Spring is here, and throughout Southern Illinois, people are looking for excuses to be outside in the warmer weather. One way to do this is by making some easy updates to your outdoor living space.
I recently decided to tackle a few improvements to our front porch. My kids, and even my daughter’s boyfriend, helped do some editing and pitching of things that accumulate when it’s too cold and gloomy to do much on it. Granted, a power washer would do wonders, but that is yet to come. I hope…
Meanwhile, I decided that a few plants would bring some life and coziness to the space.
Fortunately, I saved my hanging baskets from last year to be reused. The Carbondale Farmer’s Market has already had a great selection of flowers and plants this spring. I’ve started filling the baskets with wave petunias from a local farm.
I also rescued some impatiens from a clearance rack at a local store. They really just needed to be dead headed and watered. Last year, I had painted my little bistro table chairs sea green and covered the table with a lemonade-ish colored thrift store cloth. Amazingly, I found a trendy striped trash “can” at a thrift store this spring that perfectly matches the chairs and tablecloth. So, I lined it with a plastic bag to protect the interior, added rocks for drainage, and planted the impatiens. It is now the living floral arrangement on the bistro table.
A goal is to make a cozy spot to paint on glass (or whatever I feel like doing to relax) when there is a nice breeze on the porch. Once upon a time, people spent more time relaxing and socializing on their front porches. We tend to hear more about decks now, but both are valuable outdoor living space. I hope to deal with our deck soon too, but at least one space now has a few fresh updates. I’m picturing a glass of refreshing sun tea poured over ice on the bistro table now…
