was decorated with subdued neutrals.I'm really liking the new scheme of black, lime, and turquoise.Luckily I have at least one month left to spend some time relaxing and taking in the last weeks of summer.

>There is something about a throw draped over a piece of furniture that makes the room feel that much more inviting and comfortable. I wanted to achieve that same feeling on my porches, after all they're like a room---without as many walls.I went on a search to find something that would look both pretty and appropriate. With temperatures in the 90's and 100's it would look a bit odd to have a heavy throw resting on outdoor furniture.
While looking through a linen rack at my local thrift store I discovered a bunch of beautifully hand painted sarongs. These would make the perfect throws for my porches! They're large, lightweight and infused with color.Now the furniture on my porches beckon one to sit in comfort, to rest for a few minutes and take in the joy and beauty of nature.

>It's such an odd time of year, one might call it the "In-Between Season." There are no holidays in sight, it's too cold to decorate for spring, and decorating with the grays and browns of winter has gotten old. To cure the winter blahs that one gets in the in-between season, I pulled out my brightest spray paint colors and some old, very old, thrifted items.
First I gave an old frame and a piece of scrap beadboard a fresh coat of bright orange. Then I painted the legs of a stool with a creamy yellow and finished the top off with gray.The beadboard is now the ideal spicy backdrop for an average woody wreath.Faux ranunculus in a crusty pot resting on a silver tray are appropriate for this time of year. Fun Fact: Ranunculus flowers season is usually from January till May. The flowers look so pretty framed in orange with a bright yellow little bird that seems to be enjoying the scene.Even though the flowers are fake I couldn't resist adding a cheery teal watering can into the vignette, along with an over-sized lantern to shed a little light in the crisp early evenings of this time of year.I now have a bright, delightful, and perfect In-Between Season porch.According to Random Generator, the winner of the Thirty-One Gifts Giveaway is number 35. Hooray Gayle! Gayle is a very talented rug hooker and loooong-time reader of my blog. I'm so excited for her. Giving prizes is always fun but when it's someone I "kindda" know (we've never met in person but I saw her on TV), it makes it even more exciting!
Thank you Diana from Thirty-One Gifts for hosting this giveaway.

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I've always thought it would be fun
to start flowers for my yard from seeds. This year with finances so tight, and still having a desire for
a bounty of beauty,
it has become a necessity. To help fill our gardens with flowers,
I decided to try my hand at sowing seeds indoors. I purchased little green houses and
gathered a few packets of seeds. Now, just a few days later, I'm excited to report
a little growth.

Does it concern me that I should have
started this process about six weeks ago
in order to enjoy blooms before the fourth of July?
No.

Not really.
Okay.
Maybe.
But isn't that what real growth is all about?Overcoming our mistakes and
blossoming despite them.

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One of my favorite projects for the porch redo began with a door
that was originally propped in the corner of the side porch. It was there because my client has
a love for old screen doors
and she had purchased this one to use as decoration. Without telling her my plans I kidnapped her door to give it a makeover.

I dry brushed it to give it a real aged appearance
and show off the details.We purchased two sets of bi-fold doors from the thrift store. And added plywood and molding to make a shelving unit.I gave the outside a few coats of the exterior red paint
that was used on other porch projects. The interior was painted a calm gray.Now the ol' screen door is not just pretty to look at,
it's functional too.The perfect little potting shed!

>Last year I did a makeover on my back patio. My goal was to have it be fun, summery and a bit retro. I painted my collection of vintage metal chairs and other accessories in the colors of red and yellow. My boys teased that it looked like ketchup and mustard, which meant I had accomplished my goal of having it fun and summery. I also chose to decorate the patio so that it connected to the yard and flower garden, with garden accessories galore.In the spring of this year I stood at the back of my yard staring at my patio. I no longer loved what I saw. The bright colors were fun, but they also created visual clutter. So I chose new goals for my patio. I want it calm, classy, and more of an extension of the inside of my home.
One way that I chose to accomplish the home to patio connection was to incorporate another furniture piece. I decided that a china hutch would be the perfect choice. It could provide storage for cushions during the winter, and beauty and a bit of privacy during the summer. I began my search. The hutch had to be a bit on the smaller side. I didn't want it to overwhelm the patio. It had to have character. It had to be free of glass (who wants to continually clean?). And, most of all, it had to be cheap!

After looking through several thrift stores with nothing to be found, I started my search on our local on-line classifieds. I found this hand-made cutie for twenty-five dollars. What? You don't think it's cute? Well, it did have that grandpa's cabin look, and it was a bit short, standing less that five feet tall. But it did have character and it definitely had potential!We added legs and feet using a 4x4 that we'd found in the dumpster, and fence finials from the thrift store at 50 cents each.I gave it a fresh coat of spray paint, but found the color a little too boring, so I sanded it a bit to prepare it for it's next coat. I pulled out a mis-tint that had the wow factor. The paint was beautiful, but I wanted to add back some of that grandpa's cabin character. Out came the sandpaper and the stain.Thanks to the addition of the feet, this cutie now stands at 5'8'' and looks like a piece unearthed from an attic.

I love it!