I Am Getting Inspired!!

Since the weather is changing to a nice summery warmth my mind is going to my backyard.  I truly love my backyard, but as with any area in one’s home it can always use a little sprucing up. I keep a file of backyard inspiration images that attracted my attention for various reasons. As I have told you before the back of my home is painted a different color than the front. The front of my home is soft yellow, white with small amounts of black. In the backyard I used cool greens and blue. I wanted a cooling down effect with our hot summer temperatures. Let me show you some of the images that are inspiring me right now.

So cool and crisp looking. Notice the boxed pillow frame in the stripe.  I am going to remember this as a fun look for pillows inside or outside.

White wicker looks so crisp with the addition of the cobalt blue stripe.

I like how this long narrow space was divided into two sitting areas. If this had cobalt blue pillows I think it would have such a lush cool affect.

Candlelight always makes everything look inviting to me.  If you add stripes to the mix it becomes perfection. In all of these pictures I am visualizing my blues and greens in place of the colors that are pictured.

 

Love,love,love this door. I am going to try and figure out how to incorporate it on my fence gate in the backyard.

 

I know, I know this is not an outside area, but their is so much inspiration for me in this picture. I love the large  almost monogram looking print on the back of the chairs. The blue hydrangeas and the white porcelain pieces made me think of my window box that is cobalt blue and it has green ferns and white hydrangeas with tips of blue in it. The black legs of the chairs and the black table reminded me of all the old black wrought iron gates in my backyard leaning against the cool green walls. You see there are lots of places to get inspiration for the outdoor spaces in your home.

This is perfection to me. I just purchased some cobalt/navy cushions with off white cord welting for my white wicker. The flowers on the table are like what is in my window box. Oh how I would love a lamp out back, I am working on that idea. I am also going to add a couple of blue and white porcelain pieces with my cobalt and green pots. I love it when it an idea starts to come together after being in my brain for so long.

I loved this image for the use of boxwoods and water features. I have to have water features in my yard. I do have a pool so that is a feature in of itself. We have connected a fountain to the pool that floats in the middle and adds a nice ambiance when there is no swimming going on. I also have a small bubbler in my yard that I will share with you on another post that is so easy to make. You can do it in a couple of hours. Now that is the kind of DIY project I like. No paint involved, just water, rocks and plants.

A couple of other elements in this image that I love is the lantern and the overhang on the door. I also like the outdoor shutters. I have shutters that my honey made for me to go with the window box.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend in your backyards. Whether it is with friends or family, or if you are planting or barbequing have a great time!!

 “Enjoy the Process”

Of: Making your backyard your very own sanctuary.

Happy Memorial Day!!

Kathysue

Will you Eat off of Plastic ??

I know that sounds like a strange question doesn't it?  I have an aversion to eating or drinking out of plastic. It is one of my quirks. With the summer weather upon us we will be spending more time out in our backyard where our pool resides.

With pool weather comes barbeques and drinks outside. To prevent broken glass from being stepped on plastic seems to be the most logical idea.

I went looking around on Google and I actually found some great looking plastic dishes. Here are just a few of the ones I found…….

This fun set of black and white can be ordered on line, here as well as these colorful dishes below.

 

The next three plates are all by Thomas Paul and you can get them on his website as well as many other patterns.

If you are a lover of Thomas Paul and classic black and white try these wonderful designs he did for Target here.

These come in such great colors and designs from here

More fun colors from Target!

How would you like to add your own monogram and design your own plates .You can do it here at La Plates

These brightly colored plates are on sale right now at Pier I

So after looking at just some of the possibilities I think I am changing my mind about plastic dishes or Melamine, to call them by their proper name.

I do have some pretty precious plates in melamine. My three sons drew on these plates as a gift for me when they were in Kindergarten. I have used them with the grandkids from time to time. Pretty precious drawings by some pretty precious hands.

"Enjoy The Process" Of: Finding Pretty in Plastic.

Kathysue

BTW: I was in TJ Maxx today and they had some wonderful leaf patterned dishes in Melamine. Check it out!

They arrived! Here Is A Sneak Peek!!

Yesterday the big brown truck stopped in front of my house!!! Up walked the man in the brown clothes with the brown package. It was a large round, soft package. I was so excited because I knew it was the “Cushions”! I could not get the wrapping off quickly enough. I squealed and did a happy dance.  I took the cushion outside to my porch and placed it in the chair. It is the perfect fit! Whew! That is a good thing. I stepped back and took a look to get a view of the whole picture. Perfection!! It looks just like I wanted it to look. Here is a sneak peek of the cushion….

I promise I will show you the complete porch. I just have some sprucing up to do. I have some flowers in the pots that need to be changed out to some fresh flowers. I was just so excited I had to come here and share with you all. It is so fun to have like minded people that get as excited as I do about the little details of decorating our homes. I just love blog land and all you wonderful creative minds out there. Thank you for letting me share in my excitement with you throughout the week.

“Enjoy the Process” Of: Seeing a plan come to fruition.

Kathysue