OT landscaping pics

Well done! That looks great, and I love your couch. Tickled at your acquisition method, too. One of my faves. ;-) Turned out extremely well. You will enjoy that demi-lune patio so much and it will add so much pleasure to your use of the porch. It isn't much of a porch, is it? It needed help!

Lovely! The pavers are such a nice touch, I like the tumbled look of them, almost like old cobblestones. And your plant choices will be fabulous as they take hold and grow.

Nice job with the salvaged couch. Your front porch now has a really classic look to it.

Congratulations!

Beverly

it looks wonderful....and like everyone else, the couch is the best!!!

Thanks so much. ;) Turns out the couch belonged to one of my favorite neighbors up the street. It was originally his great-grandmother's. She kept it on the screened porch forever. He didn't have room for it and the cane on the back was broken. So he put it out. Well I know how to cane, and this one was press in anyway so it was that much easier. The seat was upholstered. Well I knew I didn't want that. So DH helped me remove all that including the heavyweight springs and the mud dauber nest. Then he cut a piece of outdoor plywood for the seat. I replaced the caning, sanded, painted, etc.

To keep this somewhat sewing related, I had to custom make a seat cushion for it. The seat area is 6' long and 2' deep. Not even ready made chaise lounge cushions are that big. I used and indoor/outdoor canvas fabric for the cushion cover. And when I installed the foam, I left the foam encased in two plastic garbage bags. This way, if it rains, all I need to do is dump the water off the top of the cushion. Water doesn't get into the foam so it dries really quickly. And you don't notice the plastic in there when you are sitting on the couch.

When I got it all finished and had it out there, my neighbor saw it while walking his dogs. He said he just about burst into tears he was so grateful it had gone to a good new home. ;)

The porch was sort of an afterthought when they built the house. The builder built our house for his daughter. Well she didn't want a front porch at all till she saw the house about 3/4 the way done. Then she decided it needed a front porch of some kind. So they came up with what you saw. The front walkway was really narrow too. Felt like you didn't have room to walk two abreast up to the door. All better now. :)

Sharon

Thanks, Betsey!

Thanks! ;) Those were my favorite pavers. It sounds weird to say about stones, but they have a soft look to them. And they feel a lot like old cobblestones when you walk on them. I'm hopeful the plants will take off well. The Coreopsis and one flowering shrub are not doing well. Right after I put them in, we had 10 days of at or near 100*. That's not unusual for summer here, but it IS unusual for mid-June. End of July, that's normal. I watered twice a day and still I think a couple of them are fried. I'm some worried about the little Japanese maple too. It's looking a little wilty. So we will see how they do. I got all the plants at Lowe's or Home Depot. Both places will replace them if they die.

Thank you very much! I'm really pleased with it overall. Like I said, a couple plants that I'm not sure will make it. And there are still a couple high spots that I will have to level off. Other than that, it's just what I wanted. :) (and notice I left room for more plants as I go along...these were just to get it started.)

Sharon

You are invited to come down and help me transform our front & backyards; LOL :>) They're as plain as can be with just the shrubs the builder put in. Neither DS or I have any idea how to change & make it more attractive.

Emily

LOL Well we only lived in this house 4 years till I figured out what I wanted to do. I don't like to jump into anything. ;)

It's a lot like designing a garment. You see something and you really like how it looks, so you go from there. Start looking at other yards (especially in really ritzy neighborhoods!) See what they have that is thriving. That will give you an idea about plantings that should work in your yard. Too, watch the home improvement shows and look in magazines. When you see something you like, just go from there. ;)

Once I painted the front door red with deep yellow trim, I knew I wanted red and yellow blooms out front. I added the blue because it will go with the white pillars on the porch and the blue stripes on the cushion. I'm going to recover the throw pillows on the couch, but I'm not remaking that cushion cover till it falls apart. LOL That puppy was huge. I thought I would keep the blue stripe on the cushion, then add a deep red in the throw pillows. Thought that would tie it all together.

Now I have to keep my eyes peeled (on the heavy trash piles LOL) for a couple small chairs to put on the patio facing the couch.

Sharon

i have one word for you...

hydrangeas (i've never met one who didn't want to come live at my house!!)

betsey

My neighbor has a gorgeous one on the side of the house. Blue and purple on the same bush. Just gorgeous!!!

Sharon

I did a bentwood rocker once that had the press-in caning. Then I had a booth at a fair in New Hampshire next to a booth of caners. It was fascinating to watch them. They caned all weekend, stopping when a customer stopped at their booth, so they made good use of their time. It takes a long time to weave cane! Saving that couch was well worth the investment. It's a real classic and will probably go on for a few more generations if someone will look after it.

Front porches are being revived across the country. Our 1927 house has a small one, but there's room for two of those park bench types, facing each other leaving plenty of room to get in and out the door. In the past few years I did have iron railings put on the stairs. It makes me feel just a little more secure with something to grab hold of going up and down. We have shade and a wonderful view of the park across the street. We can also watch the fireworks downtown or at the ball park from there. We have lots of people walking by, and once a year, we're one of the stops on an historical walking tour of the neighborhood. So I got a plaque made to go up above the porch.

ron

as i said, i've yet to meet one that I didn't love....they just thrill me to pieces all summer long.

I like them, too. We had one in our yard when I was growing up in mid-MS, that was also blue/purple, but haven't seen any here in/aroound the Houston, TX area.

Maybe I haven't been to the right neighborhoods, since I was forced to give up driving about 7-years ago and don't get "around town" as in the past.

Emily

haron

I think you can grow hydrangeas most anywhere...but they do like to have "wet feet"...especailly their first year. they are also really easy go grow from clippings. (see, if you lived in south jersey, i could share with y'all!!)

Right now, we are only 6-inches below normal in rainfall for the past

Emily