Outdoor Living - Deck Decor Planning for Spring

Moving to a new house can bring exciting new space challenges - and opportunities. Having a deck adjacent to an open-concept living room - kitchen area is (thankfully) having the best of both worlds to get back into doing some outdoor living + entertaining. In our Arizona home, the kitchen & dining were on the second floor - and in order for the hubs to grill, he'd have to travel not only down stairs, but through the laundry-room AND the garage (yes - PITA!). The challenge for utilizing these new spaces comes from not only planning their function, but also budget planning furnishings to best suit them, and our lifestyle. Similar to planning a new indoor space, an outdoor space can be divided into zones for different activities. In this post is the plan for the upper level of a two story deck - including investing in a outdoor dining table and chairs, plus new umbrella and a rug - all to work with existing planters, small seating area and grill. The deck below will (eventually) be more of a lounge area including a sofa, chairs, and bar, with an adjacent (gas) fire-pit set in the yard on gravel with 4 chairs, off the lower deck - creating three outdoor living zones - but first, is setting the area which will be used the most. Having a  plan helps to know what to shop for and deals to be on the look-out for. Knowing the measurements helps to know what sizes will fit best. Having the visual boards, not necessarily set in 3D as the space, but to give a sample idea of what the combination can look like, is not only help for a client, but it's a great tool to help spouses too. An even bigger help is pairing the two board types, a furniture / space plan and a sample board together as one... 

Sample Board for Deck Decor & Furnishings

 

Dimension Plan - To know the space available.

 

The wood floor covering is just to symbolize the deck, and helps bring forward the furniture plan. 

A Furniture Plan - fit to scale - birds eye view of upper level deck, which does include outdoor element of what is below (plants and pavers). The fireplace is inside the house, but it does create a bump-out onto the deck area.

All three plans together - or skip the dimension plan, and just group the Sample Board with the Furniture plan...

 

Coming up with a simple sample board layout helps when comparing options...

 

The hubs already has the grill and matte, plus we have a chair pair & 30" round table for a sitting area. The cart next to the grill is a wooden barcart I had that will be primed & painted with outdoor paint. The invest pieces will be the dining table, 4 wicker chairs, an area rug, and a new outdoor market umbrella (because the one we had in AZ took a beating from the sun + dust-storms in the past 3 years).

The only 'extra' will be selecting which cushions & pillows will pull together the decor style for the outdoor space - but definitely going with pairing classic Greek Key and Stripes...

 

 

Before any items will be purchased (unless a remarkable deal is found!), the deck will be pressure cleaned, and a painter will be hired to give it a fresh coat of a (dark) deck stain - Currently the deck is brown, but to better compliment the shutters on the front of the house, (plus create harmony for the exterior by having a consistent color palette) the deck will be stained charcoal (off black), which will work with either of the two dining table & chair combinations.

The dark set is available at Home Depot.

The lighter set is available at Target.

Outdoor cushions and pillows can be sourced now from numerous online retailers (such as Ballard Designs, Frongate, Home Decorators and Overstock), or your favorite local home decor stores - it just comes down to finding the correct sizes, patterns, and colors you desire to achieve your look. Although I was thinking to bring the 'blue & white' scheme outdoors, my all-time favorite, non-seasonal, outdoor pairing, is black, white, and green. 

For plants, it depends on how many or what style you want (for your region and weather conditions). While you may pick up some plants at a local home improvement store, such as Lowes or Home Depot, another option is to shop your local nursery, which then you are also helping to support your local community businesses. Here in North Carolina isn't as tropical of a climate / region as Miami or Phoenix, so for our deck and exterior landscaping, I'll be going with more hardier plants such as boxwood shrubs and conifers, such as cypress. Flowers are nice, but they also bring bees, so later layering in a few variegated plants (such as hostas) will help create layered interest through plants, and help to soften the look of the outdoor living space.

Now - all we need is some sunshine, and warm, clear weather to get to cleaning + painting the deck and eventually enjoy some outdoor living!

What outdoor space are you excited to get working on this Spring?

Thanks for stopping by!

Relocation & Home Organization: 3 Months After Move

As exciting as moving to a new location and a new home can be, it can also be very exhausting - both physically and mentally. Just as important as it is to get, be, and stay organized throughout the moving process, the importance of pacing yourself is crucial. Pacing yourself during and after a move can help keep you sane by not getting frustrated with yourself when things aren't necessarily going as fast or as planned as you'd like them to be. As excited as I was to be moving back east, the move has definitely had its highs and lows. The lows being a mess behind closed doors that is out of sight, isn't necessarily out of mind, plus dealing with all the damage claims from the movers unpacking the same day they unloaded. The highs though have been cutting through the clutter, purging and donating - but pacing myself - one space at a time - and by no means going for perfectly decorated spaces, but rather comfort zones we can live with until tackling larger scale plans such as adding crown molding in the master or remodeling a bathroom. With this move, some spaces I've knocked out on my own while Jeff is at the store, such as organizing kitchen cupboards, the home office plus closet, bathrooms, our bedroom plus clothing closets, and continuing to paint doors and trim. Some tasks we've tackled together, either at night or on a Sunday, such as installing drapery rods, a new dining room chandelier (from my mom) and putting together a desk I scored at a local consignment shop and I refinished. here is a peek at some of the house transformations completed this January, our third month in North Carolina since moving from Arizona...

 

We lived through the holidays with the existing Tiffany-style chandelier, but I ordered this 5-lite drum chandelier from NY Lighting. it was on back-order, but still arrived at expected time (mid-January).

 

Jeff has been great about installing those projects requiring the drill and electrical...

 Although the space may still need an area rug, it's a little softer now since reusing some of my existing curtain rods and these burnout sheers (I actually had scored thrifting back in AZ, and had used in our living room, here.)

 

Found a fantastic pedestal table for a more casual eating area between kitchen and living room...

 

It just needed a little TLC with Magic Erase + touch-up wood stain pens and polish...

This weekend I found a great circular lantern light fixture to hang over the pedestal table - A great deal at the habitat for Humanity ReStore: only $35 vs. $350 for new.

 After Christmas, I neutralized our living room, removing the reds, and layering in my 'go-to' favorite pairing: Black & White. Along with the touch of pattern layering, I also brought up two black & white framed pictures I had gotten last Summer at HomeGoods, and used them as the focal point behind the sofa en lieu of the gold painted mirror...

 I wanted to get the round mirror back up above the wall unit, since I removed the AZ cow skull, but I didn't want to keep it gold (I painted it gold back in 2013). Since I do have some touches of gold, (the brass hardware on the black doors), I just painted the outer rim of the mirror with the same paint as the doors - but it actually came through as a charcoal (because it's on the gold) and I really like it!

 Although no major changes in the Study (my office), I have started to layer in some white flowers (a friend lovingly calls 'forever flowers') and picked up a pair of more graphic, navy pillows from Target, to pair with my organic print blue & white panels plus sea-fan wall art I found at HomeGoods back in Phoenix.

 

 But now the home office, is definitely where most of the months focus was on, from paint, to refinishing a desk and organizing the space...

 

Painted the home office with a splurge: Ralph Lauren Paint from Home Depot...

I found a great deal on a solid wood, L-shaped desk for our home office, and finally donated the old 90's particle-board desk -- Next will be to update the bookcases, but like I said before, gotta pace yourself (or you'll get into a financial hole).

 

The home office is still a mix of old and new (to us) - The small table, I used to have in Sephora's room in AZ, has come in handy to hold the new printer, just under the TV Jeff mounted with a tilting wall mount - so the TV can also be watched from the small sofa - a great little "After Christmas Clearance" find at the store "At Home" (formally Garden Ridge).

 

Sephora is enjoying the new home office too...

Along with hanging the light fixture downstairs, painting and organizing the home office upstairs, the bedroom also got a little attention -- I had been looking for crystal finial hardware for the 4 windows, which was a little hard to come by (without breaking the bank) but I finally found 4 of the same rods in HomeGoods!

The rods pair great with the gunmetal grey jacquard window panels I found online at jcpenney.com. Together, both are creating much needed winter warmth on the bare windows we lived with through the holidays - and the room is also much darker now, for a much better nights sleep!

Along with the panels in the bedroom, I also added a pair in the bathroom, along with some floating shelves for toiletries storage. The black shelves I had used in AZ are in the powder room now, and the black just didn't look or feel right in this bathroom (which needs to be remodeled, but we're planning that now and budgeting to happen in 2016) in the meantime, I had the space painted grey when we moved in, and I picked up some white floating shelves from Target, along with a few new pretty glass containers from HomeGoods - for cotton balls, q-tips, and bath salts... and even the white garden stool I had gotten at HomeGoods back in Phoenix, has come in handy for extra towels next to the tub...

 This month, I'm planning on painting the oak cabinet a darker grey, which can temporarily help to update the bathroom until we remodel.

Besides the bathroom and the bedroom getting some love (ha ha), the closets did too. We have a (small) walk-in, U-shaped closet, which is tight for two (especially a fashionista!) but since we also have a small area adjacent to the bedroom, which could be used for exercise, a small office or a small nursery, we turned it into an accessory closet. This is a HUGE help with clothing storage space, because now all the clothing fits in the walk-in, and all my accessories (bags, shoes, boots, jewelry, perfume, cosmetics, and mani-pedi things) are ALL in this space -converting it into more of a dressing room area...

Now I can't add a lovely hanging chandelier in here since the attic pull-down access is right here, but I was able to maximize the space with the ClosetMaid untis from Home Depot, Jeff built for me one Sunday, and I couldn't wait to empty the guest room closet to fill it up!

Talk about utilizing every square inch of space!

 I kept the top shelf  'light', so if we need to access the attic, things can easily shift - and to layer in some glamour into the space, I repurposed the gold gallery wall of mirrors, I previously had as the focal point in the living room for two years in AZ, you can read about here.) now in the dressing room - along with a fun framed vintage print. Keeping the clear storage totes helps to keep dust off seasonal shoes plus maximize space (think NY vertical - within that one shoebox space, 2-3 additional totes fit, giving more shelf space for other items, like bags.

For breaks from getting the house in order, I've been scouting out the new areas, using my exploration time to learn the area, traffic patterns, new routes, and remember landmarks - some of which, I must admit, has been a little frustrating at times. What's frustrating is not having some of the regular "go-to" shops as close as I'd like them to be (such as Home Depot vs. Lowes), and of the probably six actual thrift stores I've been in... they have all been strike outs. Thankfully, learning some of the area's consignment shops has been the bright spot, definitely to help save money when purchasing some of the new needs for the new spaces. I'm looking forward to the weather warming up to also explore some of the local farmers markets, historic sites, art walks, and wineries!

After moving - Donate + Recycle + Purge to get organized! Thankfully, Goodwill does pick-ups!

 

On one of the more warmer days, outside got cleaned up and I organized the potters shed - can't wait to get in there and start planting come Spring!

And somewhere in the mix, I went had got my hair cut & colored, my eyes checked and getting use to bi-focals (which is frustrating!!), got my new drivers license, the car registered, and a new personalized tag on the way!

Along with getting the house in order, especially now that the holidays have passed (mind you - everything featured above has all happened since after Christmas!) , I've also helped Jeff with updating some 'behind the scenes' areas in his new store (such as updating the reception area, hallways, and break-room), I registered to attend Design Blogger Conference coming up in Atlanta at the end of February, I've continued my weekly writing contributions for the Hadley Court interior design blog, I'm making arrangements for my mom to fly up and visit at the end of March, and most recently I accepted an invite to be one of this Spring's High Point Market sponsored bloggers coming up in April - which I'm super thrilled about! I'm so grateful for all that has happened these past three months - both the highs and the lows. In all, I'd have to say, 2015 is looking to be a pretty awesome year ahead!

 One Sunday evening, I went with Jeff, and met a team of 4 of his associates and they painted while I helped purge and organize the reception area, hallways, and break-room. The break-room is still a work in progress - because Jeff too needs to pace himself (and the store's budget) but what has been updated, his new team loves and he's even inspired his District manager to update their hallway, since this is the District store...

Looking back through all these pictures, seeing what we've been able to accomplish the past month makes me proud... and also no wonder I wasn't blogging as much!! lol But If you're friends with me on Facebook, you know I've been sharing many of these photos, projects and details along the way this past month - It's just now in the "Pinterest Era", it's more important to not only to select those "pinworthy" images, they also need to be watermarked, which all takes time to do - but I will get back into the blogging swing of things - oh look a squirrel! lol - I say that because Jeff jokes about how distracted I get, trying to do too much at once :)

Thanks for stopping by!

HOUSE FIND - HARMON HOUSE - NORTH CAROLINA!

Well - We did it. After our house hunting trip out to North Carolina last week, we not only found a place, but we put in an offer on a house this week, counter offers went back and forth, and today, we settled! Hearing this sounds easier said than it actually was. The actual house hunt took probably 5  days, not including the online house hunting I did prior to the actual searching within the locations. We left Phoenix on October 7 at 5am PST and by 3pm EST, (after car rental, hotel check in + settle in and eat lunch) we were off driving to some of the locations from my notebook (some of which I was also pinning here). Doing this drive-by process helped us to rule out homes and areas prior to setting up a meeting with the local Realtor (Lindsay Brandon from Tate).

 Our new home - Harmon House!

 View down the street of Harmon House.

The next day, Jeff had to attend a District meeting all day, so I headed out on my own, searching the listings I pulled together. I first drove to the north area of High Point, and when in Rome - I also took a drive to the High Point Market area. I can't attend this fall (which kicks off this weekend!) but i will most definitely be attending for Spring 2015 (Can. Not. Wait!) From downtown High Point I drove north to an area called Kernersville - which Jeff and I had visited a few addresses the day before and were ruling out. The addresses I was heading towards were further west, putting us closer to Jeff's store location in Winston Salem. On my way there, I saw some of the headquarters for furniture corporations, and the most recent headquarter addition to High Point: Heritage Home Group (recognized the building from photos I had seen online). After touring yet another neighborhood and ruling it too out, I received a call from our assigned Realtor, Lindsay. We arranged to meet at a house I was hooked on, located in Jamestown.

 

House we toured in Winston Salem I found online before heading to NC.

 

House for rent - but was off market already.

 Original last house Jeff found online, around the corner from the one we bought.

After touring the interior with Lindsay, and discussing some of the "must haves" on our wish list, Lindsay went back to her office to pull together a list of houses for us - and I headed back to Greensboro to pick up Jeff after his meeting. Jeff and I got a quick bite to eat and continued our own house hunting journey, but this time driving around the Winston Salem area. When we arrived back at the hotel, we looked over the list Lindsay sent us, and I replied with our likes - plus I sent her a list of addresses (for Winston Salem). The next two days, well into the after-sundown evenings (and even rain!), we spent touring homes, giving compliments, but also really discussing furniture layouts, storage situations and what something would cost to bring it up to what we were wanting. By the time Saturday came, and no luck in our hunt, I was not only discouraged, but my nerves got the best of me and I was getting sick to my stomach.

I repacked to head out of Greensboro airport to Charlotte, to make my way back to Phoenix solo, and Jeff was staying behind a few days to get settled in his new office and store. He dropped me off at the airport, I got checked in, got through security, and even made my way onto the plane, only to hear the pilot say we couldn't take off because of storms happening in the Charlotte area. I'm already a nervous flyer, so I contacted Jeff to let him know we were grounded for at least an hour and a half, and I asked him to contact the airline to just change my flight to Sunday (felt safer doing this). By the time we de-boarded back at the terminal, Jeff had gotten me a new flight out for Sunday, and I just needed to get my checked luggage off the plane. He came to pick me up, and we took a drive to another house Jeff happened to find online - and he drove by the area on his way into his office.

The location was great - It's Kernersville, but newer development and close to grocery stores, Lowes, gas stations and the main highway (the 40) to go west for Jeff (to get to Winston Salem) and for me to grab to head east (to work in Greensboro or High Point).  We called the listing agent to ask about the house, and she asked if we'd like to tour it, so we said yes - disclosing that we are working with another Realtor. Although the layout of this house was nearly perfect, plus it had a few perks (4 flat screens and updated lighting throughout), we really didn't like the upward slop of the driveway (too slippery for icy winters!), plus the outdoor living space needed to be invested in along with preferred floor coverings, so we said thank you and we'll keep in mind.  Driving the area, we saw an almost identical home design (just around the corner) which we looked up online when we got back to the hotel.

I was flying out uber-early Sunday (7am), but Jeff set an appointment again with Lindsay to go tour this last house, later Sunday afternoon. By the time I arrived back in Phoenix and got settled in at home, Jeff had seen the house - taking additional photos PLUS 3 video tours for me to see. Its layout was better suited for us (driveway had minor slope - down to a flat driveway, entering the 2 car garage under the house, with adjacent house bib - all needed for car washing!) plus it had one consistent floor covering downstairs (wood laminate) and taller kitchen cabs (42") for storage.

Jeff flew back to Phoenix the next evening - the following day, after a long discussion and reviewing the photos, comparing it to our current layout + what we had in Florida - we came to an agreement and said "this is the one!" Jeff contacted Lindsay to put in our offer, she drew up the papers, we did a docu-sign and off the offer went. A day later they counter offered, we discussed and countered, they did too and we finally came to an agreement this afternoon and now the home purchase docs are signed - the process of relocating back east continues!

Also happening today was the auto transporter coming to pick up Jeff's truck to ship to North Carolina plus the moving company came to inventory & survey this house, it's contents, and layout - because since we currently have a third floor, it will take extra manpower to move this beast! My vehicle stays here as transportation, until loading day, and we'll have it picked up at the hotel we leave from. It takes at least a week to transport the vehicle across the country, so Jeff is here for a few more days, and we'll begin tearing down, patching and tough-up painting here before he heads back out to NC - which by then his truck will arrive.

Hard to believe but it's happening - three years in the waiting - And we should be shipped and ready to move in plus close mid to late November. Truly a Thanksgiving blessing this year for sure!!! I'm so excited, I want to go chop down my own live Christmas tree when we get there!! (Just kidding - but I am THAT excited!!) And online connections and friends have been just as excited for us when we shared the good news - so many THANK YOUs to Facebook and to North Carolinian's for making us feel so welcome! Good ole Southern Hospitality!

I'll share tips I've learned for house hunting + planning + packing in an upcoming post. Moving can be very overwhelming, especially moving across the country at holiday time. Each move we've done has been a learning experience over time -- and I think having experience planning and moving entire departments (especially during construction) has helped strengthen the move thought process.

 

House transaction now done via DocuSign.

Yes - You still print & read contract, but now sign online!

We're SUPER excited to become homeowners once again - Like Zillow says, "You're not just looking for a house - You're looking for a place for your life to HAPPEN!" And this couldn't be more true. I felt like my life had gotten put on hold when we moved out to Arizona. Yes, I learned new things, attended a few market events and we traveled to some places we might not have if we hadn't moved here - and for that I am grateful. But in terms of working, I think there will be more opportunities for me to get back to work living in North Carolina, utilizing my talent to help the furniture industry and  their showrooms grow, than there was for me living here in AZ - and Jeff too is going to have more opportunities to grow with the company since he is now in a "walk-thru" store (high corporate visitations) + its the District store and one of largest in his new District. I think Sephora too will enjoy her new views out the windows, and seeing GREEN (and snow too!!) again! And family is already lining up to come visit!!

Considering I was to fly into Miami today to visit my mom & friends, this was a pretty remarkable turn of events that I am grateful for!!

Thanks for stopping by - and stay tuned for the adventures of moving back east!