Sneak Peek of the New Patio

Photo of my former patio, many years ago.

For the next few posts, I thought I'd show some pictures of my new studio apartment. There is still a lot of work to be done but the basics are complete. I moved in one month ago, downsizing from an 850 square foot apartment to a 650 square foot studio apartment. So far, it's been really nice and I am very happy.

Let's take a look at the floor plan. As you can see the patio is very small, only 8 feet x 5 feet compared to the larger patio that I had many years ago in the photo above.
This is a picture of the patio when I moved in.

This is how it looks now. There is still a lot of work to do. One of the things I like is the french door that goes out to the patio. That is a lot prettier than a standard patio door.

One of the things that I would like to do is to add some hanging impatiens at the top of the grate similar to the ones you see in a former patio (see photo below) that I had many years ago.

When you downsize, often you need to use your furniture in new ways. From this photo, you can see I took Dear Son's nightstand and used it out on the patio. The nightstand/table is the perfect size between the two rocking chairs and there is room on the top to hold a drink of iced tea or something. Also, the bottom door opens up for storage. I am storing magazines (Veranda and House Beautiful) in the drawer. I still have Dear Son's drawer liner in there and will replace that with a pretty pink toile paper once I get the table repainted.In the lower part of the nightstand, I put a basket of my patio garden tools along with some organic potting soil. I'd like to replace the plastic bin with something more natural and more green, like a basket, but for now, it's functional. I kept all of my favorite garden tools and kept only the ones I can use on the patio. I also kept my garden clogs since I still trim my former MIL bushes on occasion. I still need to paint the nightstand white along with repainting both of the rockers white. I was also thinking of adding some pillows for color to the rockers. I love these pillows and originally wanted to purchase them for my living room however now that I've moved, I think they would be perfect for the patio once everything is painted white.One of the things I also wanted to add was some prettiness to the patio. I started with a white ceramic clock, then added an iron bunny that I purchased some ten years ago when I visited the Filoli Garden in California. They are the largest formal garden in the U.S. One of my dreams is to travel and visit all of the beautiful flower and water gardens in the world. I also have a pretty little pot for some impatients. Finally, I added this picture of Dear Son. I took it when he was only four years old and it's one of my favorite pictures. I wasn't certain where I would put it however it just seemed right when I added the pink impatiens.

The apartment complex I live in is considered a luxury apartment complex for the area; it is situated on a golf course along the river. There are rent premiums for the golf course view however I have the back of the property for which there is no premium, lol. I still enjoy a view of all of the trees:) And I get to hear the birds singing very early in the morning. They usually start around 3 a.m. This is the view from my patio.


Another view from the patio.I'd also like to add some hanging flowers on the patio similar to the ones I hung on my former patio (many years ago).

One of my favorite parts of my new patio are these pictures of Dear Son. He was only four years old at the time and it was around 8 a.m. in the morning. He had on his Disney shirt and his new "wide leg" jeans in a size 4 slim. It still makes me laugh because I had the hardest time purchasing clothes for him when he was a little boy because he was so slim. The pictures are also my favorite because they are pictures of my two favorite things: flowers and little boys. I used to tell Dear Son that all the time when he was little. Flowers and children are still my favorite things.

These pictures were taken in front of our house.

Let's take a closer look at these cute pictures. "Four" was a cute year! I took pictures of the single photos from this picture so there is a bit of glare, lol.

So to summarize, I have a lot of projects to do:

Paint rocking chairs and table.

Add pillows to rockers.

Re-line drawer with pink toile paper.

Replace bin with a natural basket.

Add hanging impatients and baskets.

Replace cream monogrammed linen coasters with white ones.

There will always be a lot of projects to do but until then, I'll leave you with a photo of my finished patio from many years ago.