Let's Take A Tour - The Dining Room

Just beyond the living room area is our dining room.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we have a living room/dining room combo. However, because of the way the house is laid out, the dining area is off to the side in its own designated space as opposed to one big room with a dining table directly behind the sofa as in other home layouts. I like this sort of "separation" where everything is open yet it's still clear what is the living room and what is the dining room. Shall we take a closer look?

This is the table that I had at our old house, the one I gel stained and put new cushions on the seats. I took the leaf out since we don't need it right now and this space is smaller than what we had at the old house. I can fit the table with the leaf in just fine, but I decided to keep it compact for the time being. The rug is a new addition that I picked up at Ross for $30. The plantation shutters, curtains, even the little flower decor above the window were left by the previous owner. 

The decor on the table is also from the old house, though this wasn't how I had it decorated in the past. The tray was a Target clearance find for $12, as was the pitcher. The flower arrangement is simply some Dollar Tree hydrangeas and some eucalyptus from Target. The owl is a candle holder, though I've never burned any candle in it. I got it several years ago from Walmart for under $5.

The salt and pepper shakers were a great score from the Walmart clearance aisle. They are from the Pioneer Woman collection, and I got the set for $4. They go beautifully with my dishes. The runner is from the Magnolia line at Target. I believe I paid $15 for it, a bargain considering the quality and it's a nice neutral design appropriate for all seasons.

The opposite wall is mirrored, a popular design style in the 80's. I don't care for it myself, but I understand removing it can be pretty pricey, and it's not a project I'd want to tackle on my own. Not only is it dangerous, I'm concerned what the drywall behind it will look like after 32 years. I try to look on the positive side: it makes the room look way bigger than it actually is.

If you've seen pictures of my previous home, you know that I also stained the china cabinet that went with this dining room set. It was a beautiful piece that I'd had for 19 years, but in the end I chose not to bring it with me, so I sold it. In its place I put this cabinet:

It's not a buffet or sideboard. It's actually a tv cabinet that I had in our family room and which houses our DVD/CD collection. I downsized quite a bit of our DVD's but we still have a lot. This cabinet was purchased off of Amazon back in 2016 for $210. I've gotten compliments because of how well it looks with the dining room table; I've even been asked if they are a set, which they definitely are not.

 

I decided to keep the decor on top simple, since everything reflects off the mirror. That gorgeous decorative bottle has been with me for 20 years. We purchased it at a fair and watched as the flowers were painted on it. Beside it are pictures of my kids when they were younger.

One of the things I did change was the light fixture in the dining room. This was original to the house and didn't match anything else. It's pretty, but it looked out of place.

This is the ceiling fan in the living room. The bronze finish on this, as well as the style, clashed with the brushed nickel of the light fixture in the dining room and open to the living room.

I found this lighting fixture on Home Depot's website. Since we were in the middle of quarantine I wasn't able to go to the actual store, so online ordering was the next best thing. I wish I hadn't been impatient, because while I like this light fixture, I don't love it. It is a way better match than the old light fixture, but it's just okay. I may change it again in the future. Or I may keep it. I haven't decided yet.

You're probably asking, so if the cabinet holds DVD's and CD's, where is all the stuff that was in the china cabinet? Let me show you:

Across the dining room and behind the living room is this gorgeous dry bar. I didn't know if this was something the previous owner had built in, but I've since learned that it's original to the house, as are the mirrors and glass shelves. She did upgrade the countertop to granite, though, and in doing so gave it a high end look.

On the left there are two drawers which I use as my "junk" drawers. There are no drawers to the right, because this cabinet is plumbed for a wet bar. The previous owners didn't care for one, which is fine since I have no desire for a wet bar either.

There is plenty of storage space inside, so that not only am I able to put away everything that was in my china cabinet, but also some of my cookbooks and seasonal decor. 

Again, I wanted to keep this area uncluttered, so I took out my cake stand (which I've had since my days selling Kingdom Treasures 15 years ago) and put this pitcher full of tulips on top. I love these tulips that I bought off of Amazon. They are very high quality and look realistic. I bought the pitcher from Kirkland's a while back. I love white pitchers for flower arrangements, and they always have pretty ones at Kirkland's.

This decorative plate has special meaning to me. It is from Puerto Rico and was given to me by a very sweet Puertorican lady who was one of my vendors whenever I worked as a purchasing agent years ago. That company went bankrupt during the recession in 2008, but I kept in touch with the lady who gave it to me. Sadly, she passed away unexpectedly in 2015, making this gift an even more precious treasure. 

When we first moved in I wondered what in the world I would do with these glass shelves? They are attached to the mirrors, so unless I remove the mirrors I can't take the shelves off. As I mentioned before, I'm not the biggest fan of the mirrors, but taking them down would probably mean extensive repairs to whatever is behind it. It wasn't until Christmas that I came to appreciate them. I set up my Christmas village on this sideboard. 

I wish I'd taken a picture of the finished product! I began putting little pine trees to make it look like a mountain overlooking the village. Unfortunately I decluttered a bunch of my village pieces, thinking I wouldn't need them. I didn't want to spend a ton of money, so I went to Walmart and purchased some small village houses which I put on the shelves. It turned out so cute! I guess I'm gonna have to recreate it this Christmas so I can post proper pictures. After Christmas I decided to put my wine glasses up there instead, along with some dessert plates that were a wedding gift from a dear friend and a few other decor pieces. It's simple yet elegant.

I'm so glad I was able to keep my dining room table. I was afraid it would be too big to fit in a smaller home, but here it works great, and I can still host our small Thanksgiving day feast. Next, the room that isn't really a room. Can you figure out what that is?

Let's Take A Tour - The Living Room

To the right of the top of the stairs is the living/dining room combo. This front area of the house is very open concept, which helps it all look large and bright. I'm going to focus on the living room part of the house today, and look at the dining room next time.

I should mention that all the living areas in the home have large white and grey tiles except for the bedrooms, which have laminate wood floors. This keeps the house feeling light and airy. It could also make the house feel cold, but area rugs give it that warm, cozy vibe.

When we first moved in, I didn't take any pictures; I was too busy putting everything away and deciding where it all would go. It wasn't until Christmas that I took a picture of the living room to send to my sister so she could see the progress (and my tree):

Since the tree was the main focus, I didn't bother to turn on any lights other than the tree lights, so it's pretty dark, but it will give a sense of what the room looked like at the time. Here the sectional sofa is against the stairwell. 

It's changed a bit since then. For spring I turned the tables so to speak. Well, actually, what I turned was the furniture arrangement:

The living room is the one room that has had the least amount of changes from the old house. All the furniture that was in my old living room is here except for the coral entryway cabinet; I gave that to my daughter, and she uses it as a coffee bar in her home. The picture above the tv in the first picture is the one that is now in my office/guest room (see my previous post). That was where I'd originally put it, but I didn't like it. It's the same shape and almost the same size as the tv set, and it looked awkward. I wanted something lighter to go above the tv, and I found this piece at Hobby Lobby for $30 (half price of course). I loved it the minute I saw it. The distressed wood frame gave it that farmhouse feel, while the scrolled metal design gave it elegance - the perfect combination! Just one tiny problem: the hanging hardware was on the wrong side. This piece was meant to hang vertically. Well, I wasn't about to let that get in my way. When I got home, I removed the hanging brackets and put them on the long side so the piece could hang horizontally. Presto! It worked beautifully.

You might also notice the three pictures above the sliding glass doors. This is where I first put them, but they seemed to disappear up there. The color of the frames was too similar to the color of the walls. Plus, they didn't go with the new Hobby Lobby piece. So I took them down and put them in the office/guest room instead. At first I figured I'd leave that wall bare, but since this house has vaulted ceilings, it looked like such a big empty space. Around this time businesses started to open; I hadn't been out decor shopping since the pandemic started. I'd heard stores were having huge sales to clear out all the old merchandise that had sat on the shelves for three months and make way for new items. Sounded like the right time to find something pretty and affordable.

 I went to TJ Maxx first, knowing that Mondays is 10% off all purchases if you're 55 and over. The metal flowers are a set that I found for $14.99. With my discount I paid $13.50. They are the perfect size, shape, color, everything!  

As summer got closer, I also wanted to make my home feel more like the season. Much of my home decor at the old house had fall colors: lots of gold, rust, dark greens and blues. It's lovely, and I still enjoy those pieces, but I wanted something a bit more...summery. It was time to go to Hobby Lobby and see what the clearance rack had for me.

I'd gotten this piece from Kirkland's years ago, and it was in my old living room. It's the first two verses of Psalm 23. As you can see, the colors are deep, rich fall colors, and the frame is also dark wood. I wanted to brighten this corner of the living room with something just as inspirational but also lighter, with a touch of farmhouse. Thankfully, all the spring decor was 50% off.

I love this so much! It looks like a piece of shiplap, with some twine tied to the bottom and a cotton stem cutout at the top. The verse is from Romans 8:31. The price made me very happy: $9.99. I can use this every year for spring and summer, and the other picture for fall and winter.

I've also styled my bookcases a little differently now. In the old house, the bookcases were just that: a place for books. They had my books, my daughter's books, and both my son's books. Once my oldest son moved and my daughter got married they took their books with them, and my youngest son has his books in his room, so I was able to decorate my little bookcases with more than just books:

The statue on the very top is a favorite piece I've had for many years. Back in the early 2000's I sold home and Christmas decor through a company called Kingdom Treasures. They aren't around anymore, but I've kept a few things from their collections, and this is one of them. The little planter is from TJ Maxx. The pineapple was a Christmas gift; it's a candle, and it smells just like a pineapple! I like adding picture frames and baskets to give the shelves some dimension and interest.

I did something of a mirror image with the other bookcase. This planter I found at the Target Dollar Spot for $3. The clock is new; I had a clock for years that I'd also gotten from Kingdom Treasures, but it stopped working one day. I probably could have gotten it fixed, but I decided I wanted something different, so I found this one at Hobby Lobby. I think I paid $12.50 for it. 

The sectional is the same one I had in our living room at the old house, except I've "shrunk" it. There's another piece that's an armless chair and it can be put on either side of the sectional to make it a right hand or left hand sofa. I took it out and have it in another part of the house (you'll have to wait and see where). The rug, coffee table, leather chair, all came with us from the old house. I change the look up with throw pillows and blankets, and different flower arrangements in the pitchers I use as vases. The sliding glass doors lead out to the balcony, and the drapes were left by the previous owner - a blessing, because I didn't have to buy any. Over to the left is the dining room, but that's a story for another post ;-). See you then!

Let's Take A Tour - The Office/Guest Room

After walking in the front door, straight ahead are the stairs to come into the actual living area. 

The way this home is set up, the garage is downstairs and the living area is upstairs. I didn't know how I would feel about this at first. We'd owned a condo similar to this set-up, except there was no garage, only neighbors living downstairs. I've come to appreciate it, though. I'm not constantly going up and down the stairs since there isn't anything that I need downstairs (unless it's something in the garage which doesn't happen often).

At the top of the stairs is a small landing with a window. I wanted to decorate this but with it being so small an area I didn't want to crowd it. So, I kept it simple.

My realtor (and best friend) gave me a gift card to HomeGoods/Marshall/TJ Maxx. I looked up these stores in my city and found that I have a TJ Maxx nearby, so I went over to see what I could find. I fell in love with the decor and the prices! And as an added bonus, I found out that folks 55 and older get a 10% discount on Mondays - yes please! I just happened to be there on a Monday so I scored this planter with an artificial snake plant that was on clearance for $16.99 - only I paid $15.29 with my discount. The planter was $9.99, or $8.99 for this senior citizen. I already had the artwork, so this area was complete.

Once on the landing, a left turn takes you up a short flight of stairs to the first room in the house. It's actually supposed to be the third bedroom, but the builder left it open (I'm supposing at the request of the original buyer). I'd wanted a third bedroom to use as a guest room/office, and I was disappointed to see that this room wasn't an actual room. But after discussing it with my realtor and my son, I realized I didn't need a third bedroom. Yes, having a guest room is nice, but the only person coming to stay over is my oldest son R, and that only happens a couple of times a year. What we really needed, I thought, was a music room, a room where my son E could put a drum set. I wanted to get him an electronic drum set for Christmas, something that wouldn't make a ton of noise and disturb the neighbors. This area would work perfectly for that.

Since I didn't have any office furniture when we first moved in, and E didn't have his electronic drum set yet, this room became the staging area. All boxes, plastic containers, decor, even furniture, went in here first to be sorted before being moved to a permanent location. It wasn't the best situation, since this is the first room you see whenever you come into my house, but it was useful to contain the mess here while setting up the rest of the house.

The wall unit had been in my living room at the old house and it was going to stay in here. This is the only place it will fit. Once all the boxes were emptied out and everything but the office equipment and files put away, I went ahead and purchased some office furniture. The wall unit I'd bought years before off of Amazon, so I looked it up to see if there were any other pieces in this collection. I was thrilled to find there was a desk, though not a file cabinet. It took a lot of searching, but I finally settled on a file cabinet that was from the collection of furniture in my son's room, also purchased off of Amazon. Once I had these pieces I was able to organize the office.

I didn't have to buy an office chair; my daughter had one from her old desk that she didn't intend on keeping, so I took it for myself. I also didn't need to buy a new rug. This rug had been in the family room at the old house. I'd bought it from Costco for $40 a couple years before. I had all the decor except for the wall clock. My realtor had bought it for her own house, but when she put it on her wall she didn't like how small it looked. She found another much larger clock that she liked better, and she offered this one to me. I was only too happy to accept! It goes perfectly with the rustic wood furniture in this room.

The office looked like this until Christmas, when my son opened his gift. We set it up in the office as we'd originally intended. Then my son asked what computer it would be connected to. Leave it to this technological dinosaur to not think about that. His computer is in his bedroom, and it's a desktop computer. The drums are supposed to be connected to a computer to record music or to look up music and lessons. I told him he was welcome to use my laptop; he said he wanted the drums in his room. I didn't think that was possible; his room is a good size but so is a drum set. He believed he could make it work, so long as he moved the nightstand out of his room. He wasn't using it; in the old house it had been next to his bed, but because of the configuration in this room it was on the other side of the bedroom next to his desk. Taking it out of the room looked like it would allow the drum set to fit, so we gave it a try. Lo and behold, the boy was right.  

For the next couple of weeks E tried to get the drum set to work with his computer, but to no avail. He tried different cables, different programs, anything he could find, but the drums were not connecting properly and it was just not working. I felt terrible. The one thing he wanted when we moved was to be able to use his drum set, especially since we would be moving far from his drum teacher. His drum set was in the garage gathering dust, and the electronic set was a bust. I didn't know what to do.

My son talked to his drum teacher, and showed me an option: low volume drumheads. They are made specifically for "noise sensitive situations", and are 70-80% quieter than regular drumheads. Even the cymbals are quieter, so he can play on his entire drum set without disturbing any of the neighbors. He found a really nice set on Amazon that was almost the exact same price as the electronic drums, and I had just a few days before the return window closed, so we packed up the electronic drums, shipped them back, and ordered the drumheads to my son's delight. Of course the next question was, would the real drum set fit in his room? He was sure it would; me, not so much. Once again my son was right. It's a bit tight but whenever he isn't playing he can condense it and it doesn't get in the way. We've never gotten any complaints about noise, so I can attest to the fact that they do work.

But now that meant that the office didn't have to be a music room. It could be just an office - or maybe a guest room as well? I knew I didn't want to put a bed in there since it's a wide open space. Even a daybed wouldn't work. The next option would be either a sofa bed or a futon. I'd seen futons in the past and I didn't like them at all, but I was pleasantly surprised at how they've improved over the years. I began researching and took into account the look, functionality, size, and of course affordability.  I read reviews from customers as well as consumer report websites. I found a couple that had excellent reviews, and I was price comparing the two styles on Amazon, Wayfair, Overstock, even Home Depot. They ran for $400+ but sometimes went on sale for $350. As I waited to see when the price would drop, I found one of the styles on Walmart.com for $280. I about fell out of my chair! Why was it so cheap?! Was it a return? Something wrong with it? Nope, turns out this model is being discontinued and replaced with something similar but more mid-century modern looking. I jumped on that so fast! No way I was going to let that opportunity get away! The color, size, everything was perfect. Once I got it in the room I knew I'd made the right choice.

Now this is what you see when you make your way up the stairs:

I moved the desk over to the left side of the room along with the file cabinet, and put the futon on the right wall with the wall unit in the middle. The nightstand became a side table.

The pillows were a set I'd bought from Costco before moving to this house, and they look perfect on this couch. The artwork above it was in our old family room. I'd originally put it in the living room above the television set, but it looked terrible. It's about the same size and shape as the tv so it looked like we had a tv over the tv. I'm so glad it works well in here, since I don't have anywhere else to put it and I don't want to get rid of it. It is one of my favorite pieces.

I moved the clock as well whenever I moved the desk. Unfortunately, I didn't have the clock as well secured as I thought. I put it up, turned around and heard a loud crash. The clock had slid off the wall and fell flat on the glass front, shattering it. Thankfully, though, the clock itself was not damaged, so I decided to keep it and make no one the wiser ;-).

Beside the desk I set up the file cabinet so that I can access everything easily. My paper shredder and printer are on top, and over them is a piece of artwork I got years ago from Kirkland's. 

The three pieces on the wall next to the file cabinet also came from my last house. I got them from Target several years ago, but I still see them there occasionally.

This is one of the rooms where I've spent the most money since I had to get new furniture pieces for it. Still, I was able to get everything for just under $725. That includes any decor and accessories. Considering there are three new pieces of furniture, I think I've done pretty well. I still want to get a floor lamp for this room. There's no overhead lighting, and the small lamp I picked up from Hobby Lobby for $20 doesn't really light the room up much. Other than that, this room is done and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out.

Next up: the living room. 

Let's Take A Tour - The Entryway

I wish I'd taken more before and after pictures. With the move and everything happening so fast, I didn't focus on taking pictures or making memories. I also wasn't thinking about blogging. It had been such a long time since I'd put my thoughts down that it was the farthest thing from my mind. I do have some older pics that I'll use as we take a tour of my new home.

I figured the best place to start would be the first place you see when you walk into the house: the entryway. Now, it should be understood that the entryway is tiny. It's only 6'4" x 4'3", but one of the things we noticed right away was how much is packed into this small space.

Taking pictures of this area is tough because it's so small, so bear with me.

This is what you see when you walk in the front door. The entryway is a small landing right before heading up the stairs to a second landing and then the actual living space.

On the wall right by the staircase I put up a cute piece that I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby before the pandemic started. I had another piece here but I decided this looked nicer. Underneath it I put up some hooks for keys that I found at Target when we first moved here. It was just $7.99, right up my alley. I had a floating shelf at the old house but it was too big for this wall so this worked out better.

  

Below that I'd originally put a basket for our shoes and such, but it looked messy. So instead I got this small shelving unit off of Amazon for $35. I already had one that I'd bought several years before and was using in the living room. I love this piece because it's solid wood, very sturdy and high-end looking. I already had the baskets, and they fit perfectly. Now it holds my shoes on top and my son E's shoes on the bottom, so no one has to bring their shoes into the house. The artificial plant on top I'd purchased from Kirkland's years ago.

Right beside this wall, to the right if you walk in through the front door, is a window with plantation shutters. There are plantation shutters throughout the entire house, which I absolutely love. They are classic, easy to clean, and go with every decor style. I'm thankful to have them.

This is the view from up the stairs. The door on the far right goes to the garage. Straight ahead on the left is the front door and next to it is a really small coat closet. We laughed at the fact that there would even be a coat closet in South Florida. We get weather cold enough for a coat maybe a couple times a year, and sometimes not at all. A jacket would more than suffice. But hey, storage is storage, and I found a good use for it.

This is where I store my vacuum cleaner, floor steamer, and gift wrapping supplies.

The space is so small, the only thing on the shelf is a plastic container with all my gift wrapping tissue. I reuse tissue paper to save on waste.

Between the front door and the closet I have this cross that was a gifted to me by my daughter's matron of honor. They have been very close friends for years. When she was redoing her home she asked if I wanted this cross and I quickly answered, "Yes please!" I think it is beautiful.

Above the doors I wanted something that would provide some architectural interest. The ceilings are very high and there was just empty space above the doors. I recently found these beautiful arches at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $12.50! I was so excited! I found two of them and put one over the front door and the other above the garage door. I feel like it gives the entryway a grander look.

I put a small rug in front of our front door that I picked up at Target. It didn't occur to me at the time that we rarely use the front door; we come in through the garage most times. I haven't bought another one because I'm not sure I love this rug. Unfortunately a lot of stores have limited merchandise now, so I'm waiting for them to replenish. If I find a nice pair of rugs I'll switch this one out, otherwise I'll get a second one of this style.

The entryway is one of the places in the house that I did a mini makeover project - or at least I started one. The lighting fixtures in the stairway were the original ones that the builder put in 30 years ago, and they are not attractive.

Not only are they not pretty, they're filthy. Years of dust and dirt won't come off of them anymore. They also didn't fit my rustic elegance style. I looked at tons of lighting options, and settled on these from Amazon:

I'm in love with the way this looks! It was super easy to install too. Well, this one was. It's at the top of the staircase landing, so reaching it was no problem.

The other light fixture is way higher than this one: 15 feet off the ground. I have an extension ladder so reaching it height-wise isn't the issue. It's in an awkward spot that makes it hard to reach once I'm at the top of the ladder. That's one problem. The other problem is fear. When I took the old light fixture off of this top landing light, it had 3-4 dead cockroaches inside. Not little cockroaches; the ones we Floridians call Palmetto bugs. They are big and nasty! Of course the fact that they were dead was a relief, but even so...I had to get a broom to knock them out of the cover before I could take the light fixture down. Ya'll, cockroaches make me gag. It was not pleasant. Once I'd gotten rid of them and taken the light fixture to the trash, I finished putting the new fixture up, but I quickly realized putting up the other one wouldn't be possible for me. This new light fixture is heavy! I had a hard time holding it up while also wiring it. So now I'm patiently waiting for one of my electrician buddies to have the time to come over and put up the second light fixture, and the entryway will be done (for now!). 

Now that I'm pretty much caught up with what's happened the last few years, I'll be posting more house tours and updates. See ya back here soon!

Setting Up (A New) House

Closing on my old house was on September 9. Closing on my new home didn't happen till September 25. Two weeks of preparation. I had HOA documents to fill out, meetings with management companies and homeowner's association directors, services to cancel or redirect...those two weeks were still pretty busy and filled with excitement. My daughter and son-in-law offered us a room in their home so we wouldn't have to stay in a hotel. It was a great blessing, especially since they live just three minutes away from our new house. 

Thanks to my wonderful realtor we were able to do the closing at the property immediately after doing the walk-through. My POD was delivered that very day, and the hard work began once again.

I'm so glad the new property has a one car garage, but because we were unloading the POD on my new driveway my parking spot was blocked and so was my garage. As a resident I couldn't park in the guest spots, so I had to unload the container as much as possible, then go back to my daughter's house. My daughter and son-in-law had to work, so it was up to E and me to unload everything as quickly as possible. We emptied over half our belongings just on that first day, after giving the place a good cleaning. By the 28th it was completely emptied out.

I'd begun ordering furniture for the master bedroom, starting with the nightstands which I purchased off of Walmart.com. The bed and mattress were ordered from Amazon, and they arrived on the 25th and 26th. We moved things into the garage first, then moved them up to the office, which became the staging area for the first few weeks.

The POD was picked up on September 30, and that was our official move-in date. From that moment on everything is a blur, honestly. There was unpacking, arranging, rearranging; internet set up; furniture delivery and so much more. During this time we received sad news: my children's grandfather passed away after years of struggling with COPD. It was somewhat unexpected; he'd been sick and hospitalized so many times before and had ultimately pulled through. This time he'd been sent to a rehab center, then back home. He died in his own home, in his own bed, which was what he wanted. 

But we had good news too. My son R came to visit us on October 5, less than a week after we'd moved in. Much of the house was set up by then, and he helped with some of the unpacking as well. He only stayed for the weekend but it was so nice to have him with us. 

I didn't take many pictures during that time. I was so busy I didn't think about it, but I did manage a few pics.

I decided on a queen sized bed with an upholstered headboard. I bought the bedspread at Costco for $30, and the sheet set was $16 and extremely soft and comfy. My idea was to have my clothes in the closet and just a few items in the nightstands just as I'd done with my old bedroom set, but I soon realized the nightstands were much smaller than my old ones, so I ordered the matching chest of drawers.

All the accessories were items I'd brought from my old house except for the lamps. My lovely realtor gifted me a $100 gift certificate for Home Goods/TJ Maxx/Marshalls, and since I have a TJ Maxx close to my new home I decided to use it there. I went on a Monday and found out TJ Maxx gives 10% off on Mondays to everyone 55 and older. First time I was happy to be a senior citizen!! I also went by the clearance section and picked up an artificial plant and stand.

I'd given my old patio furniture to my daughter because it wouldn't fit on my new patio, so I purchased a couple of rocking chairs and a small table from Amazon for $125.

My favorite part of the little patio is the view. Since it's completely screened in, we can enjoy it without worrying about mosquitos and bugs. I have my wire rack that was in my old garage as a plant/decor stand, making the spot homey.

There were some projects I'd planned, but that'll be in my next blog post. Stay tuned!