This is the year I am putting down our roots here as a family. One of the ways I wanted to start was by making our patio more usable. Before, the patio was bare, cold, cement gray, damp, and just a place for storage. I had the remnants of a dead tree that I tried to keep last year, a few old boxes, a pinata from Diego's 1st birthday...you get the idea. We wouldn't just sit and enjoy the pleasant weather or listen to the hummingbirds chirping angrily or watch the streaks of sun on the apartments next door. I wanted to have a space we would enjoy, and visiting my family in Florida earlier this year made me yearn for a patio Diego would love, too. He LOVED my Tia's patio. I mean, REALLY. Would have never gone inside if he didn't have to.
(D enjoying the cool bricks and damp greens)
My plan to change this patio into a part of our home was threefold:
1. Go green!
2. Muddy tables
3. Time.
First on my list was to get more plants. Plants that would enjoy the shade, relish in the deep gray hues. At the local garden store we bought a fluffy fern, a tall clivia, a gold dust plant, and some caladium bulbs Diego and I could plant together. I also got a big watering pail and a tiny one just for Diego.
(l-r: clivia, gold dust, fern)
Second! Muddy tables!! I mean a pouring table, or a sand and water table, for Diego. I found a great deal on a barely used table on craigslist and it, too, came to live on our patio.
(splish splash)
Time. It took an actual effort at first to just force myself out onto the patio with Diego, to look at the birds or blow bubbles. Now that we have plants of our own to water and a pouring table to dig and pour into? It's really changed the space.
Now we're on the patio daily. Diego totally loves it. He helps me water the plants every chance he can, and would water them every day if I let him. He is so sweet with the plants, too. Yesterday he even gave the fern a kiss when we were out there saying hello. Oi vey. Now we can sit and enjoy the sunny days, of which there are many, and even the few cloudy days we've been graced with. The space is full of life and love and I feel more at home on there now than ever before. Here's a little tour.
(let's go outside)
(a place to sit and a place to splash)
(our little green friends)
Question of the day:
So how have you made your space more personal this year?
