Goodbye to Summer

I don’t have a green thumb so by this time of year most of my outdoor flowers and plants are telling me they are done for the year.  My zinnias have looked so good all summer, but time for them to go.   I have just a couple which still look good.

 I wish this orange one could stay around for a while.  Great color.

 

A few had asked about my porch which I had worked on this summer, so thought it would be a good way to end the season before I switch it over for fall.

 

Not truly a before picture since most of the work had been done, but a change we did make was to cut down my “red berry” bushes at the corner to open up the look of the porch.

Notice with them gone, how much the ferns show up.

I will miss the red berries though for Christmas decorations.  Thanks to my hubby for always helping.

 Faux Stencil Rug

 

 

 

 

 Here’s the only picture I could find of the before.  I had painted it aqua a couple years ago for Christmas.  Loved it – but time for a change. Something that wasn’t in a blog post was the red desk with all the plants and flowers. 

 I had seen on Pinterest old dressers and other furniture being used for plants.  It took a while to find a cheap one that I didn’t mind ruining over the years since it was going to hold all kinds of plants and being watered on a regular basis.  I had found this desk at the flea market for $10.  My kind of price.

 Without spending a lot of time or money on this, I mixed together some of the leftover paints I had in red tints.  There was a flat latex, a milk paint, and also a chalk paint.  I didn’t even worry about full coverage.  I want it to wear off over time.  The handles were painted over since most of the screws to the handles were stripped and I just didn’t want to spend time on it.  

 

The old tool chest was another $5 find at a yard sale.  The little orange wagon is in honor of my Grandpa Rose who owned an Allis Chalmers tractor dealership back in the day.  I used to get a free soda when we went there.  That was a big deal – chocolate was my favorite.  It was on old Coke machine with ice water.  Do you remember those?

 

This container was from an event I attended provided by Southern Living and the wonderful Carmen Johnston.  I really babied this with water this summer to keep it alive (which you know is hard for me).  Loved how full it looks.

 Hope all of you have enjoyed seeing my porch makeover and do a few of these things in your own areas.

 

OK – now onto fall decor.  Soon – I promise