Garden Getaways...

Ask yourself: are you making the most of your garden? Does it inspire you to steal away for a spell and read, chat, daydream...or create? While it can be as simple as a great Adirondack chair or a breezy hammock, have you ever thought of creating a place that is yours alone? We are in the midst of building our daughter a playhouse, and it has me thinking that someday I'd love such a place for myself..

photo: Butik Sophie

The current summer issues of our favourite magazines have wonderful examples of cabanas, potting sheds, artist's cottages, pool houses and boat houses with glorious lofts. Each option sounds heavenly, doesn't it? Well, of course we can't all conjure up (or afford) such perfect spaces, but we can carve out our own little corner of the garden for our use.

photo: Victoria Magazine

photo: www.coastalliving.com

The next photo is of my mum's former backyard (frequent moving runs in the family...). This is a shot I took of her pretty garden shed. She also has a sweet, little potting shed in the garden of her present home. It is not as large (or functional, she might add) as this one, but it is charming all the same!

A couple of homes ago (which I know sounds odd...), we had what we jokingly called a secret garden of sorts. It was a small area at the bottom of our deck steps that served as a threshold to our open-area backyard. It was a sheltered spot, with a canopy of trees that provided the only shade in our garden. We knew it was also the only spot that afforded us some semblance of privacy; so we decided to create a garden within our garden: a place to sip a cold drink on a hot day - shaded as we watched our then-toddler daughter play with the neighbourhood children.

Below is the only picture I could find of it...and it was obviously taken during the construction phase!

My husband built a bench with a trellised back on which to grow vines and hang flowering baskets. The floppy branches of the trees above served as the perfect spot from which to hang our outdoor chandelier. We used pea gravel as the ground cover, and we placed an iron bistro set underneath. We thinned the little wooded area (more scrub than woods) for our boys to play in, and planted shrubs and flowers in the planter behind the bench. It turned out quite charming, and was the only pretty spot in our otherwise treeless, back garden.

My sister has a wonderful big yard and plenty of trees to shade herself under. She has wooden, outdoor chairs that I have coveted for many years now, and they are the perfect spot to sit and chat when I visit her each summer. She loves to comb the local yardsales every Saturday and her incredible finds kill me...!!!

My current yard's tiny proportions are utilized to capacity, but someday, when my children are grown, I will strive to create a beautiful garden get-away of my very own to perhaps pot flowers, create something of interest, nap or just read. I am a shade lover anyway... so by that time, I will undoubtedly also be trying to prevent further wrinkles as I enjoy the great outdoors. For now, I will enjoy ducking my head as I enter Sophie's playhouse to admire our work and squish myself into one of her little chairs and pretend I am seven again. It is a bigger project than I first anticipated, and I look forward to sharing the outcome of our joint venture with those of you who share an appreciation for whimsical get-aways!

photo: source unknown

Sophie's pool party...just for the fun of it!!

As you know, we have just put in an above-ground pool. Well, my little girl is so happy with it, I decided to throw her a little party so she could celebrate the start of the summer with a few of her little friends. Of course what better theme for a pool party is there than a Hawaiian theme? Oh yes- all my favorite colours, grass skirts, pink fizzy drinks with little umbrellas in them, funny bathing caps...lots of fun things!!

We decided to serve some "nuggets 'n' fries" in some cute take-out containers from Michael's. They were a dollar a piece and made the food look all the better. Lots of watermelon was eaten and we tried our hand at making snow cones with my new machine I purchased at Target. The girls loved cranking out their treat and I loved cleaning up the sticky syrup!! All in fun!!

Sophie had drawn the sweetest picture of herself and her friends swimming in our pool a while back, so I thought, why not use it as her invitation? We photocopied it and when I told her we were going to go around delivering them, she declared it the "best day ever". To me, every day spent with my little girl is my "best day ever!", even if it does mean cleaning up sticky syrup from my deck!!

***Next up for me, a surfing-themed "end of school party" for my youngest son and a "birthday party by the pool" for my eldest son. I'm going to be busy!!

Leave no stone unturned...

On my street, only a few of us "new builds" still have not yet dealt with our driveways. Everyone else around us has a concrete driveway, and although they look nice and clean and structured, I don't think I want one. The sheer cost of having one poured is exhorbitant, and I don't really relish the idea of conforming to the norm just to blend in with the other homes on the street.

I love stone. The more natural and imperfect, the better and I have incorporated it into each of my homes in some way. I love the natural beauty it brings and the fact that not everybody has it. I would love to do a driveway using it, or at least, use those templates that give the impression of stone in concrete. At present, we have crushed rock (a stone of sorts, I guess!) in our driveway until we decide what we want, what we can afford, and what we can do ourselves that will look nice.

My friend, Krissy, has the most talented brother ever. He owns a business in North Carolina called Celtic Masonry ( www.celticmasonry.com ). I checked out his website and the work he and his crew do is amazing!! From outdoor stone or brick patios, to stone walls, outdoor grills, you name it. He (Frankie Dolaher) is a true artist and I wish he was related to me! Masonry is truly a craft for the patient and talented and he does wonderful work. Check out his website and get ready to drool!!

If you are in the deck building mode, I found a great Canadian website (www.gardenstructure.com )to inspire you and your handyman!! I am definitely getting some ideas for our new deck from it and I'm sure you will find inspiration there, too. Get building before summer hits hard and we all feel too hot and lazy to do more than snooze in the sun on our very own patios and decks!!

Making an Entrance!!

I love doors and I think the color of a front door is one of the most important exterior decorating decisions, aside from siding and shingle color. I love a door that draws my eyes to it as I drive by. Now that doesn't mean the colour has to be vibrant! In fact, the colour of your front door should make sense....whether it be a contrasting colour or blend in tone with the rest of the outside of the home.

Iam a bit quirky. Every house but my first has been a shade of yellow. Don't ask me why, it is just something I have to do to feel at home. I love a yellow house! To me, yellow siding evokes a farmhouse feel, is fresh and pretty, and makes me smile when I see one. That said, door color can be challenging when you have a yellow house. Navy, burgundy, and dark green do not reflect my personal style as I am drawn towards the softer shades for my own home. Thus, I have had cream, taupe, black, and back again to taupe, doors. These colours complimented the particular shades of yellow siding I have used on my homes. They were colours I selected to work with the trims and accents I decorated the exterior of my homes with. That brings me to garage doors. There is a general rule that you should not match the colour of your garage door to the colour of your front door if it is a strong colour. I am not normally too fixated on rules but this is a rule I whole-heartedly agree with! I believe a garage should blend into the background, especially if you have one of those great, carriage-style garage doors that have enough style without drowning in colour.

I have addressed the importance of lighting before. Again, step away from the common and select lighting that speaks to your style and complements the style of your home. If you live near the water, try exterior lights that have a "Nantucket" feel. If your home is traditional, select similar lighting- traditional, but not boring! Craftsman-style lighting looks great with bungalows and houses that have reflect the Arts and Crafts style. Hanging lanterns look beautiful on homes with front porches or porticos. Go for the wow factor out front and to stay on budget, use lighting that is more subdued (and cheaper) out back,

Mailboxes are another "new" exterior feature that you can have fun selecting. Vintage styles can now be found in stores or you can make your own out of wood (or purchase it ready-made) and embellish it the way you like. Select house numbers to match the finish on your door handle and your home will ooze style! Have fun with selecting these exterior finishes. you may not think they are important, but trust me, when you see the end result, you will be proud!

More than a playhouse...

When I was a little girl, my sister, Wendy, would tell me all about the playhouse my Uncle Jimmy had made for her in Ireland. We left Ireland when I was only five so I have very limited memories of my birthplace. I remember feeling envious of this playhouse that I had no memory of. It was called "the Wendy house" and it sounded like a dream. How I wished I had one of my own...
As I grew older, I vowed that if I ever had a daughter, she would definitely have her own little outdoor oasis. Fast forward to now: I have a six-year old daughter and no playhouse. But all that is about to change this summer. My talented husband, who is a very doting daddy, is going to make her the play house of my dreams!!! We are putting in an above-ground pool with a deck all around it and attached to the side wall of the deck will be her playhouse. We have a very small backyard, so the width is not there for a pool and playhouse. We were stumped as to how to incorporate the playhouse until a lightbulb went off in my head! It will obviously be at deck level so it will have a slanted ladder going up to it and she will climb up to her little house. Essentially, she will be playing in her house while behind her is the side wall of the pool deck- they will have a shared wall. Confusing I know, but do-able. I am so excited and cannot wait to bring it to life! I picture it with window boxes, cedar shake roof, pale yellow clap-boards, and a gothic style window in the peak. It is to be seen whether hubby will go along with all that!!!

I had originally thought I would incorporate a playhouse into a garden shed for us. The idea was to have the playhouse as the front of the structure and the shed in the back with its own door. This would definitely be a good idea for anyone with a proper sized backyard and really means only building one structure with a dividing wall in between. You could even have the playhouse be a cabin for boys or a fun hangout for pre-teens. In my case, we had better get at it. Time is a' wasting! I want Sophie to have her playhouse while she is still young enough to really enjoy it!!