We are experiencing a heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest and next week is officially Summertime! So this is the perfect time to welcome all of you readers to my first summer tour of the season, the “Season Simplicity Summer Series”, hosted by my friend Krista from The Happy Housie. A special warm welcome to those of you here for the first time today! I hope you sign up at the top of the page for my emails so that you don’t miss out on all the fun. I have some really exciting events and things up my sleeve for all of you so make sure to stick around! But first….let’s go straight to my back patio and yard for a little summer tour!

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Last year was our first summer in our new home that we built here after moving from Texas here to Vancouver, Washington. Back in Texas, we were already familiar with the people we needed to contact when in need of any immediate services, like the much needed AC repairs from JAK Services (https://jakservices.com/fort-worth-air-conditioning-repair-service/) or others in our neighborhood. Whether we were preparing the home for the summer heat wave or getting it cozied up for the winter, we knew whom to approach. In Vancouver, everything was new to us and it was slightly overwhelming at first, to be honest. Nevertheless, we were able to design everything from scratch and really make it our own, I was so happy about this. The community is lovely here so we all helped each other over winter, and a couple of neighbors came round to help me out as well. Quite a few houses around here have some flags up which makes me feel all proud to be living here! They looked a bit like the residential flagpoles at Flagpoles Etc that I’ve seen before. I was wondering if we should do it too, it gives off a vibe of patriotism, so many people are proud to be American after all! Anyway, that’s by the by! We had so much more to sort as well. Making our house look incredible, and our garden too, because this was super important to me. Our few flowers and shrubs were newly planted and small and not much had been done. Now that we’ve been through a winter with them, we’ve been able to see what’s survived and what hasn’t. Most everything did.

I’m not a fan of annuals. I usually only have 2 of them and keep it pretty low maintenance with those, other than the annuals in my hanging basket. I plant perennials and like to find things that will bloom spring to fall and keep color all summer long. I also like to add other plants that will bloom at different times.

I have 1 type of rose that blooms in March and April and then that’s it. I also have my yellow lilies, daffodils and tulips, hyacinth Then my peonies in May and June. These are my peony bushes (now empty) that just all bloomed and finished and then I have 2 rose bushes on the end.

I picked the last of my peonies (left arrangement) last week and they all look beautiful inside my home! Imagine those empty peony bushes on the previous outdoor picture filled with peony blooms. It was gorgeous! I’m so sad I didn’t get it photographed but I was so ill with health problems and just didn’t catch it. Next year for sure!

All my roses and hydrangeas are next through the summer. I just LOVE roses so I have some on each end of my yard and some in the middle.

Our backyard is not very deep, it’s shallow. But the sides are large. I won’t be showing you those today as I had hoped because we didn’t get them done in May, due to some health problems I’ve had. I’m bummed! We have had some fun things mapped out but hopefully we’ll get them done by the end of the summer. I’ll let you know.

That being said….with the space from our back door to the fence being more shallow, I really wanted a lot of greenery and to not just look out back and see “Fence!” every time I looked out the back windows. My solution was to buy a lot of beautiful honeysuckle plants, white flowered chocolate vine plants, clematis (planted one last year and it came back after I thought it wouldn’t) and then I just planted a couple of climbing rose bushes. I think it’ll be just beautiful. It already is.

Tip: The great thing about the honeysuckle and white flowering chocolate vines is that they are evergreen! That will be the most aesthetically-pleasing. Plus, they smell sooooo good and the honeysuckle attract the humming birds so it’s just wonderful!

I love a variety of color in my garden but I also love aroma! Dianthus are very aromatic and have such various delicious smells. Some smell like raspberries dipped in chocolate to me….some like vanilla and cherries…they are just yummy smelling and so easy to care for.

I love roses! I have quite the rose garden but I’m embarrassed to post these as I haven’t even had a moment to trim these all back yet before taking pics. Like I said, I’ve been suffering from some health issues that are new and taking getting used to.

My mom is here for a bit helping and she and I are tackling that next. It’s crazy how they’ve all toppled over in just the last couple of weeks! They are growing soooo fast! How cute is that cement tufted-style garden stool?!! I found it at HomeGoods and knew it would be just darling in my rose garden.

At the end of the lawn where the stone path starts, we are going to be putting a little trellis over it with climbing roses. It’ll be so cute. This leads to our DIY stone bench. I purchased the stone at a supplier here locally and added cement ($3) in between. The stone cost about $90. It leads to our little fairy garden and sits next to my first apple tree. I’ll be planting a row of fruit trees. Can’t wait! I have petunias around the bottom of my tree for fun.

My kids helped me create this small fairy garden in the corner, behind my rose garden. I know they’re too old for it, but we really did it for my nieces and nephews that come to visit and the smaller children who come over to play. It’s a fun little area. I bought everything at Michael’s last year on sale at the end of the summer so the prices were awesome.

One of my favorite additions this year has been to our patio…our retractable awning. It’s manual but it was just a few hundred dollars and it is quick and easy to roll in and out. We paid a local company to come out and install it for a few hundred dollars because we wanted it done really well. I suggest doing that unless your husband is super handy. Mine is great at closing business deals and sports but he will tell you that he’d feel more confident hiring someone for this task and I’d agree that’s best when the wind whips this thing around. You want it really anchored and sturdy!

I like keeping to wreath hangers in between my windows during the summer entertaining months so that I can switch out my wreaths with tablescapes.

Bringing your bar cart outside for summer entertaining is a MUST!

Lemons are so fresh and summery so I thought this was the best way to kick of the summer, with an easy lemon floral centerpiece. I added a cup inside the vase for the flowers to sit in. I added the thin slices of lemons in between and that was it. These were very inexpensive flowers from the grocery store, $10 total. And $2 for the lemons.

We could sit out here every night for dinner and watch the sunset and look at the view of the Wetlands and those gorgeous trees! Love it out here!!!

My other favorite addition this summer to our backyard has been our new grey umbrella with white fringe. (Everything is linked below.) It’s fun to take out our dining set for more of a “garden party” feel with the umbrella and set it up on the grass. It’s the cutest umbrella and I’d been wanting it for a while. We’ll be using it in another spot that we are designing that we hope to have finished.

I like to have towels ready for water balloons fights and water fun in the backyard at all times!

I’ll finally be getting around to the tutorial on the putting green I made for my hubby on the side of the house as a surprise gift so stay tuned! (Beckham was trying it out. He approved.)

Click on the arrows to scroll right and left. Click on picture to shop item!

Nearly 40 bloggers are sharing their summer home tours this week! Sharing with me today are…

Thursday

Kim Power Style // Maison de Pax // Jenna Kate at Home // Two Twenty One // Just a Girl and Her Blog

Summer Adams // tatertots and jello // The Tattered Pew // Aratari at Home // Crisp Collective

And sharing the rest of the week…

Monday

The Happy Housie // Rooms FOR Rent // Shabbyfufu // Maison de Cinq // My 100 Year Old Home

Southern State of Mind // All Things with Purpose // Grace in My Space // Love Create Celebrate

Tuesday

Town and Country Living // Taryn Whiteaker Designs // Designthusiasm
// This is Our Bliss // My Sweet Savannah

Rambling Renovators // The Turquoise Home // Clean and Scentsible
// She Gave it a Go //Lemon Thistle

Wednesday

Modern Glam // Craftberry Bush // Setting for Four // Inspiration for Moms // Zevy Joy

Life is a Party // Tauni Everett // Finding Silver Pennies // Sincerely, Marie Designs // Amber Tysl

I’m so glad you could stop by today! I would love it if you could subscribe at the top of the page in order to receive my weekly emails of all my latest blog posts and see everything I’m working on! You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to see what I’m up to in creating a home and lifestyle of inspiration!

xoxo,

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The post Back Patio & Yard Summer Tour appeared first on Summer Adams.

Happy New Year to all of you and HELLO 2019!!!  I’m really excited for this year and for some of my goals I’m going to continue working on.  I just know it’ll be a great year.  Today, some friends of mine (linked at the end of the post) are getting together to share our top 10 blog posts of 2018.  So here we go!  My top 10 blog posts of 2018 including interiors, fashion and lifestyle. 

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy and here for my privacy & cookies policy.  All opinions are my own.

Top 10 Posts of 2018

1 – Loveliest Looks of Christmas Tour  Somehow I knew this first Christmas tour of the year was going to be a favorite.  I invited some of my favorite blogger friends to join me in this tour that Pottery Barn sponsored and we had a blast!  Those mercury glass trees in my entry were some of your favorite pieces (and mine too).

We not only shared beautiful Pottery Barn holiday decor throughout our homes but also their faux furs, like this robe and slippers, which are some of my favorite little luxuries during the winter months.  I was overwhelmed with delight to get so much feedback from all of you telling me that you were obsessed with the robe and slippers and it was either A) on your Christmas wish lists or B) you were gifting them to yourself.  I hope you all got some furry prezzies like you hoped!

2 – Whimsical Glam Christmas Living Room In Pastels  This was one of my favorite Christmas trees and mantels I’ve ever decorated because I designed it for my children.  I have my entry and office trees that are all glammed up the way I like them.

However, after seeing the new Nutcracker movie, I was inspired to create a soft and whimsical living room (and also kitchen) that would bring a little magic to our Christmas.

My whimsical theme carried into the kitchen as well. Search for my Whimsical Christmas Kitchen to see more.

It still had the glam factor but the kids absolutely LOVED it and I was so grateful that you all fell in love with it as well!

3- Master Bedroom Updates For Fall & Winter  I loved partnering with my darling friends at Pom Pom At Home when they asked me to share their gorgeous bedding.

It also featured a few of the pretty pumpkins that HotSkwash sent me.

 

4- Master Bedroom Summer Refresh  I love being in my bedroom and I’m glad you all loved another master bedroom post as well.  Thank you so much!  

Click here on the post to see more on my new nightstands and other details.

5- Free Printable 2018 Calendar  I couldn’t believe how many of you visited the blog for this calendar all through December!  I was so pleasantly surprised. Guess what?  My 2019 calendar will be available on the blog TOMORROW so make sure to check back for it!  It’s going to be beautiful!  I hoped to have it available last week but we decided to go home to California for the holidays so I’m a tad behind.

6- The Prettiest Ways To Style Pumpkins For The Fall  This was fun because it’s really the first year that I’ve truly been excited for fall decor.

I had so many fun glam pumpkin vignettes but the blush pumpkin table might have been my favorite.  The best part was getting your emails and messages with pics of your “pink fall decor” in your home after feeling so inspired by my posts.  See!  This is why I love creating and sharing!  We all grab inspiration and ideas from each other and can create our own versions in our own homes.  It’s a beautiful thing!  Keep sharing your homes with me.  I love it!

7- Blush & Gold Glam Office Reveal  Y’all were sooooo sweet when I revealed my home office at the beginning of February.  We had only been in our home for a couple of months after it was built and it was so fun to finally share my very own office.  Your love for this space put the biggest smile on my face (hey, that rhymes! lol).

It was a fast design but I liked it. Then, a few months later, I decided I really wanted blush pink walls.  So I hired a painter (since my tennis elbow was at it’s worst) and revealed it again in this post.  I know!  I’m crazy haha!  Want to know something even crazier?  It’s about to get its 3rd and final makeover in a year {face palm} and this time it’s going to be perfect.  Just wait! 

8- Tween Girl’s Bedroom In Blush, Gold & Grey  Almost a year after moving into our home, I finally shared Brooklyn’s tween bedroom with you and your kind words meant so much to me and especially to her.

Brooklyn’s about to turn 13 and she chose everything for her bedroom, with very little help from me.  These bow lamps might be my favorite thing in this room. I was tempted to steal them for my office but I resisted.

9- Loveliest Looks of Summer Tour  In every new season, I host a “Loveliest Looks Tour” of the current season’s fashion and decor and this one in summer was a favorite all year-long.

Could it be all the peonies we get to enjoy from May to June?  As I’m writing this, I’m sitting here in fuzzy warm socks next to the fire and wishing it was summer right now and wishing I had some fresh peony flowers.  Between the summertime decor and flowers, recipes and sundresses….it just might be my favorite season.  Who am I kidding?  It’s definitely my favorite season. 

After all, I was born in the summer and on National Pink Day so it only makes sense.  I turned 40 this last year so it was definitely a big birthday and a fun one.  Ok!  Moving on to our last of the top 10 posts of 2018!!!

10- French Inspired Back Patio Dining Even into the winter, this post was being read and pinned over and over.  So, I think we can all agree that there’s something special about being outdoors in a beautiful setting and enjoying delicious food while the sun sets.  That was our summer here in the Pacific Northwest (notice all the new and small flowers I had just planted) and it was divine!

After living in Texas most of the last 15 years (I’m a Cali girl who married a Texan and we’ve mostly lived there) and a couple years in Vegas, it has been soooo refreshing to live in such a gorgeous green area where you can grow almost anything and it actually cools down in the evening and eating outdoors is pleasant and delightful.  I love it here and I can’t wait to keep landscaping our back and side yards and eat outside again!  We also added a striped french-style retractable awning that extends over the patio and I’ll share it with you this spring.

Stay tuned for lots of fun outdoor additions, including a step-by-step tutorial on this DIY putting green that I secretly made in a day for my husband for Fathers’ Day last summer!  Beckham’s trying it out here.  My husband LOVED it!!!!  I thought he was going to cry!  He was soooo surprised and I think it’s his favorite gift ever.  I almost paid a few thousand dollars for someone to build me one BUT I decided to do it myself for under $500.  Look for this in March or April 2019.

That’s all folks!  I hope you’ll take the time to visit my top 10 posts of 2018!

 

Now please take a minute to check out my DIY and Home blogger friends top posts in 2018! This is the very best the web has to offer!

TIDBITS | Miss Mustard Seed | Farmhouse on Boone | Maison De Pax | A Burst of Beautiful

Simply Designing | Bless’er House | Taryn Whiteaker Designs | Designthusiasm | Unskinny Boppy

Live Laugh Rowe | Kendra John Designs | House by Hoff | So Much Better With Age | Life On Virginia Street

ZDesign At Home | Town and Country Living | Shabbyfufu | Happy Happy Nester | Stacy Risenmay

Cherished bliss | Clean and Scentsible | anderson + grant | The Happy Housie | Summer Adams

Decor Gold Designs | Maison de Cinq | Seeking Lavender Lane

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I would love it if you could subscribe at the top of the page in order to receive my weekly emails of all my latest blog posts and see everything I’m working on!  You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to see what I’m up to in creating a home and lifestyle of inspiration!

xoxo,

 

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It’s our first spring and summer in our new home and I’ve partnered with my friends at Birch Lane to create a beautiful dining experience for our outdoor meals as a family! We have barely started on our landscaping but we’ve planted a bunch of flowers and plants while we commence the landscaping design. However, here in the Pacific Northwest we have the most beautiful spring and summers and we are so looking forward to eating dinners out on our back porch instead of indoors. Our outdoor dining was the first to-do on our backyard list. I’m so excited to share it with you today! Also joining to share their outdoor spaces are some fabulous bloggers. Welcome to all who are here today and come with me as I invite you to my French-inspired back patio dining!

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience.
Click here to read my full disclosure policy. All opinions are my own.

As we were moving here to the West Coast from Texas last summer and designing this semi-custom home with our builder, I knew I wanted the overall feel and style of this house to be “French Coastal Glam“. I wanted all 3 styles blended into my own style and the back patio was no exception. My friends at Birch Lane asked to help me create this back patio dining space and I loved looking through all of their gorgeous outdoor furniture to see if they had the pieces that I had envisioned for this patio. Oh, yes they did!

I love that french bistro chairs are so on trend right now and was even more excited when I found these Lucia Bistro Stacking Chairs in gray and white, to coordinate with my home. I also chose the Mahler dining table because I wanted that coastal look, something expandable with a hole in the center for an umbrella, and something white so that it stood out against our gray siding on the home.

Putting the chairs and table together was perfect and exactly what I had in mind! I’m so glad Birch Lane had these items!

Also…

I chose this gorgeous 3-tiered Lauren Bar Cart to add some glam outside and then bring it back inside at the end of summer. That cute Twist Rope Tray is part of a set that I also chose and I absolutely love them, indoors and outdoors, to serve food or even just hold candles or vases.

Here is the other larger tray from that set. It was perfect for serving an array of whole fruit for this luncheon. But before we move on to what I served, please take notice of that lovely planter in the background!

The Lexington Tall Planter had that coastal style that I wanted and matches the {shorter version} planters by my front door that I purchased months ago and compliment our Cape Cod house exterior design perfectly. I’ll share those another day.

I planted some white Icecap Roses and some blue Amsonia around the bottom. It’s only been a week and they are all blossoming and growing so quickly. I love the way this planter looks on the outer corner of our patio. I think it really completes the look and helps to keep the patio looking summery all year round. I also try to keep the patio as clean as I possibly can, and companies like Renew Crew of Northwest Wisconsin and many more are useful when it comes to having a perfectly clean patio.

Ok, let’s get to the place settings and food!

I love the new AERIN Collection at Williams-Sonoma! I bought them when they came out and couldn’t wait to put them on this outdoor dining table!

I chose the Scalloped Rim Dinner Plates in blue, the Sea Blue Floral Salad Plates, and the Fairfield Napkins. I purchased the jute braided chargers HERE, the gold flatware HERE (similar here), and found these stunning gold-rimmed blue goblets HERE.

I wanted our first official meal as a family out here to be French-inspired too. I’ve lived in Europe (Portugal) so I know that, although I haven’t been to France yet, they all have a similar way of life when it comes to food. You often see cheese and wine, fresh bread being sold on many corners, pastries and biscuits, meats and salads and lot of fruits. Oh, and sparkling water.

I purchased the cake stand last year at HomeGoods and also the blue floral melamine salad bowl there too. Salad tongs can be found HERE and you can find the bread board HERE.

Don’t you just LOVE peony season?! I found these pink peonies at Trader Joe’s and they all bloomed in like 2 days. So fun! I put them in one of my favorite vases and brought them out for our lunch.

Our family loves this French Lemonade and it’s perfect for this occasion. Ice bucket can be found HERE.

Ice Tongs can be found HERE and agate bottle opener can be found HERE.

THE BACKYARD PLAN:

So we’ve planted hydrangeas and peonies, roses, pansies, snapdragons, clamentis, snowballs, azaleas, lilies, daffodils and more. Trees are next and adding more grass. We have deep side yards. I promised the kids a fairy garden, a new trampoline and play area for them and all the cousins, a fire pit, sitting benches, and a covered seating/lounge area. We’ll also add a storage shed that we’ll be ordering soon (matches our home) and a garden and a bunch of fruit trees on that side as well.

Oh! And notice how the patio is only partially covered! There is reason for that. I want a gray and white striped retractable awning to extend over the patio. I’ve always wanted one. So that’s coming soon.

Fun, right?! I can see it all in my mind but the joy comes from working together as a family and creating this little backyard dream step by step. And it will take time for all of my plants to grow and crawl over the fence. My own little Secret Garden!

I found the cutest apron to wear (I love aprons and have a fun collection) that coordinated with my tablescape and wore it while setting the table and serving my family. Lemon-herb chicken was in the oven and served over rice.

Apron / Shoes / Jeans / Top / Earrings / Ring / Lipstick

Kitchen sources can be found in THIS POST.

I’ve had this garden chandelier for a few years and I thought it would be perfect here. I just need to find some battery-operated tapered candles for it and I think I’ll add more chain and lower it.

I love being able to see our neighbors’ barn from my backyard. When I’m upstairs, I get to watch their horses during the day. It’s the prettiest view!

CONFESSION:

This “family luncheon” I’d been planning for actually turned into a family dinner. Josh and the kids and I were working in the yard, had a soccer game, did some other chores, and then decided to wait and stick the chicken in the oven closer to dinner.

It was perfect because we got to shower and relax and enjoy the sunset!

We have the prettiest view of the Wetlands behind us, which is why we chose this lot, and the sun sets right behind those trees.

So we lit a couple of citronella candles (found at HomeGoods), turned on some music, and enjoyed the perfect temperatures, food, and sunset.

Make Sure to Visit These Other Great Blog Posts!

Martha | Simple Cozy Charm

Kim and Lacey | Styled with Lace

Amie | Meme Hill

Ashley | Modern Glam

Summer | Summer Adams

Judy | Life is Better at Home

Yuni | Love Your Abode

Joan | 2 Ladies and a Chair

Amy | Crazy Chic Design

Bethany | The Posh Home

Janine | Happy Happy Nester

Jackie | Finding Lovely

Rhonda | Hallstrom Home

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Thank you so much for stopping by today and a huge THANK YOU to my friends at Birch Lane for sponsoring this post and helping us create a beautiful French-inspired back patio dining space! Please make sure to stop by their website and browse their outdoor furniture selection to help you create that perfect dining space of your own to enjoy this season!

I would love it if you subscribed at the top of the page in order to receive my weekly emails of all my latest blog posts and hear about digital printables & freebies, as well as sales or new items in My Online Shoppe. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to see what I’m up to in creating a home and lifestyle of inspiration!

xoxo,

The post French Inspired Back Patio Dining appeared first on Summer Adams.