Day 697: Smelling the Roses

I can't say enough how much we are loving the deck. We're out there nearly every day, and have enjoyed many delightful meals together in our newly finished space. Shannon strung up these adorable lights for us a few months ago and they really add to the ambiance. It's nice with everything else that's going on in our lives to be able to step out here with no computer, no cell phone, and just enjoy a gorgeous outdoor space.

Day 687: Stayin' Alive

The man's a genius.

I'm on the road quite a bit for work, and when I'm gone, the plants, well, they suffer. Shannon's focused on bigger projects and doesn't often think to water the poor things until they look pitiful. But, genius man that he is, he came up with the perfect eco-friendly solution. Our water filter cycles out water every day at 8 pm. Shannon built this great contraption that redirects the runoff that would go right down the drain to sprinkle my beloved plants on the deck. Now we don't have to worry about a thing unless one's getting TOO much water (rosemary has since been relocated;). 

Day 672: Dining Room, After

And here's the dining room after we replaced the window, painted the new trim and moved in our new dining furniture. It's amazing how much more light comes in through this new window compared to the old one. Made all the brighter by the white gauzy curtains. We are loving it!

Day 665: Outdoor Spaces

Our DIY firepit (which we inaugurated over the winter but probably won't touch over the summer;) is now complemented by two comfy chairs - completing our fourth (and for now, final) outdoor space.

Riley and I frequent the red loveseat out front when I get home in the evenings, and we have a lot of weekend brunches on the sunporch and dinners on the deck.

All our outdoor spaces are lovely additions to our small cottage home and a welcome place to enjoy the beauty of our very green surroundings. Gotta love life in the south!

Day 663: All Decked Out

With the weather getting nicer by the day, we've been working on getting the deck ready for outdoor entertaining. Shannon and Matt put the furniture together over the weekend, after I gave her a good scrubbing, and re-potted some plants, etc. Looks great, don't you think? We broke it in on Sunday and had some friends and family over after the Tour of Homes - luckily it warmed up enough for us to enjoy it! Many, many meals to be had out here in the days and weeks ahead!

Day 656: New window

 

What used to look like this...

Now looks like THIS.

We've had a lot of trouble with this box window that was installed sometime between 1950 and... who knows when. It's super ugly, leaks like crazy when it rains and is directly above an outlet, so there are lots more reasons to get to it sooner rather than later. Shan got inspired and took care of business this weekend! Check it out. It's a temporary fix, but we are loving the light already.

Day 655: Hole in the House

There's a hole in our house!

Don't worry, it's a GOOD thing :)