Weather, weather! Cold, windy (very windy), more wind today, heavy rain due on Friday and Saturday. And, a frost advisory for tonight!
So, I’m holding off on buying plants for pots and urns and hanging pots until this passes.
I planted the morning glory and zinnia seeds yesterday, but forgot that moonflower seeds need to soak for 24 hours, so I’ll be planting those today.
And I put together the other Adirondack chair – this time, it only took about forty-five minutes. Since the bench cushion arrived yesterday via UPS, everything in that little sitting area is now ready for some photos.
Hello, pretty Adirondack chairs! Since our porch is covered in bluestone and also slopes downward a bit, finding a place to set up the other chair was a bit tricky. Then, later in the day, the wind was so strong that it actually collapsed (but not in a bad way) with a loud bang – now I know that they really do fold up for storage!
The chairs are from The Christmas Tree Shops. The cushions are from Home Goods. The little table was a last minute find from Marshall’s.
The funky, rusty glider with its new clothes…I really love this look.
The bench cushion was ordered from Plow & Hearth. Finally, a bench cushion that actually fills the entire seat! The cushions on either end are from Home Goods and the one in the middle is from Marshall’s.
Everything was inexpensive – including the chairs. It was time for some sprucing up. I started with a plan to find a bench cushion for the glider and some pillows to match. Then I saw the ad for the chairs, and so I had to buy more cushions and the little table.
It’s bright and colorful and I love that. The house color is muted, the bluestone is grayish. A lot of the other furniture is very weathered teak. We need some pops of color!
An impulse buy from Home Goods, but one I’m happy about:
This plant stand, which also folds up for storage. I’m looking forward to filling this up with some lovely plants.
I want to share another great find from The Christmas Tree Shops:
These great urns, made of fireclay. I had an itch to find some antique urns, but who knows how long that would take and/or how expensive they would be! Then, I saw these outside near the entrance to the store and I bought one and stuck it in the cart with the chairs.
Then I couldn’t stop thinking about them and I bought three more. They are only $16.99 and have a nice, hefty weight. I haven’t planted them yet because of the weather but soon.
The gray version, which picks up the gray in our shutters. One on the funky patio, one next to the kitchen door. Aren’t they great?
Once I plant some impatiens in the hanging pots and fill some other pots with flowers and plants, the porch will be ready to go!
Don has been following along via texts and he loves it, which makes me happy.
Happy Wednesday.
Really like your porch ….wish I lived closer so I could sit with you for awhile! The colors are so bright and pretty……I think everything looks so comfortable ……..enjoy ………Virginia ….from Alabama
Thank you!
Your porch looks very welcoming. I love the look of the glider and the chairs look comfy too! Happy Spring to you.
Same to you! (I wish it was warmer at the moment And sunny!)
Oh my! You have such an eye for decorating! Your eye for color is wonderful. I can just picture you and Don sitting out there in all the comfort, surrounded by flowers and plants.
Can’t wait until he gets home and we can enjoy it together!
Your porch looks so inviting! I hope you spend lots of time enjoying it throughout the summer and on into the fall!
I plan to, Debbie! Thank you!
Claudia, I love the color everywhere! What great patterns you have mixed together. No matchy matchy, very eclectic!! The planters are great. I love that they have some weight to them and look old and will weather well.
I’m watching the birds at the feeders and Annie was enjoying it for awhile also, she is now in her bed sleeping…cats! I know Don can’t wait to get home and enjoy all this sprucing up you’ve done. I’m making a list of plants that are deer resistant and hope to buy something flowering this week! Hugs!
Yes, the planters look old (but are much less expensive than an antique!)
It’s looking very cozy around your porch! Love the mix of color and pattern you’ve achieved, and the urns will be glorious when your green thumb has its way with them. Brava!
Thank you, Shanna!
I love your porch. And I want to come sit on your glider. I want one. Or a porch swing.
Are the chairs easy to get out of? I love the look of them.
I saw a DIY online that has me intrigued. The idea is to spray the planters with Rustoleum glow in the dark paint. And during the day the planters will absorb the sun during the day and glow at night. I don’t have a porch but thinking about giving this a try. I would love a porch.
Yes, the chairs are very easy to get out of! Surprisingly so!
Love that idea of the glow in the dark paint, Trina!
It’s cold and windy with rain expected again starting on Friday for Pennsylvania too. Your porch looks so nice. I especially like the pillows on the glider.
Thank you. My favorites are the pillows on either end – such a pretty print!
Good morning Claudia, your porch looks so inviting! Love the colors. I have been wondering into the world of succulents. I like the simplicity of them. Happy Spring! xo
Oh, I do, too! I might plant some in pots to place on the plant stand! Thank you, April.
Love the new look on the porch Claudia! I am especially interested in porches right now because we had one built off our kitchen recently. Ours is screened because we have awful mosquitoes in the warm months. The mosquito is the Minnesota state bird!
I love that your porch is casual and looks like a porch. That is how mine will look too!
Thank you, Carolyn Marie. Sometimes I wish we had a screened-in porch, but I wouldn’t want it on the front of the house, so I won’t complain! We’re very lucky to have this one. Have fun with your new porch!
Looking good! I’m especially crazy about your glider…the combination of pillows is fantastic. Your porch, even without flowers, already looks so happy! Good deal on those planters…they’ll look so cottage-like once they are planted. I’m anxiously waiting to plant the perennials I bought ….we had frost last night. I was told to hold off until the day of last average frost…the 11th. So anxious! But…it’s finally sunny here…looks like for the next 7 days at least…about time! ;)
We might have frost tonight! It’s May 3rd, darn it! I’m glad you’ve got sun, finally!
lovely porch!!! Looking into the future, I see many meals shared out there with your sweetie :-)
Thank you, Jeannine!
great job on the porch; it looks charming, cozy and inviting, fun and a wonderful place to sit with your love, read a book or watch the wildlife and weather! i am happy for you.
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy. I’m looking forward to reading a bit in one of the new chairs!
I’ll be over shortly to sit a spell. :D I’ll bring a scarf and we’ll sip hot chocolate until the weather breaks.
Sounds perfect! I’m always up for hot chocolate – but be prepared for some wind!
I love the glider cushion and pillows, and the little table! A wonderful space to enjoy!
The little table was a surprise find and I couldn’t resist!
The glider is just adorable. And what a find those urns were! I have serious “porch envy” now. You’ve created a great spot for relaxing this summer.
I’m looking forward to a lot of porch time, Kay. Thank you.
You have style!
Aw, thanks, Wendy!
I have been enjoying your blog for several weeks now, so I wanted to check in and say Hello! I believe I found you while looking for egg cups for a friend who is a new collector. Your Roseville pottery collection is wonderful. I collect depression glass and tea items especially old children’s tea sets. I live in an old house in New Jersey, and I love yours. Thanks for sharing, Claudia!
I love children’s tea sets – baby dishes, as well! Thanks so much for introducing yourself, Judy! We’re practically neighbors!
Love the swing. I saw the picture on IG yesterday and those pillows are just beautiful with that cushion. So many hours of sitting and chatting and reading in the years ahead. Great purchase on those pots! Those will have many years of use, too. I saw that plant stand at Home Goods last week, and I circled the store 2 or 3 times and went back again and again, but didn’t pick it up. I have thought about it since I saw it. So, if it is there on my next visit, I shall deem it “meant to be” and bring it home!
We have SUN today!! Oh, the difference it can make in my perspective! I surely feel much more productive. Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!
I almost didn’t buy it – I know I’ll feel better about it when I actually fill it with plants! So glad you have sun!
Looking good, Claudia! Too bad our weather today is not conducive in the slightest to sitting out and enjoying it! You found some great items, I think that glider in all its glory is my favorite! Do you think those urns will be ok if left out over the winter? Or would you have to bring them in?
Too windy today! I’m not sure about the urns. I may have to bring them inside. I’ll have to check out information about the hardiness of fireclay.
It looks great. Wish I could stop in for a chat! Wanted to let you know Woody’s mom passed away at 95. Sharp as a tack right to the very end.
Love you,
Eileen
I wish you could stop in for a chat, too.
I’m so sorry to hear about Millie’s passing. But how wonderful that she was sharp as a tack to the very end! My love and sympathy to you and Woody and your children, as well as Woody’s family. What a lovely long life she had!
Love you, Eileen.
Your porch seems says come on in and take a seat. Those chairs are lovely and look so comfortable.
Marilyn
Thank you so much, Marilyn!
I’m playing catch-up today with my blog reading. That meant I was able to see your lovely additions to the porch furnishings all completed. We’ve moved past spring and have gone straight to summer here as May begins, with the barn swallow fledglings beginning to take off from their nest, all my lettuces having already bolted, my golden retriever having (happily to him, unhappily to us) captured his first baby rabbits and my husband called for the first time to kill a rattler in the neighbor’s yard. Sometimes I can’t help but think of Eliot’s reminder of how cruel spring can be, too, although I don’t think he was referencing the capturing of baby rabbits by avid dogs.
Oh, that’s the part of nature I have a very hard time with. That sort of thing haunts me! One of the reasons I’m not going to watch those eggs. It’s better I don’t know anything!
My experience with antique urns is that they’re ridiculously expensive. Yours are a great find. Where I live, you can’t even buy plastic for that price.
Your porch is so welcoming. You’ve put it all together so nicely.
Let me ask you…with The Country, and wild animals here and there, plus those roaming neighbor cats, do you have to pull up all the cushions at the end of the day? I can’t leave anything out like that and neither can my neighbors. Not at my other house I used to live in either. It’s a pain to have to put it all away each evening. If you leave it, little creatures crawl over it and lay on it; nice and cushion-y at 3am. One of my neighbors flips up the cushions on end…leaves them on the seats…only to find them on the ground in the morning. We had to buy one of those massive storage things where you lift up the lid and pile cushions and outdoor pillows in it; it’s kinda ugly but functional.
I remain amazed at your weather. I have a yard crew on my hillside today and they’re working in humid 85 degrees; hot sun. Our green hills are becoming a patchwork of green and straw-color now and we are a town of major weeds everywhere which need abatement soonest.
Ah, the major diff between East Coast/West Coast. “If only” a happy medium!
No, I’ve never had to do that. There may be the occasional cat that rests a spell, not that I’ve ever noticed. There are a lot of places out here for animals to rest a spell – usually it’s on the grass in the sun!
I love the colors and patterns you have chosen for your cushions…I don’t know how you did it, but somehow everything all goes together. If I mixed colors and patterns like that, it would look all willy-nilly. That plant stand will look fantastic with pots of flowers on it. Our weather sounds much like yours lately. All I’ve planted is pansies for the porch. We had a frost warning last night too, but pansies can withstand temps down into the 20’s.
I’ll be glad when it gets warmer, Melanie, but it looks like the next week or two will be cooler than normal here.
Your porch looks fabulous! I love the colors you used. I hope you enjoy many pleasant hours enjoying your creation.
Thank you, Barbara!
It all is looking great! Love the pops of color. I also think I have urn envy … classic look and a great price.
What a great deal those urns were! Thanks, Lori.
Hi…love ur blog!! And the lilacs r so eautiful! Reminds me of my Grandmas house on her ranch. She had lilacs too…and I loved the fragrance! Lovely porch..here n Calif. We r having very warm weather now. Take care and enjoy ur beautiful garden and porch. Loretta
Lilacs are wonderfully old-fashioned flowers, Loretta. My mom had a bush at my childhood home. Love that scent!
Thanks so much for commenting, Loretta!
Great job! What a fantastic place to sit and relax, chat, reflect or simply zone out. I too love all the color. Cushions can be hard to shop for. Plow &Hearth has some really neat outdoor goodies. And Home Goods? I love that place. I can always find something. :)
Enjoy!
Monica
Home Goods is fabulous. This is the first thing I’ve purchased from Plow and Hearth. I searched for cushions that were the length I needed and up popped P & H. Fast shipping, too!
Hi, I love what you did on your porch and I love, love, love gliders! The colors are happy and vibrant and bring in the colors of all of the flowers that you have in your gardens. Shopping at The Christmas Tree Shop, Home Goods and Marshalls can be so therapeutic and addictive, but they are some of my happy places. The planters look great and you can’t beat that price. Great job and very inspirational! xoxo
They are my happy places, too, Ann Marie! I certainly got some good deals! Thanks so much for your kind words!
Your porch looks so pretty and inviting Claudia – I love it! It’s inspired me to do something with my decking furniture to give it a new lease of life.
Good! Have fun, Valerie!