Friday Fantasies...

So, as I sit on my couch in the blessedly cool air conditioning (hello and thank you to excellent insulation and a really strong A/C unit!), I thought I would share some of the upcoming projects we are fantasizing about for our respective houses...but when the temprature finally drops below the surface of the sun here in Texas!

For my house:

So this is the backyard - well the backyard when I bought the house (it is actually really green now thanks to my sprinkler system!)

BOOORRRING!  No outdoor space to play with the furry munchkin ( AKA Snickers) and NO SHADE!!!!  This has to be rectified!



First up, a deck - not attached to the house but standing a bit away from the house...I am thinking 15x15 at grade.  Something like this:

Well, something like this without the step and without the big-box store shade structure. 

Listen, I understand the draw of these structures.  They are homeowner DIY friendly, they contain all the parts and pieces you need (hopefully!  Don't ask Christie about the missing parts and pieces when we assembled her new desk!), and they look relatively good...at first.  The problem with these structures is they are almost always temporary and do not last more than one season.

Instead of a generic shade structure that will either blow away in some of the strong winds I get (thanks to all the fields surrounding my house), I want to do a shade structure something like this:

It is sturdy with the poles planted in the ground and made of steel, the covers are made to be outdoors for all seasons, and how fun are those!  


Oh, who am I kidding?  I REALLY want something like this from my friends locally at Varnado Construction: 


Who knew the dude scooping ice cream in high school would grow up to do this!



Wood, and lights, and fans and D.R.E.A.M.Y!!!!!!  Man, does he do good work. This however is not DIY friendly and I did not lately win the lottery so I am out of luck. 



For Christie's abode, we are starting out slow as if she were to give me my way, I would start ripping down walls and pulling up porch boards to replace...not to mention panting everything that does not move!  The girl does have some patience with me. 



We are talking about that spot WAY down there.



Anywhoo, I did already hang her flag so she is already all patriotic and stuff so how about for this corner of the porch:



THIS!  How cool and easy would this be.  I would modify it though with sides and a back as we tend to drink margaritas and mojitos and I can so forsee us falling off the back of this thing and if we kept going over the porch wall, it is a fairly long way down.  I am all into daybeds but not having to use a daybed because you have broken something falling off the porch...and of anyone, Christie and I would be the ones falling off. 

I would also LOVE to see this dressed with an old colorful quilt and some colorful coordinating throw pillows.  It would really add some character to the porch.

Anyway, what am I going to do this weekend?  Well since the thermometer is currently melting outside, I will be spending the weekend inside reorganizing my home office.  There is seriously a trees worth of paperwork everywhere and since I work from home, it is becoming a distraction (more posts on this crazy space later!).  I also am going to take copious breaks to go around the corner to one of the pools in my suburbia-subdivision and chill out. 

So have a great weekend readers!  For those of you - friends and foes alike - who are anywhere where the temperature is has not starting melting the roads and sidewalks and you are not outside enjoying summer, I hate you (or not...I may not even know you yet!)

Shelley