Don’t get too excited. It’s not so much aesthetic progress, as it is functional progress. We got our old spray painted metal and glass coffee table from our first house‘s living room…
… back from John’s parents (they used it when their house was on the market and then it accidentally got hidden away in storage). Then it dawned on us that although we didn’t have a spot for it inside, a ton of outdoor furniture is spray painted metal and glass (like the round table that the old owners left on our upper patio). So out to the patio it went.
Is it perfect for the space? Nope. Is it great for resting my pasty need-to-be-shaved mom legs? Yup.
Sometimes you just gotta work with what you have (whether it’s a pale set of stems or an old $30 thrift store coffee table). At least until you upgrade (when it comes to furniture, not so much with legs). Here’s another table shot sans any pasty appendages:
And check out the happy surprise going on in the background. Yup, our hydrangeas got all booyah on us and bloomed. We wondered what color they’d be (and actually guessed they were white when we saw the buds) but they surprised us with happy blue flowers when they opened. I know we’ve said it before, but it’s SO much fun to experience the first spring/summer in a new home just to see what sprouts up to surprise you. It’s kind of like Oprah saying: “You get a hydrangea!”, “You get a hydrangea!”, “You get a hydrangea!”
And although the patio looked so charming with some not-outdoor-friendly furniture that we stuck outside for the big patio reveal (John thinks I’m weird but I just got such a kick out of trecking stuff out there for the afters – you know, to help with scale)…
… this is what it’s looking like these days:
Yup, that’s a baby pool in the shape of a whale. It was a gift from a friend who had the very same one when she was a baby and Clara couldn’t love it more. And yes, being the protective momma bird that I am, I totally put a bunch of towels under it so it’s not too hard on those swim-diapered buns of hers.
Oddly enough, although the patio is faaaaar from being “done” when it comes to outdoor furniture and pillows and all the other things that we eventually want to work in, for now… it’s paradise. And it’s such a nice reminder that spaces don’t have to be styled within an inch of their life and filled with perfectly scaled and coordinated furnishings to do the trick. Sometimes a whale shaped baby pool plus an old coffee table = happiness.
Oh and before I go, check out how much our backyard continues to fill in since our first house tour. Here’s a shot of the left side of our backyard that John snapped a few months back:
And here it is now:
Va-va-voom, right? And here’s the right side of the back yard a few months back:
And now:
Crazy lush, eh? Welcome to the jungle. Burger and Clara seem to love exploring. And check out what an old bush that we couldn’t identify turned out to be…
… roses!
At least I think that’s what they are. I’m plant illiterate so that’s my best guess. One thing’s for sure, there’s enough monkey grass to tickle my pale legs for hours.
Anyway, do you guys have any spaces like our patio (laughably unfurnished but blissfully functional)? Did you own the same whale pool that Clara plays in (apparently they’ve been around for decades)? Are your legs as delightfully chalky as mine? You can tell me. I promise I won’t gossip about it. Much.
Rachel says
I’m wondering if you all have mosquito problems up there. I live in Atlanta, and outside time is fairly miserable in spaces like yours once the weather turns muggy. Do you spray or otherwise treat your patio for bugs?
YoungHouseLove says
We just use citronella candles, these all natural incense sticks from a local bird and lawn store. Oh and a fan can work wonders too (bugs hate getting blown around).
xo,
s
joanna says
The patio looks great – love that little pool! And those pasty legs – inspiring. I’m breaking mine out and taking the kids to the pool this afternoon. First time out is the hardest, right?
Elizabeth says
Here is a video in honor of us pasty white people and our love of sunscreen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdGj-FVxOcs
P.S. I do not mean to endorse taking sunscreen use lightly. These commercials just always cracked me up…can watch/listen to them for hours! LOL
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I love that whole campaign. I love them all.
xo,
s
Courtney says
I love the patio, and so jealous of that yard!! It’s beautiful! We only have a bowling alley of a yard, and not sure what to do with it yet. Luckily we do have some flowers blooming in it.
We have the same pool and love it! My son is only three months older than Clara, and it’s the perfect size for him. We also have a foam playmat under ours (we use it on the porch so it’s in the shade since my son and I are both redheads). We got our playmat at TJ Maxx and love it. I just hose it down when I need to.
Melanie says
My hydrangeas are just starting to bloom, they’re white now – but I hope they turn blue like yours did. Such a nice patio you have there!
I give you made props for even wearing shorts. I’m so white it’s frightening. I think you have that whole olive skin tone thing going on. :)
Kelly says
Untanned solidarity! I keep wondering if tanning / being tan will go out of style now that everyone knows it causes cancer? Kinda like how cigarettes are not so cool anymore. Either way, I’m not putting away the sunscreen anytime soon. Who will join me in staying pale year round?
YoungHouseLove says
Me! Picture me flailing my chalky appendages around wildly. Sunscreen, although sticky and annoying to apply, is the way to go.
xo,
s
Amanda says
Oh my goodness, all of your plants are GORGEOUS! I hope I can make my yard that green and lush someday. It’s amazing! :)
Jennifer Collins says
Every time I see your large,clear (blue / green tint) glass vases (or bottles?) I fall in love a little more. Do you remember where you purchased them?
Thanks,
Jennny
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, those are from ZGallerie a while back. But I have seen dead ringers at HomeGoods and Marshall’s and TJ Maxx lately!
xo,
s
JoDi says
Count me in the pasty girls club too! My husband says if I were any paler, I’d be invisible!
The patio looks great – fun and functional!
Dacia says
I can share in your pasty leg love/humiliation. And I also sang your post title out loud when I read it. Which was embarrassing since I’m at work..
Stephanie says
Replace “hydrangea” with “clematis” and that sums up my first spring at my house. 7 different varieties of clematis all over the yard, my mom was soooo jealous. ;-)
And my legs may very well be even MORE chalky than yours. I’m a mixture of lots of nationalities, but the Irish and Swedish blood DEFINITELY dominate my skintone. :-P
Vanessa says
Glad to hear they are daylillies. They are easy to split if you need another space to fill. I gave some to my neighbor and they took well to the transplant. Be sure to deadhead them – you will get alot more blooms that way.
tara says
i love what you said about maybe things aren’t perfect scale and whathaveyou, but its paradise for you guys. thanks for spreading the anti-perfectionism gospel :)
ps. just drove through the state of virginia twice recently on a big road trip and it was a breathtaking journey. i’d live there in a second!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks! As if I can take credit for Virginia. Hah. But we Virginians are proud of the beauty that is our homeland!
xo,
s
Charise says
Oh yes, I have the ghost legs. I swear, the REFLECT sunlight they are so pale. Gotta work with what ya got, right?
Therese says
When I bought my first house, it came complete with a mongo perennial garden. I loved flowers but had very little experience beyond pots on the patio. The first year I snapped a Polaroid (yes I’m old) of each plant as it bloomed, and then wrote the name and month it flowered on it. Sometimes I had to take photo to work and ask “What the heck is this? Anyone? Anyone?” I’m not a scrapbooky gal but I made a little album so that the next year I’d remember what was coming when. Now you could do all of that so much easier digitally!
OH: and I gave myself permission to do very little weeding the first year. You don’t want to pull something that might end up being a flower!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- I’m doing the same thing when it comes to avoiding weeding. Even when I’m certain something is a ten foot dandelion. Gotta be sure…
xo,
s
DDay says
I am totally feeling you on the yard surprises thing. We bought our house around the same time you guys bought yours and was amazed to find these leafy type plants sprout up in what I thought were empty mulch beds at the side of the house (I still don’t know what they are). It was even more fun when a couple weeks ago some of them grew flowers!
Jenny says
This is kind of random, but I have to say how much I love how you used the phrase “our hydrangeas got all booyah on us.”
BrassyDel says
You mentioned swim diapers – you know you can use your pocket diapers UNSTUFFED for swim diapers, right? Go forth, and never waste a penny on swim diapers again! :D
YoungHouseLove says
Totally heard that! We inherited two swim diapers from Clara’s cousin so we’ve just used them but we’ll have to try our BG’s too!
xo,
s
Lesley says
Great tip!!
liz says
I’ve really enjoyed watching this patio evolve, so much so that you’ve inspired us to rip up an old, scary patio of our own and put in a new one this summer. Quick question for you guys – does your town offer services to recycle your demo’ed brick & concrete? Ours doesn’t, so we’re left to haul ourselves, which scares me a bit! Any tips would be most welcome.
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I don’t know that ours does either! We saved all the brick to reuse someday (maybe to make raised bed gardens or something) and as for all the demo’d concrete we stashed that in big bins in the back corner of our lot behind a bunch of trees. So glad it’s out of sight, but someday we’d love to properly get it gone (especially if we could figure out a way for someone to use it again for something).
xo,
s
KathyG says
Concrete is recyled easily. Maybe google ‘concrete recycling richmond va’? I’m betting there are several places, companies there.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks KathyG!
xo,
s
Julie F. says
thanks for posting your ‘pasty’ legs! i wore shorts for the first time yesterday despite the 100 degree Kansas June we’ve been having… i had to convince my inner 18 year old (i’m almost 30, gulp!) that white legs were okay. your post made me smile.
Alison says
I am such a big fan of a patio that is people friendly and big enough to accommodate friends. Is any of you patio covered? Do you cover any of your furniture when it rains?
YoungHouseLove says
We have a lot of nice shade from trees so we don’t want to add more cover since we like that it gets some sun to keep Clara from freezing in the baby pool (while covered in sunscreen of course) haha. Who knows down the road what we’ll do though!
xo,
s
Kacie says
my legs are pale AND furry owing to the fact that I wax and it’s that last week before my appointment, it’s quite the sight! Speaking of which, I think it’s just about time I go work on the pool to get my daily dose of vitamin D…
Heidi says
Your first picture got me thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if you could do a house crashing in your old house? To see how they got it looking. It’ll probably be a little nostalgic
YoungHouseLove says
I’d love that! We left the ball in their court (they know we’d love to crash) so we just have to wait and see if we’re ever invited back. Haha.
xo,
s
www.StarHughes.com says
You have such an amazing backyard!!! And those hydrangeas – wow!
Star Hughes Living
Afton says
Okay, I’ll be the super nosey one… Whatcha reading there? I just love to know which type of books people read. Weird, I know :)
YoungHouseLove says
I was reading Mary Roach’s Packing For Mars (sooooo fascinating) but now I’m onto Bethenny Frankel’s The Power Of Yes (kind of self-help-ish but I love reading about her and the fam).
xo,
s
Zoe says
Sherry, don’t stress about your legs. Mine are so white you have to put sunnies on to look at them! But with my pale white skin – I just keep telling myself to thing about how gracefully I’ll age – instead of being tanned and leathery!
Enjoy the milky-ness I say! Think of Nicole Kidman, Dita Von Teese, Julianne Moore, Renee Zellweger, Rose McGowan, Marcia Cross…
Emma says
We moved into our jungle garden/ramshackle farmhouse in summer (Australian summer) and now it’s winter and some bulbs are poking their heads out of the earth and I don’t know what they will be come spring. This is exciting me! We also have heaps of winter flowering camellias which are surprising me, one which I wanted to pull out has turned out to be my favourite! Hydrangeas are actually either ‘coloured’ or ‘white’ – the colour just depends on the PH level in your soil. Where we used to live my hydrangeas were pink, I potted them and put them in our garden here and they are now blue. So if you don’t like blue you can turn them purple or pink by sprinkling some lime, but you won’t get them white :)
EngineerMom says
Our living room is definitely “laughably unfurnished but blissfully functional”! Almost everything in it is hand-me-down except two deep mocha leather storage ottomans I found at a deep discount. They’re the kind where the top flips to become a tray, and we use them as endtables more than ottomans. I love them, especially since they’re the only pieces I got to choose!
Nothing else in the room really coordinates well, since it’s a mix of things from my parents (who up until recently liked the “country” look – they’ve now gone totally modern) and items I accumulated from friends when we made the move from 1-br apartment to 4br house. All the pieces are either wood-toned, white, or covered with a very neutral fabric, so it doesn’t look completely crazy, just kind of boring.
rhiannon says
that monkey grass doesn’t look nearly as obnoxious now that the rest of the yard is so lush. i can’t wait to see how you landscape in the future, especially to add privacy and what food you plant.
and girl, i’m right there with you with some super pasty stems of my own. at least yours can tan up. i’m scottish, so i’m forever doomed to be a pinkish pale. i use self tanner from bath and body works (which is on sale from it’s normal $15 to $3.75 a bottle, you had better believe i stocked up) and i’m looking pretty bronze these days. but not in an obnoxious snooki way.
Trisha says
We have an screened porch. It’s an awesome space to dry the cloth diapers, and eat “outside” but without the bugs. It is also home to our two year old’s trapeze bar. However, it could use some sprucing…
sara says
There is nothing more that I’d like than Oprah standing on my porch zapping the ugly bushes that are “landscaped” under my windows going “You get a hydrangea! You get a hydrangea! And YOU get a hydrangea!”
Girl can hope.
Ani says
“You get a hydrangea” had me busting a gut. You sound just like her ;)
I don’t know why I never comment. I’ve been checking your site daily for over 2 years!
Tanya says
I love the table. The glass top just screams to have a stained glass mosaic on it! You might check your local stained glass store for scraps and come up with a cute design. Or, can you change the glass out with some overstock granite?
kim says
I have those legs. I think they’re making a come back. I’ve seen lots of them this season.
Brooke says
I have pasty legs too! I’ve gotten comfortable with them since I’m a mom, I just don’t care anymore.
Also, this is our first spring in our house and I’m loving seeing what we have. We have TONS of wild blackberries and my son loves to pick and eat them. We’ve got daylillies and I just transplanted some of them to a sunny spot and I didn’t even put a dent in them. I have to figure out where to move the rest of them! So much fun!
Laurabeth says
Sherry. Seriously. You don’t have to keep apologizing for your legs. We all love you as you are.
Samantha says
i have the same knockout roses. They are so great because they don’t require maintenance, and they are really beautiful!
Ann says
What a beautiful yard..I did notice that the hydrangeas were wilting. You may not know that they require lots of water. I water mine every day in the summer. Doesn’t have to be a deep watering if you do it daily as they are shallow rooted. Mulch also helps. You can bend a lower branch down to the dirt and loosen the dirt and cover it with some soil-then put a rock or brick on the part touching the dirt. Leave it for several weeks. When you remove the rock the limb will have rooted and you can cut it off of the mother plant and plant the baby somewhere in the shade…free new plant. Oh yes, just be sure that the part you lightly cover has a “eye” on it as that is where the roots will grow from. The “eye” is the small bumps up and down the stems. Best of luck.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! Off to water and mulch!
xo,
s
Amy @ This DIY Life says
My big plans for this weekend include working on our Brady garden (Brady is our one year old cat/child that we had to say goodbye to a month ago – here’s the sad story http://thisdiylife.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/brady/). After a tour through some fab gardens last weekend, we decided to make a Brady garden with blue and white flowers and little touches of orange. it’s not easy to find enough blue flowers to fill as big of a space as we want. Why did I not think hydrangea? I saw the picture of your blue hydrangea and thought “That says Brady”. I’m sure I’ll have to amend the soil to get it to bloom blue, but I’m okay with that.
I also saw your first then and now pictures (the one with the fork in the road) and literally said out loud “holy crap on a cracker.”
That’s all :)
Hollie @ I'm Busy Procrastinating says
I must confess. My legs are at least as chalky white as yours. And today I have chalky white legs speckled with turquoise paint. Nice.
Lauren says
I actually have a question inspired by the window treatments in your old living room (first pic in this post). We have a sliding glass door and dark curtains that we draw closed for privacy at night. I would rather have light and airy curtains like yours but we need the privacy. I love your bamboo shades, but would this work with sliding doors? I hate vertical blinds. Do you have any ideas that would allow us to have the privacy but with lighter curtains?
YoungHouseLove says
The most effective privacy on slider solution that we’ve seen have been basic vertical blinds (although many folks hate them) because they can be pulled open during the day and while entertaining so they’re completely invisible behind the breezy curtains (but closed at night for privacy, which is the only time they’re visible (yet still flanked by breezy curtains which tend to take away from their ugliness, haha).
xo,
s
Kiran says
Love how difference in seasons seems apparent in before and after photos. So lush!
Lindsey says
Definitely a rose, probably a rugosa, possibly one of the Canadian roses. Either way, it should be low maintenance, no pruning, spraying or winter prep but it would appreciate fertilizer, all rose bushes love to be fed in the spring and early summer.
Anne says
When I first noticed this I did not want to be snarky so I refrained from commenting but it kept bothering me. For safety’s sake please consider moving Clara’s pool off the patio to a grassy area. Even pre-walker’s can tip over, slip or tumble in or out of the pool while reaching for something and whack their heads. Grass is hard but much more forgiving than concrete or brick. Before we owned a house with a yard we put our baby pool in the middle of a 2 inch thick gym mat out on the balcony.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for your concern! That’s actually why we mentioned that we stuffed folded towels under it to soften it right in the post (kind of like your gym mat solution). See them peeking out? I set her down in the pool and she sits and splashes. No getting in and out or crawling around or standing or anything like that. We just give her some buckets and cups and she sits there and plays until we lift her out and wrap her up in a towel. At least that’s how it has gone the last dozen times. The minute she starts trying to crawl in and out or stand up it’s off to the grass with the whole pool though- promise! No one’s more into the bean (and her safety) than we are!
xo,
s
Carrie says
First off…Love, love, love your blog..I have been inspired so much by it!!
Is the wall color in the living room photo the gliddens sand white?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, that’s the one.
xo,
s
Ashlee says
I am not sure if anyone said this yet, but I think your roses are “knock out roses”. They are my favorite kind. :)
YoungHouseLove says
That seems to be the consensus. Thanks Ashlee!
xo,
s
Lesley says
Pale is the new tan, Sherry :)
StacyfrPgh says
You prob know this, but to easily tie in the patio furnishings, just sew quick cushions in the same fabric. Even if the furniture doesn’t match, the pillows will help. Also, the towels under the pool are great–also helps to guard against abrasion on the bottom of the pool and prevents holes from forming.
YoungHouseLove says
I love the idea of using cushions to tie things together!
xo,
s
Leah says
Pale, hairy momma legs? Check!
Cutie Whale pool? Check! (My sweet William adores it. It’s prefect outside or even in our sunroom with water-filled tupperware as a sort of water table.)
Uncute, functional patio? Check!
Lindsey says
I see your patio progress…if you’re looking for a fun, DIY, part-IKEA table… we have a little project you might enjoy. We made our patio table, posted about on our blog. And its friendly on the ol’ budget. Take a look if you want… good luck! Can’t wait to see the changes!
http://ourhomegrownspud.blogspot.com/2011/04/patio-table.html
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh – it’s gorgeous!!!
xo,
s