A Bright Welcome

If you look at our house on Google Maps' street view, you will see that our front porch has gone through a few changes.

The street view on left is circa 2006, I think.
Picture on the right is from August 2010.

The people who "flipped" the house before we bought it ripped off the porch, built a nice landing area, but then built a stupid little garden where the rain never reaches and the sun rarely does. So this summer, we had that little garden filled in to match the rest of the porch.

But then it just looked sad and lonely. Also, I had been hankering for a splash of colour out front, as the black-and-white-and-faded-yellow of the house is just unimpressive. I tried Craigslist and Kijiji, but didn't see anything I liked. I looked at Wal-Mart and Sears and even our pool-and-patio store, but their prices were ridiculously high.

I got lucky at Pier 1 Imports' end-of-season sale.

See? Bright and inviting.


Hmm. Can't see much. How's this?

Here it is catching the early morning sun.
A nice place for morning coffee or
to watch the rain fall.


[Or to sit and yell at the neighborhood children to
wear a helmet, pull up their pants, put some damn clothes on
and stay off the lawn.
Ah, I'm looking forward to retirement.]

And here are a few of the details:

• I love capiz shells! This wind chime doesn't get much wind, so it won't be annoying.
• A single cushion in a bright outdoor fabric. (I only got one because Steve never uses one, and because it was the last one in stock.) 
• Those little flowers on the door wreath are actually hair clips! A big splurge at $3. I went looking for a bright, but not too fussy wreath to match these colours, and couldn't find one.
• The ceramic-top table is just the right size for two glasses or two mugs. It also folds away for winter.
• The citronella candles came in a basket of eight in cheery colours, and I already had the lantern.

I'm very happy with this. I should note that this is almost my first foray into using bright colours rather than my more usual neutral or pastel palette. Don't think I'll do this to the whole house, but it is fun for summer and for an outdoor space.