Making plans for the back patio (And Giveaway Info)

I want to thank all of you who toured my home during the Parade of Homes at Poppies at Play.  I had so much fun participating and touring all of the other amazing homes.  If you missed it, you can click on the button below and still “join the parade”. 

I also want to thank you for all of the sweet comments about my master bedroom makeover.  I am so glad it is finished!  Of course, there will always be room for some “tweeking”, ya know.  If you missed the final reveal, just click on the picture below and it will take you there.

During the parade, many of you commented that you liked my back patio the best.  Thank you!

I love this area of our home. 

When we bought the house five years ago, that area was actually an unfinished, enclosed sun room.

At first, I thought I would love having a sun room.  But the truth is..I hated it.  It was like a huge, bug collecting sauna!  It didn’t matter how many times I cleaned out the bugs, I would wake up the next morning and find a gazillion more bugs. 

There were so many bugs, that even my boys didn’t like playing out there.

Now that’s a lot of bugs!!

The sunroom was enclosed with large glass sliding doors.

(This project was completed before my blogging days, so no pictures, I’m so sorry.)

So we tore them all down and made it into a covered patio instead.  I am so glad we did!

My husband installed four large columns across the back of the patio to match the columns in the front of our home.

I have created two eating areas on the patio for now. 

This is what you see as soon as you walk outside the kitchen door…

This little table and chairs I got at a yard sale for $20.00 like 6 or 7 years ago.  It was a hunter green color, so I spray painted the whole set black.

 

There is a ceiling fan directly above this table.  I may eventually turn this space into a seating area with some wicker chairs or something, but I have to admit I love all the extra eating space.  Sometimes we make this table the “kid table”.  :)

The other side of the patio has a larger set of table and chairs that my hubby bought me for our anniversary about 3 summers ago.

We bought them  from Target, and I have loved using them. The table is extra roomy, and the two chairs on the ends are rockers…so relaxing!

The chairs came with these orange cushions, so I bought some green and orange coordinating fabric from Hancock Fabrics to make some pillows.

We have a chandelier hanging on this side to “dress things up a bit.”  I absolutely LOVE having a chandelier outside!

The other side of the patio looks like this…(except the big green curtain is usually tied back.)  :)

The sun sets on this side.  So when we are eating dinner at this table in the evening, we are flooded with hot, bright sunlight!

I made the curtain as a solution to the problem.  The curtain is made from outdoor fabric and stretches across the side of the patio to block the sun. 

Now for the tablescape…

I got the green placemats from Walmart a few years ago.  The stemware was given to me by my mom several years ago too.  She had gotten them at Walmart.

The plates and bowls are by Gibson and I got them from Big Lots  for the guest house.

I love my lantern. I got it at Gordmans for about ten dollars, and the orange candle inside smells soooo good!

Of course, you ALL know where those little salt and pepper “birdies” came from. :) (Target)

And last but not least, my silverware is a great little find my mom got at a yard sale last year. She got a bag of old tarnished silverware for only $5.00!

I polished them up real good, and they look like new!  The best thing is…they are monogrammed with the letter “H”!   That’s the letter of my last name-Thank you, MOM!   I will be using them in my guest house.

I am wanting to work on this outdoor space a little more right now.

Some of the material on the cushions is starting to fade.

Should I use different colors this time?

I was thinking tan and black…

or lime green and black…

or light blue and black…

What do you think?

Anyway, I also wanted to take the time to thank you for linking up to my party last week! 

I have visited half of the links and will be trying to get to the rest of them this week.  If you missed the party, click HERE to check it out. 

I will announce the winner of my party giveaway tomorrow!

 

I also wanted to take a second to tell you about my sister’s great giveaway!

She is having a blogiversary giveaway!  And boy is it a good one! (She just recently got a new blog design and I think it is awesome!  And I would say that even if she wasn’t my sister.) :)

My sweet sister, Cyndi, special ordered a custom-made Lisa Leonard necklace for this giveaway!

 

It is in honor of the one year anniversary of her blog and in memory of our precious Mom.

During Mom’s illness we saw the word of God alive in her.  Especially the verse, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” Phil.1:21

The front…

The back…

I saw this necklace in person last night, and it is absolutely beautiful!!

So please go over to her blog and enter!  She is excited about meeting a lot of new bloggers and building her community.

Click on her fab button and it will take you there.

Have a blessed day!

Traci