Pocketful of Blue

Today I would like to show you the transformation of our patio.  With a lot of work, it has come a long way since we moved here ten years ago.  In the picture below you can see how it looked after we had replaced the ugly brown shingle siding on the house and added the patio doors. There was actually no direct access to the patio before this. The concrete blocks that made up the patio always looked dirty and they were uneven in many places.  They also went right up to the house so there was no space to plant anything between the patio and house.   Do you see our kitty waiting to get back in the house?  I don't blame him for not wanting to spend too much time our there.  We didn't want to either!  A few years ago, my son and hubby tore out the old concrete blocks and laid new pavers.  Such a huge improvement! With some landscaping and pretty flowers, it has become a space we can really enjoy.   It's been especial...

I'm unpacking and catching up on laundry since returning from  our annual vacation with my husband's family. We always have a great time and I love that we have this tradition. It's such a cute little beach town and I always enjoy taking long walks and looking at the charming houses. Want to come along? The house above has its red, white and blue going on  all ready to celebrate. Adirondack chairs always look great and I think they look very inviting on the front porch. I like how neat and tidy this pretty blue house looks. The landscaping isn't anything extravagant but it looks great. In the picture below you can see the pretty, soft light green on the screened door and the same color is on the door to the house as well. Here's another screened door that is just so charming. The little spindles in the center are painted the two  colors of the house - such a great idea. The red door on this house really stands o...

We are fortunate to have two fireplaces in our house so of course that means two mantels to decorate. I wanted a new look for spring but sometimes it takes me awhile to come up with a fresh idea. The living room mantel really had me stumped. I've been trying to just use what I have because I sure don't need to buy any more stuff. It finally hit me to see if my old screen door would work. It's the perfect length when turned on its side and light weight enough that it wasn't too much of a problem to heave it up there. I think it worked out pretty well as a backdrop for some pitchers of flowers and a couple botanical prints. Once I had the living room mantel all fixed up, I needed to do something with the corner fireplace  that's in the kitchen area. This mantel is very shallow so I'm really limited  on the size of items that will fit. I ended up just keeping it simple with my Blueberry Mountain Lodg...

Recently I posted about my new window treatments in our dining nook. Our kitchen windows got treated to the same valances so I'm back to show you how they look. These were so much easier to hang since I was able to use tension rods - one of the greatest inventions ever! It's nice to have a cohesive look from the kitchen through to the dining nook. While we're in the kitchen, I thought I would show you that we finally got  a Keurig Coffee Maker.  It was a family Christmas gift and we are all enjoying it.  I chose the pretty white model. Then of course a rearrangement of the entire counterspace ensued and there was also the issue of where to store all the little Keurig pods. It occurred to me that my wooden box with the drawer might work. And guess what?  They fit perfectly! I think it was just meant to be - some sort of coffee  pod and wooden box fate : ) Now that we have the val...