CHIT CHAT

I made the Luckyjuju Puppy Doll for my baby nephew who will be 1 year old next month. The i-cord scarf instructions are included with the pattern download at Creativebug

Outdoor Iron Chaise Lounge Project

New Ceiling flush mount chandelier for my studio

GARDENING

DECORATING: OUTDOOR LIVING

If you have the space, you probably have outdoor furniture on a patio, deck or backyard.  If you live in a place where you enjoy nice weather year round, you may even have an outdoor kitchen. I talk about how to make the most of your outdoor living space and to create and extend living space from the house to the outdoors. A living space you will want to spend most of your time during beautiful summer and early autumn days.

• Make a plan:  survey your outdoor space with the ideas you have on how you want it to look, and function.

  • Sitting and gathering space

  • Cooking, bbq space

  • Dining space

  • Fire pit space:  Target Table Top Fire Pit

  • Open or covered space

  • Gardening spaces and container garden locations

  • Kids and/or pet play spaces

How to create your outdoor living space:

• Outdoor furniture:  sofa, glider chair, lounge chair with outdoor cushions, chaise lounge.   Set this up like you would an indoor family room or living room.  Know the direction of the sun, and place the furniture accordingly if possible.

• In an adjacent space on your patio or deck, make a dining room space with the outdoor dining table and chairs with table umbrella.  If you have the space to create separate dining and seating areas, it can really help with groups of people.  If there are loud boisterous conversations and game playing like Jenga or even monopoly - have the dining table space for those activities, while keeping the seating area a bit more quiet for actual conversations.  Also, you want to spend time there on your own, not just in entertaining.  You can enjoy morning coffee or tea in the seating area and have an end table as a place to put your beverages.

• If you have a smaller space and there are only two of you,  Make an all in one area with seating, and maybe a small bistro table between two comfortable chairs, where it can be used for dining as well as comfortable sitting while doing your crafts like hand sewing or knitting projects.  I have a beautiful glass mosaic bistro table that I got at Michaels about 15 years ago.  It is still looking gorgeous and I have it between the sofa and glider chair.  When I am on my own, I eat there instead of at the bigger dining table - it much more comfy.

• You will be surprised how much an outdoor area rug can pull together a seating area, and make it super inviting.  It can be a smaller size area rug than you would do indoors ie a 5 x 8 in the center of a seating area will work fine.  Target and Wayfair are good sources for outdoor rugs.

• Lighting:  both functional and ambient will transform the space in the evenings.  umbrellas now have led solar lighting built in.  There are beautiful solar lanterns, even table lamps that are solar powered.  For a festive look and feel, string led lights can go anywhere, inside a glass jar on a coffee table or in the center of the dining table.  If you have a pergola, string lights on the rafters of the pergola for a romantic outdoor cafe lit space.  Amazon is a good source for outdoor led lighting.

• Fire features are all the rage now.  There are so many types, table top, pillars, built into coffee tables, led, propane and of course the classic real fire pit - that cannot be done on a wood deck of course.   I really want a table top fire pit bowl - actually I have my eye on a coffee table with built-in fire pit that is half table/half fire pit with a piece that slides over the fire pit and transforms the entire thing into a full coffee table! Very cool!  I also love the fire columns.  They are like end table height up to counter height and are round or recilinear with fire pit on top.  Target has a good selection of these at various price points.

• Water features:  table top fountain.  Fountains are not new, but sometimes overlooked when designing an outdoor space.  It adds a calming zen atmosphere and can be very pretty decorative element to the living space.  Glazed Pot fountain