We’ve had some pleasant days this spring, mixed with the usual cloudy and rainy moments, but I thought I would show you a few peeks at the front and back decks so far this season, along with what we’ve been up to and what’s next for our outdoor spring projects (it’s a long list that will definitely go into summer ha).
There’s always a lot to do outside this time of year. but with my husband’s injury to his hand a week or so ago (which I shared about in my Instagram stories and newsletter) we’ve had to slow down our progress. We will reset expectations for what we’ll accomplish, at least in the coming weeks. Some seasons are like that and you just have to “pivot”! Earlier in the season we were considering a front yard refresh this summer but it seems to be more likely that part will wait for another year so we can focus on more pressing projects.
Our lavender will probably need to be pulled out at some point so we can start over with new plants, they don’t last forever, but so far it’s still looking pretty good (you can see it in front the grass).
Soon the lavender will bloom and fill the air with most refreshing scent!
Luckily my dad keeps up with mowing our grass and my parents do a lot around the yard so it’s a team effort. Another reason we were excited to downsize here was because keeping up with our big yard took so much time (and SO MANY PLANTS!). We loved it but in many ways it’s really nice to have to have these more compact spaces (and there’s still plenty to do). Plus there are so many parks here we can enjoy without being their caretakers.
Right now we’re really looking forward to the blooms opening up on our peonies, roses and hydrangeas — once we get a little more sun!
I’m so shocked how well our peonies are doing in the pots! I feel like nothing we planted so far has thrived (yet) but these are happy as can be. They are making our outdoor rocking chairs look so small by comparison! By the way, we got these covers for the rocking chairs that worked great for the winter.
All we did last year was to plant them in the pots, and left them out all winter, and now they are huge! I’m so excited about all the blooms, too. We only had one peony plant in the ground that got a lot of flowers on it in Seattle, the rest would only get one or two. I hope the rain doesn’t interfere with the blooms but I’m expecting they will be opening over the next couple of weeks!
Outdoor Project 1: Install Plant and Peony Supports
Last week I got these 24 inch plant supports for the peonies that fit right into the pots.
They come in a set of 12 and I used three supports in each. You can’t really see them and we can pull them out after they are done blooming, so I think they will be perfect for holding up the heavier flowers. You can also use them in the garden for any type of plant if your peonies already bloomed. Installing them is a simple outdoor project.
The Eden Climber roses also seem to be thriving so far this spring without my help. I am sure I’m supposed to fertilize and prune — I need to watch some videos. 🙂 Share your tips with me if you grow these!
Outdoor Spring Project 2: Add Trellises
I bought another trellis (this trellis from Amazon) this week to help guide the climbers on the other side of the door to not climb over our railing.
We’ll see how that goes — I have a feeling they want to do their own thing! The roses will likely eventually be held up by plant wire, but I love the look of trellises. They add a lot of character.
One reason I think these plants are thriving is all the sun on this deck– especially this side of the deck where I put the peonies. They love it! I really hesitated on installing a deck here because it was the sunniest spot we’d have left after the Tiny Cottage addition went in, but I got a vision of potted plants and that inspired me. Now I’m looking forward to planting more pots!
Another plus of this deck is it’s away from the little critters like bunnies and big ones like deer. Fortunately they don’t come up on the deck– at least so far. We thought we finally had our backyard secure from deer but alas, one got in AGAIN and was caught happily munching on our hydrangeas. I guess she was determined to get in and enjoy the feast! My poor hydrangeas. So, we have to solve the entrance point if we want to have a chance at thriving plants in our yard. Which we do :). Please, deer.
Once our roses and peonies bloom I’ll take backyard pics to show you how it is all coming along (and what isn’t coming along yet, ha).
Over the next few weeks we’re planning to do some simple updates on the back and side porches, so I’m excited to try some fresh pieces that fit the spaces.
Outdoor Spring Project 3: Refresh a Porch
We did a little refresh on the front door porch this past week! It was fun to bring a little spring around the front door (even though for for some of these photos it was quite gloomy out.
The sources are all listed in the graphic at the end of the post.
You can also watch the video of the porch right here on Instagram (and see Finnegan).
If you come by to see the video, would you please give the reel at heart and say hello in the comments? I’d love to see my TIR buddies there.
Did you know we have several porches / decks? They are all pretty compact in size (just like inside, the “rooms” are not huge) so it’s taking awhile to figure out what fits and how we want to use them, but I love that we have them. I really loved our “side porch” at our last home and I hope I can find ways to create a similar outdoor sanctuary feeling here.
I’m especially excited about sprucing these porches up for summer porch sitting!
Summer is my favorite season here, the weather is absolutely perfect (it’s not hot, I really love that about it!).
I would happily wear a sweater every day if I never have to sweat to take a nice walk or work in the yard.) It’s wonderful to be outside here in the summer, so we go out as much as we can.
The dogs love sitting on the porch and watching out for funny business in the neighborhood (taking over for our precious Jack) so even though we’re making a change out here the coming weeks I will have a spot for them to perch and keep watch :).
Outdoor Spring Project #4: Plant Window Boxes (Railing Boxes!)
We planted a few trailing Bacopa plants in our window/railing boxes recently and just left the faux green plants (from Amazon here) instead of adding more spring flowers (at least for now). So simple and easy to take care of :).
The new plants are so tiny right now you can’t really see them 🙂 but they should fill out in time! We’ve planted Bacopa for the trailing plants along with petunias the past few years and they are so simple to grow and do well.
Outdoor Spring Project #5: Clean Window Boxes (Railing Boxes!)
Before we did the planting, my husband took our window boxes down (these look just like them on Amazon) and cleaned them really well. We left them out for the past couple of winters– we may start taking them down late fall but even being left out they still look great. By the way if you have these and notice they sag at all, he put a carefully placed screw into the bottom which solved it easily!
Outdoor Spring Project #6: Paint Railings, Doors and Trim
We will need to paint our house at some point soon, this spring I noticed how much it really needs it.
Earlier this spring my husband did do some painting to refresh the front door, the porch railings and ceiling (the paint color is Wythe Blue, Benjamin Moore, lightened about 50%) and those look good, but there’s still a lot more to do!
I can see that living in this NW coastal area painting porches and trim is going to be an ongoing seasonal task to keep everything looking fresh and clean. I don’t mind a little bit of a weathered look but I want it to feel cared for :).
We had a lot of seasonal maintenance like that in Seattle, too but we didn’t have any wood railings so I guess we traded yard work for painting! Ha! There’s always something to do, but it’s worth it!
We’re slowly but happily learning the ways of caring for our home and yard by the sea.
Can you believe we first looked at this home four years ago this July?
We moved in over the fall season four years ago.
We’ve never lived anywhere longer than six years–sometimes only four! I can’t imagine moving again. We’re just getting settled in and really enjoy puttering around the house and yard. More projects to come (and stay tuned for a new post on the backyard projects we’ve completed over the past year, too!)
I’m so grateful this will be our “forever home — God-willing we will have many more years to make it our own and we will enjoy being here for a long time!
I’ll add some sources below to the cute porch pieces and some other outdoor items I love! Please feel free to leave a comment if you have questions.
Our window boxes (and these look just like them on Amazon)
Artificial topiaries
Blue rocking chairs and rocking chair covers
Trellises
Peony/Plant Supports (24 inch)
Blue and white pots on cart
Striped Melamine Dessert/Salad Plates
Hand Woven Wicker Metal General Basket
Outdoor Doormat
Hostess Tray
Striped Napkin Set
Outdoor 3 Tier Metal and Rattan Cart