We finally packed up the remnant ocean blues of summer and made fall introductions. The porch was initially reluctant to bid its vibrant friend adieu but soon warmed to the golden mums and burnished reds of autumn. When decorating outside, I go for bright. I realize many prefer the muted tones of whites and pale greens that pair nicely with that farmhouse aesthetic and I myself appreciate those color options inside where I have to work with the mess I already own. Outside though, I can be bold. (more…)
Drawn in by ivory pumpkins and soft green gourds decorating front porches everywhere, won over entirely with a pumpkin spice latte on a crisp morning – you’re not alone. Everyone’s clamoring for the newest, improved season, but the truth is: summer hasn’t yet left us. It’s during these last few weeks of summer and those that follow that our yard looks to us for restoration. It’s time for fall lawn and garden care. The incentive is harder to recognize, but come next spring, you’ll be glad to have done the legwork now and your landscape will thank you. Dig deep. End of summer and early fall is the optimal time for some of those projects we’ve neglected and procrastinated starting. (more…)
As the days become shorter and cooler, there are some basic home maintenance tasks to take care to prepare your home for the colder, harsher days to come. Below is our list of exterior fall home maintenance must-dos to keep your house in tip-top shape.
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I’m usually a hold out for Indian Summer – a true believer that it will come and temporarily relieve us of the fall chill. Not this time; fall seems to have dropped in a few weeks early. With that, comes my foreboding about the months ahead, being locked in the house with my loving but rambunctious brood. I can picture too the commotion in our kitchen, the bottleneck around the island at every future gathering we host and I long for a few more weeks with the option to push them out the back door. So, I’m going for it. If you’re a friend of mine reading this, thank you- we’ll square up later. Secondly, I’m putting you on alert: don’t come over without a sweatshirt because we will be snuggled outside until the snow begins to fly. (more…)
We tackled a project last summer that I was loathe to do, but after years of praying to the Yard Crasher gods to no avail, we plunged into the pool patio project. Our inground pool is surrounded by a paver patio that pre-project resembled an animal pen. By that, I mean the metal fence that runs the perimeter was very, very close, allowing just enough space for two people to pass but certainly not to comfortably seat anyone. I don’t know how it is that I cannot locate a photo of the before, to illustrate how tight it was. However, here is a photo taken afterward, where the measuring tape denotes the end of the former pool patio. Tight, right?
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