Outside Spaces...and another pallet project.

First of all, Happy Mothers Day to all the Mommy's!  We had a pretty quiet one here, had all the fam over for breakfast, then had a lot of relaxing while sitting outside.  It was a gorgeous day!

Speaking of outside, we've been busy the last few weekends sprucing up our outside instead of inside.  We have a great deck off our sunroom/kitchen area and below that a concrete patio.  Until now, they've been OK, just OK.  The concrete patio was pretty much a storage area for every Little Tikes toy you can imagine, but as Emma is getting older, the need for those toys lessen, so we actually have some grown up space back!  Our deck has had a nice table that we bought several years ago, but just always had blah beige cushions and a blah beige umbrella. 

When Target had a rockin' sale a while ago I was able to get the cushions for a steal.  I really liked the idea of a solid color, but couldn't decide which one to pick.  So.....why pick one?  I just picked all the ones I liked and I think they go great together:

We had some pretty (at one time) flower holders that had faded beyond faded.  So, we spruced them up with a coat of black spray paint.  Then, the only planters we had that would fit were a dull army green with faded spots.  Enter the black spray paint again...

Here's a closer look:

If you've noticed that my townhouse backs to the most beautiful protected wetlands EVER you're right.  I never realized when we bought this house how lucky we were...until now, of course!

Now, for the concrete patio...it all started with my fascination with a pin on Pinterest about all of the fabulous uses for old discarded pallets.  I saw an outside coffe table and loved it!  We cut ours in half because our space isn't that big, but can you belive we went from this:

(you can see where we sliced it in half!)

To this:

All we did was buy some 4x4's to seperate the two pallets, a bunch of L-bracket thingys (my husband did that part), 4 wheels for the bottom and my favorite Rustoleom stain.

I searched for a long time for Adirondak chairs that I liked and were affordable, which was hard.  The one's I really liked liked were a few hundred dollars a chair, so I ended up with 2 chairs from Home Depot.  They were on sale for only $39 each, but of course had to be put together and then stained that fab dark walnut color, not to mention a protective coat of poly.  While at Home Depot I passed a bin with outdoor pillows on clearance for $11 a pillow and these coral pillows just screamed BUY ME!  You can see why, huh?

The total package:

With my flowers in the shot:

Closer up:

And, lets not forget the Robin's Nest with the 3 eggs in it that is in the same exact place every year!

What's a great sitting area without some mood lighting??

We spent that weekend also planting bunches o' flowers so since they are so pretty and I finally fixed my camera, I'll take you on a tour:

The side fence that is our property line:  (we would never fence in this area...who in their right mind would block those gorgeous wetlands??)

Go ahead, be jealous, that hydrangea bush will bloom hot pink flowers by the beginning of July!  While I'm at it, might as well check out the front yard:

In a few weeks, those petunias will practically cover the flower bed and they will live ALL.SUMMER.LONG!  Yes, that's another hydrangea bush to your left!  Here are my pots o' flowers:

Some up close:

Can't forget my little welcome birds...

Excusing the trash and recycle bin to your left, here is a shot of the deck and patio:

Whew, we've been busy!  But, gotta remember, outdoor spaces are just as important, especially this beautiful time of year!

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Primitive and Proper and Miss Mustard Seed