Tag Archives: front porch

To say that things have been busy at my house would be an understatement.  I think it would be safe to say that I have too many irons in the fire right now.  Even so, it’s high time that I gave you a little progress report and got you up to date on what’s going on here at the L & L house.

As you know, we are updating our kitchen and we are making progress, but it’s not very concrete right now — meaning I don’t have any progress pictures to show you.  The only visual things I have to show for my work are a mood board (below), paint samples on my wall and an island that is now centered in my kitchen instead of off-set like it had been for 13 years!  

The mood board shows you some of the choices we’ve made for the kitchen.  The picture of the kitchen on the lower right of the mood board is from Willow Wisp Cottage — I am using it as inspiration for the overall appearance and feeling I’m trying to achieve.  To see a full tour of her kitchen go here — it is beautiful!

After tons of research and lots of back and forth, we have decided to work with a kitchen designer to help us get some of the trickier things done.  I will do a full post on all of the decisions we’ve made and explain my mood board a little further, but today, I’m just giving you a quick progress update.

While I’ve been doing all of my kitchen research, I’ve also been trying to accomplish a myriad of projects outside.   Many are still in-progress (I’m building a fire-pit area, raised garden beds, and replacing dead shrubs) but my front porch is 95% complete so I’m sharing a peek today:

 As you may recall, I created a mood board for this space awhile back (you can read about it here).  I wanted to give it more pops of color than it had before.

The outdoor “wicker” settee is new and I made the throw pillows myself with fabric I ordered online.  

I think the settee was such a great addition to the porch and gave us more seating, which I love.  It also enabled me to move the little bistro table and chairs that resided in that spot around the corner.  

This space sat mostly empty because it’s really not a functional area.  It gets full-on western sun in the late afternoon and is really only usable in the morning.  At one time, I had envisioned a potting bench here, but then decided this would be better.  And, it will be easy to pull into the main space when we have a crowd of friends and/or family sitting on the porch.

Do you remember these shutters?  I got from my sweet mother-in-law several months ago.  They were unpainted and she thought I might enjoy fixing them up.  Well, I finally decided on a color and got them finished.  I painted them with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint — the color is Chateau Grey.  I adore this color!

I think I’ll hang something from them, like a wreath, a little sign or a metal star or something.  For now, it’s a little bare on this side of the porch, but it’s a vast improvement already.

It’s a little bare on my porch swing, too, but given the fact that the kids love to swing on it, I don’t like putting a bunch of pillows there.  They just end up on the ground and it makes me crazy!  One pillow is enough for now.

I’m happy with my porch updates and the weather has been wonderful for sitting out here and enjoying the outdoors.  It is a joy having such a wonderful space!

Finally, in this midst of all this chaos, I’ve embarked on a scary journey.  I’ve given up sugar.  Well, mostly.

People who know me well, know that I have a major sweet tooth.  That gene was passed on to my daughter and things were getting a little out of control.  We both loved sugar a little too much and my daughter was begging for treats so much it was crazy.  (My husband and son don’t have this problem, by the way.)  I happened to see an interview with a blogger who wrote a book about quitting sugar.  I bought the book and have drastically reduced my sugar intake.

I am still eating fruit but have quit soft drinks, fruit juice, and sweets.  I have also reduced my overall carb intake — exchanging sprouted wheat bread for regular bread, cutting out most crackers, etc.  I’m eating a lot of protein and unprocessed foods and, so far so good!  No more late day crashes or frequent headaches.

My daughter has cut out having a daily processed and/or sugary treat.  She gets more fruits and vegetables in her lunches and snacks.  Instead of a peanut butter and honey sandwich, she gets a turkey sandwich.  She can still have candy and cake at parties or when a classmate brings a treat to school.  She also gets a treat on the weekend.  For her, it’s a reduction of sugar and learning how to make healthier choices.  Even she says she is feeling better!

So, don’t be surprised if you start seeing more sugar-free treat recipes on the blog.  I have tried a couple already — one was a major fail and the other is just okay.  When I find winners, I will definitely share them!  And, please share yours if you have any — I would love to hear about them!

I hope you all are having a wonderful Spring (or Fall depending upon where you live).  Thank you so much for coming here even when my posts are fewer and further between.  I look forward to sharing on a more regular basis soon!

Have a great day!