Meet Fiona, Our Fiddle Leaf Fig

I have this habit of naming things as a term of endearment.

Like cars, children, and my husband's moped from college, for instance.  

The names of my cars have been Lucky, Sugar,  & now Rover.  Each of them had a reason for the name they were given.

As I stated yesterday, I {heart} Fiddle Leaf Figs,

so I thought it only appropriate to name her, as well.

Meet Fiona.

Obviously, I like the alliteration aspect of her name, 

Fiona, my Fiddle Leaf Fig.

and it's also fitting as she is green and female, just like the beloved character in Shrek.  I know, creative, right?

image source

She was immediately welcomed into our home with squeals of excitement from, Moi...and giggles from Little Man, as he watched me bounce around the room in excitement. I kept thinking of reasons that I needed to walk through the family room today,

just so I could smile at her.

Don't judge me. I am just giddy.

She absolutely brought life to a neutral corner, and I hope she adores her new sunny corner spot as much as I adore her.

Notice anything else new, from these photos?

Yes, I did press my draperies. But there is something else...

You guessed it! My new armchairs were re-upholstered and delivered yesterday. More on those deets soon.

Want to know how to care for your Fiddle Leaf Fig? click here

Live in the Houston area? 

Contact me and I can assist you in finding the perfect Fig Tree for your home, too!

linking up with Nester's Planty Party!

pops of green via neighbor

One night a few weeks ago, my sweet neighbor rang my doorbell,

her arms were overflowing with beautiful green trimmings from a bush in her backyard!

She knows I love flowers and natural greenery in my home,

and I was so touched that she thought to bring them to me!

I just plopped them in a vase with some water, and tied on a burlap ribbon.

lovely. easy. free. 

The branches are just what that table needed.

And now, two weeks later, they still look great!

They've faded to a soft green and still add great natural texture!

Thanks, Tiff!

Go ahead, now it's your turn.  

I bet some plants out back could use a little trimming.

Head outside and clip some branches, stick 'em in a vase, and take some to your neighbors!

Will you stick with one variety? or mix a few together? 

...both options will add a great natural touch to any room!

simplifying.

I'm sure many of you have read Nester's simplifying posts these past few days.

I think they were just what I needed.

Sometimes I look at a space and just have a crazy urge to fill it with something, anything.

Then later I look around and I don't like the flow of all the "randoms" mixed together.

I desire for my rooms to be purposeful.

Which is why I cleared the mantle, the sofa table, and other areas of our family room.

My decorating mind needed to take a deep breath before deciding what I want in each space.

Here are a few things that I know now...

I want to add more natural color to our family room. 

The colors need to come from nature, in plants and colors from botanical prints, for starters.

I would love a boxwood wreath for the side of the armoire.

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Botanical prints in simple gold frames, 2 or 3 on each side of the armoire.

Emily A. Clark found a book full of them and they look fabulous in her dining room!

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That's where I am currently. I love nature and all of its beautiful elements.

My new mission is to incorporate more of it into our home!

And I am sure there will be more to come on this later...

Our New Outdoor Space

Yesterday I shared with you my inspiration for creating a dreamy outdoor space,

and our rather blah patio before...

Now for the current pictures of our newly designed patio!

We have spent more time outside in the past week than in the past 2 years...

The addition of our Outdoor Space was like adding a room addition to our home!

Our view peeking out the back door.

Our new outdoor seating area under the canopy...

It's much more enjoyable to spend time outside when I'm sitting in the shade!

Hubby designed this brick patio area along with the fire pit & bench,

complete with limestone accents.

Halfway through taking pics we decided it would look great to hang my ferns

from the canopy. Love them in their new spot.

some of my favorite details...

Outdoor pillow from Home Goods!

We found the ferns at Lowe's for only $7.50

and the planters from the Smith & Hawken line at Target!

This is little man's special chair - he loves relaxing there!

ps: his eye looks like it's bruised but it was just still a tad swollen from the mosquito bite :(

We hung these white lanterns for a party, but decided we wanted to keep the 

party feel going - so they're staying!

All of those details tie the space together!

Added a Sunbrella Umbrella for additional shade in the dining area

& repainted the dining set with Rustoleum spray paint...it looks brand new!

landscaping and designing flowerbeds, adding a pirate play place,

and that cute little boy climbing the ladder makes the backyard a much 

more enjoyable venue!

just for a reminder...this is what it looked like before...

We are in the middle of a record breaking drought around here...usually all of my bushes are in 

full bloom right about now...hopefully we'll get a drenching rain soon & make all of them burst with flowers!

I created a rock garden where part of the original patio used to reside...

and the previous owner had all of those rocks scattered around the tree...

a mowing/ weeding nightmare for Hubby.

I'm sure they're much happier here!

We love the view of the plants from our kitchen table.

see that darling bird feeder?

that was my Mother's Day gift from my sweet mom!

I've had my eye on hers for quite a while, so she tracked one down for me!

The view of the entire patio that Hubby built - The combination of brick and limestone is perfect.

I love being married to a smart & determined do-it-yourself man!

In case you forgot...this was the original patio...

I'd say our Outdoor Space has come a long way in the past 2 years! 

Thanks, Hubby, for all the hard work you put into designing the perfect outdoor space for our family!

I'm sharing our space with:  DecorChick

& Savvy Southern Style

sweet potato vine

i bought one pot of sweet potato vine for each side of our front flower beds

because i adore its delicate, large leaves and bright lime green color.

i had no idea how it would explode!

it's taking over!

i needed to trim some of the vine, 

otherwise people would soon have to crawl through it to get to the front door,

but i didn't want to throw it away...

so i used it to transform the niche of my new corner hutch, that i l.o.v.e.

a nice little :pop: of green really brightens up the space

items:

clearance aisle white hob lob vase : $2.00

williams sonoma cookbooks : wedding shower gifts

sweet potato vine : entire pot cost $1.50, so we'll just say $0.15

i am still planning on painting my hutch, but i won't have time to tackle that for at least a week,

so i figured it should look pretty in the meantime.

i love how that sweet potato vine brightens the space.

all for $2.15.

a four dollar fabulous find

fresh flowers in a home:

show some extra effort in your decorating

make a room feel homier

give a breath of fresh air

pull a room together

send a warm invitation to sit and stay a while

& bring the beauty of outside, in.

what better way to do this than for only 4 bucaroos?!

that's right, swing by your local grocery store, browse the fresh slower area,

and you too will most likely find a 4 dollar flower spot.

that doesn't add too much to the grocery bill,

but it sure adds a lot to your home!

i love their deep salmon color and the beautiful green foliage shape.

i really love that i snagged them for 4 bucs

don't believe me?  see what fresh flowers can do for a room...

young house love

houzz.com

i bet she just picked those tulips from her spring garden 

ballard designs

 the blooming roses take the seriousness out of the home office.

i'd rather work in a room with flowers than without.  wouldn't you? 

see what i mean?  how often do you display fresh flowers in your home?

we could all use a little more of them, i'm sure.

i'm linking up at:

secret garden cottage

hostess gifts

my new backyard tenants presented

me with a lovely hostess gift this past weekend.

hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers.

my new hydrangea bushes are right outside our bedroom windows,

so I get to peek at them every morning when I open

the curtains.

these tenants are welcome to stay as long as they please.