Latest posts
7 Outdoor Living Space Ideas That Actually Get Used All Summer
The outdoor space I use most in summer is not the largest one. It is a single chair facing west in the corner of a garden, positioned where the evening light falls warmly and the neighborhood noise fades. I have sat in that chair every clear evening from May through September for three years. That…
Front Porch Ideas: 12 That Create an Instant Wow Reaction
I drove past a house last month and slowed down without meaning to. Deep teal door against red brick. Two matching terracotta pots with standard bay trees. A porch swing I could see from the road with a white cushion on it. I had formed a complete impression of the people who lived there before…
25 Back Patio Ideas on a Budget That Actually Work
My back patio cost $87 to transform. I spent $27 on solar string lights, $30 on an outdoor rug, and $30 on three plants from the garden center. The pallets were free from behind the hardware store. The cushions came from a charity shop. That patio got used every evening from May through October. It…
25 Outdoor Living Patio Ideas That Are Specific Enough to Copy
The patio I keep coming back to on Pinterest has: a jute rug, a cream linen sofa, one large bird of paradise in a grey ceramic pot, warm string lights hanging in loose curves overhead, and three mason jar lanterns grouped at different heights in one corner. That is the complete list. Nothing else. The…
21 Patio Decorating Ideas That Turn a Slab Into a Summer Room
My neighbor’s patio and mine were the same size, the same grey concrete, for two years. Same fence. Same position. Then she put down a jute rug, hung string lights, and moved her three pots from scattered positions into one corner. I asked her what she spent. Sixty dollars. That is what patio decorating ideas…
20 Patio Lighting Ideas That Transform Evenings Outside
The summer I put up solar string lights on the patio was the summer I started eating dinner outside four nights a week instead of one. Nothing else changed. Same furniture. Same patio. Same garden. Just warm amber light overhead instead of darkness after 9pm. Patio lighting ideas are what separate an outdoor space you…
7 Fairy Garden Crafts You Can Make in One Afternoon
I made my first fairy garden craft with my daughter on a rainy Saturday using materials we already had — a chipped teacup from a charity shop, some moss from the garden, three smooth pebbles, and a wooden craft stick door she painted herself. The whole thing cost about $2 and took one afternoon. It…
10 Best Flowers to Plant in Spring for a Spectacular Summer
April is when I realize which of my spring planting decisions from March were right and which ones I should have made differently. The pansies I put in too late. The sweet peas I started on time that are already climbing. The zinnias I have not sown yet that need to go in this weekend.…
12 Perennials That Bloom From Spring to Fall for Season-Long Color
My front border has had something flowering in it every week from late May through October for the past four years. I planted it once. I divide things occasionally. I deadhead when I remember. That is the complete maintenance record. Perennials that bloom from spring to fall are the plants that change a garden from…
12 Spring Bulbs to Plant in Fall for Spectacular Color
I planted a hundred tulip bulbs one October afternoon — about forty minutes of work — and forgot about them entirely. The following April the border I had planted them in looked like a photograph from a garden magazine. I had done nothing in between. That is the specific magic of spring bulbs to plant…
