Sleeping Porch and Other Sunroom Covered Porches

I want a sleeping porch!

Simply Awesome. :-)

Could you just imagine snuggling up watching a thunderstorm roll through or shooting stars?

The only thing I would change is I'd make it a giant feather bed :-)

And I suppose if you wanted to have a sleepover party you could set up MANY swinging sleeping porch beds - hee,hee!

Just imagine how much fun it could be jumping from bed to bed - ha! :-)

 photographed by Quentin Bacon.

I don't know why, but where I live, we hardly have ANY sunrooms.  /-:

They are so wonderful though......I wish I had one!

BHG

What do you think of this shabby chic covered porch?!  I could hang out in here for a long time.

I find that wicker elements always looks fantastic on a porch. (And so does a pitcher of fresh lemonade - hee,hee)

I love how they include greenery on the porch.  It adds so much warmth.

Do you have a sunroom?  Do you use it a lot?


Come follow along! Enjoy your weekend!

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

A Fun Way to Save - Groupon Coupon

Hey Friends!

Just a little mid-week savings post.

Groupon contacted me and wanted to know if I would share with you guys about their newest saving extravaganza :-)

I know my readers highly value and enjoy finding a bargain so I thought you guys would be interested in it.

Simply put......

Groupon Coupons is a new way to save at Groupon. Unlike the traditional Groupon model, you don't have to buy anything to use them...it's just a big database of free coupons!

 They have over 55,000 coupons from more than 8,000 stores, and always adding new ones.

For all you awesome home fixer uppers I did a little research :-)


 Home Depot  had some great in-store offers and coupons listed.  It was nice to see all their promotions in one spot.

Brown Jordan - Home Depot exclusive patio sets

Another one of my favorites was finding Amazon coupon codes!  They had a coupon code for 20% off any pair of Amazon shipped shoes.

Steve Madden Sandal




Oh shoot, that had nothing to do with home decor - hahaha!  I do enjoy my shoes :-)


Sears had a coupon code for $35.00 off $300.00 patio furniture.

All to say, if we can be smart and save on something we were already going to purchase it's a win win!

AND, since I can't leave you guys without some Eye Candy, how about some beautiful outdoor settings.  It's finally warming up over here in the Northwest!

I love all the added texture with the brick and wood beams!

I can't wait till my own pergola vines start to GROW!

elle decor

Have you noticed all the LANTERNS in these photos!?  You can check out my fun How to Decorate with Lanterns post for all kinds of additional inspiration. 

It has been AMAZING spring weather over here in Idaho - probably record setting.  I like it :-)

Enjoy the rest of your week!

See my full disclosure for posts like this

Pergola Vine Ideas - Glamorizing Once Again

Hey Friends :-)

I thought I would try to squeeze in one last landscape project before I wake up to SNOW on the ground.  I LOVE looking at snow. (Notice I said LOOKING :-)  If there is snow on the ground, there should be a mom rule where I am able to stay home cuddled up in a blanket on the sofa with the fire going while I sip my coffee and read a good book.  (And I'd love to be a millionaire and sit on tropical beaches the rest of my life too.)  Hee, hee......as in sadly, NOT going to happen.  OH WELL.  Yes, snow will be on the ground any day now and I am going to have to drive in it and delight myself in the fact that I may never feel warm again - hahaha! 

Anyway :-)  Back to the pergola vines!  I hit the 50% off Fall sale at a local nursery and looked at a variety of vines.  As much as I would love something as romantic as Wisteria, they don't grow very well here due to how cold it is.  (and I've been told the flowering season is incredibly short.) I also knew I needed something HEARTY and fast growing. (I'm not that patient!) If it could bear fruit and have smelly flowers I would be jumping up and down in excitement.  

WELL

I found this - a Hardy Kiwi Vine! :-)

Honestly, I have NO idea what I'm doing but it said it was FAST growing, hearty, great for our zone, bears FRUIT and had smelly white flowers.  :-)

SOLD!! (at 50% off!)

So, to start off my project I had to figure out how to get the vines growing right up against my pergola.  We have pavers so I assumed I'd just grab a kitchen gadget and remove a few tiles.  (I'm laughing.......you KNOW you have done this yourself - right? Or am I the only one that uses kitchen gadgets for heavy duty landscaping? ;-)

All to say, RUINED the BBQ fork utensil.....I looked around in our shop and found a pickaxe....although still probably not the right tool,  it worked a bit better :-)

Of course, I didn't like the way it looked by simply removing the pavers so I had holes cut in a planter I had laying around.

My theory is that the vine roots will find their way to the bottom and then into the ground.  :-)

Of course I used our swivel top kitchen barstool as my ladder to tie up the vines - hee,hee.  I totally have problems! 

BEFORE VINES!

(My daughter is crazy!  Love her.)

AFTER VINES!!

BEFORE:

(yep, she's still in the picture!)

AFTER!

What do you think??!!  

I have high hopes for these little green things :-)  I will for sure keep you updated and CROSS MY FINGERS this won't end up in a Fess Up post later on - ha!

Actually, talking about FESS UPS :-)  Did anyone notice how my Completed Pickleball Court post at first came out with no completed pickleball court pictures?  /-:

That's because I accidentally pushed the PUBLISH button even before I finished writing the post, let alone even TOOK pictures of the completed sports court.  (My face totally turned bright red as I realized I pressed "publish" instead of "save" :-)  I couldn't change anything and it went out to all 1400 subscribers automatically.  Oh well!  

Here is the sports court completed, landscape and all!  Woo whoo :-)  If you want to go back to the original pickleball post you can see even more added pictures :-)

And one of my favorite features - the hammock :-)

You can see the other "glamorizing" the pergola posts here:

Add patio lighting!  String Patio Lights.

ENJOY the rest of the day my friends!!

Ideas on Landscaping with Gravel/Rocks as a Ground Cover.

Hi Friends, I thought I'd write an update on our landscape and sports court.  

The company we ordered the court from is running a MONTH behind (we ordered it in March!!) so it's been a bit frustrating but it "should" be here next week.  /-:

As much as I know a lot about interior design, I will honestly tell you landscape design is new to me!

The next step in our landscape is picking out the ground cover we want to use whether it be bark chips, rocks, pebbles, gravel, slate, shale or weeds ;-) .....OH the choices!  

Really, I just can't wait to get some landscape help dealing with all the WEEDS! :-) Landscape fabric will be plentiful under whatever choice of covering I use!

For our landscape, I'm thinking on some sort of slate chip - I believe in the industry this kind of landscape rock is called "Woodstone".  

As much as I LOVE the natural look of bark, it is something that needs to be replaced every few years as it deteriorates and fades.  I am all for doing it once, and not having to do it again.  :-)

Bark Chips

Shredded Bark Mulch

I'll post some other beautiful landscape ideas to stir your own Creative Juices :-)

This beautiful garden below used small pea size gravel.  That look reminds me of a beach feel.

Pictures from Better Home and Garden

Ah, I love this Mediterranean vignette!  Crushed granite is a VERY popular ground-cover used in Mediterranean style homes.

This pond has such a wonderful natural feel as the homeowners used a mixture of the flat slate along with the gravel.  BEAUTIFUL!

My landscape architect friend told me that for the best landscape design, it is nice to match your pavers (or brick) with your choice of rock ground-covering.  This garden terrace is LOVELY with the tan bricks and neutral earth-tone gravel.  For me personally, I would pick the tan colored gravel over the standard grey due to how warm and inviting that color feels.

Notice how the rocks in our fountain area match the pavers.

I love sitting outside listening to the sound of the fountain!  You can see how to install a fountain in your own home by clicking over to my fountain post.

I am REALLY HOPING that by my next post (or 2) I'll have the final sports court finished and ready to show you guys!  The big question is will I add an YouTube of me PLAYING pickleball!? :-)  I'll see if I can make a pickleball convert of you guys yet- hee,hee.

I'd love to hear what ground cover is your favorite - just leave me a comment!

Enjoy your week my friends!!

*EDIT:  You can go over to the Completed Pickleball Sports Court post to see it all complete, landscape and all :-)