Front porch hopes

Yesterday was such a beautiful day!  Our lovely neighbors took us out fishing in the bay yesterday and it was so much fun.  It finally gave me spring fever (a little late, huh?).  Since we’re at a stand-still in my office, I’ve decided to move on to the front porch.

It’s a disaster right now.  Here is the general idea I hope to achieve out there while it’s still spring:

The floor and ceiling are already painted a grayed blue, my favorite color.  My color inspiration came from the hydrangea we have in the flower bed in front of the porch.  Hydrangeas have always been my favorite, and this one is the best ever.  It starts bright blue, then goes muted blue, leading to muted green, then bright green.  (And usually purple and pink before fall.)

The colors of the rug in the mood board are just a little brighter than I plan on going with.  I’m hoping to paint a plain rug myself so I have more control over it, and save money.  We already have the bistro set, I’m thinking of painting or staining the wood a muted green.  We have both of the urns as well, just need to paint them both the same color and get some topiaries (hopefully some good fakes, since I am the killer of everything green).

Here is our current eyesore.  Our poor neighbors…

That flower bed makes me cringe.  Last year, we were out there at least twice a week trying to pull out the Bermuda grass and weeds.  We just can’t keep them out.  There is actually an Azalea under that mass of weeds.  We lost one last year in spite of our best efforts.  This year, we hope to pull that poor one out, lay down many layers of weed barrier and just do potted flowers and plants inside the flower bed. 

I’d also like to stain that icky concrete pad the same color as the porch floor.  (The hydrangea is just outside the picture to the left.)

The tattered chair was a curbside snatch.  I thought I could try to fix it up and if it didn’t work, I’d just stick it back onto the curb!

Still can’t figure out where to put the house numbers though.  Thinking maybe something like this?

100kMom

Or this?  Of course, it would be in plain colors for us.  What do you think?

Positively Splendid

First up is the un-fun stuff though, power washing and fixing the flower bed.  After that I’ll be posting the painting and refinishing projects! 

The stuff in the mood board came from:
* Rug and chair: Pier 1
* Potted plants pic: RealSimple
* Bistro set (recolored photo): This Old House
* Pillow: World Market