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Category Archives: pretty

happy pics

these are instagram accounts i follow that make me smile and inspire me.
click on the photo and it will take you to their IG account.   🙂













 

I am positive you are feeling more happy than you were one minute ago after seeing all these beautiful pics!
and i hope you enjoy following their instagram feeds.

 

Laurie - You make me smile!! Thanks for the inspiration! I love new feeds to inspire me to create

Alisa Workman - We follow some of the same accounts. It’s always great to have color in your life.

Heather - Love these! I love colorful pictures in my instagram feed, thanks for sharing! Do you follow @studiodiy? I feel like you would love it / it fits in with all these other ones!

Lorri - Such sunny goodness – thank you for sharing! They will be a definite lift, just like your IG feed is. 🙂

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summer in the backyard

summer is flying by way too fast.
i have been spending lots of time tending to my flowers because i looooove my flowers!
and kittys.
and dogs.
and chickens.

i am not ready for school to start (and early mornings and games and more games)
nope.
i just want to chill here at home and do summer for like…6 more months.
is that so much to ask?!

Tam - Gorgeous pics!

teyonce - sometimes I am taken back by just how good an eye you have, you set up the perfect shots and get the best results! I always love your posts (all of them of course) but when you post just streams of pictures I find myself going back, happy to look at them all again. i forget how talented my friend is!

Nina Newswanger - Your photos are beautiful!!

KATHY - Beautiful pictures….can’t blame you for wanting to chill 🙂

Kathi - Beautiful pictures! I love your kittens 🙂

Kerri - Wow – your flowers look gorgeous! The heat has been so hard on mine; has really taken a toll on everything (I am in Ellsworth County, Kansas). Sweet kitties, too.

Jill - Love, love, love your patio and yard pictures! Say, will you do a post about your chickens sometime with the details of your coop, your feeders, etc? I’ve always wondered how you have it set up inside the coop.

Tina - Your flowers are so pretty!! And I’m totally with you, I do NOT want summer to end. My 5 kids went back today. Sad face. But on a positive note, at least I won’t get a million calls at work today wanting me to referee a fight from home. LOL.

Angela - Co-sign on not ready for school to start! Your flowers are gorgeous!

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my summer happy spot

we spend most summer & fall evenings outside on the back porch.
and right now all the plants are bursting out of their pots and it’s so colorful!

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i loved getting back into gardening again after taking a break for a few years.
i missed it!
i like to plant in all kinds of old containers.

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my love for rust and chippy paint goes to extremes when it comes to outdoor spaces.
my friend who lives several hours away found the green cubby and sent me a text saying “i think you need this”
i agreed and sent her money through paypal.   🙂
and a month later her husband dropped it off while he was in town.
it was three times bigger than i thought it would be.
which made me love it three times more!
i think maybe i will figure out how to plant succulents in it???
wouldn’t that be something?!
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the butterfly sign is from Jaxn Blvd.
the little fan, the egg sign and the black rooster sign are from tjmaxx.

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a view of our fire pit area… which is about to get maxed out!
it’s almost chilly enough now in the evenings for camp fires!
we are all looking forward to that.

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this black & white sign is also from Jaxn Blvd!
it’s the perfect quote for this space… exactly how i feel.
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Delta Girl Frames sent me this fun rainbow frame!
i can always hang a photo or print in it later but loved it just as a statement on its own.

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craig hung outdoor speakers this year and his big tv.
i wasn’t thrilled about the tv but apparently every inch of the house doesn’t belong to me?
HA HA HA.
and now that it’s there… i don’t mind it at all.
it’s mostly for sports on mute so he can enjoy the outside too and not be stuck inside when the game is on.
and the speakers are awesome!
we have music on pretty much all the time and they are perfect for outdoor movie nights!

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the outdoor rugs were from world market, along with the orange stripe table cloth and several pillows.

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annie and some friends spent their last summer night out in the tent.
they really roughed it by dragging out twin mattresses, extention cords to charge their phones and a dvd player.

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this is our resident toad who has shown up every evening for two summers now.
we have named him Beuford.
he clearly has found PLENTY of bugs at our house.
he is quite a big toad.
people on IG mentioned that he may be poisonous…. i am 99.9% sure he is just a regular old kansas country toad.
i like him and i appreciate all the bugs he keeps away.
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our kitty Jay Z likes to hide behind the plants to be safe from curious dogs.

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the very back of the yard is the chicken coop.
filled with all my favorites clucky ladies.
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it’s going to be really weird when they cut that corn down.

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so that is my happy space.
where i have coffee every morning and most dinners and hanging out each night.
happy happy happy!

🙂

meg duerksen - The garland is made from gingham fabric napkins I found last year at Target. I chopped them up and made bunting.

Amy - This is amazing! What a blessing for your family. Love the color everywhere! How did you make the checkered garland?

Eight Things | a glass of milk - […] journal; Meg’s porch; tv bullet […]

The Countess of Nassau County - Best. Backyard. Ever. I love this.

Lindsey - Bravo! Every single detail is lovely!

Mickie Lara - That looks like SUCH a happy place to me. I could sit out there for hours. Our plants have just not done well at all this summer so our pots look SO sad and yours look amazing! We are just going to consider it a write off for this summer and concentrate on Fall.

CiCi - Where did you find the rainbow striped pillow? Love it!

Cassandra - Love it!! All that color, all the chippyness, just perfect!

Sharilee Ensz - your yard is soooooo beautiful. we have sandy soil and we cant grow much. our back yard is clumpy grass, sand, and cat poop. you must be the coolest person in the world to have as a mom!! (i love my mom too) 🙂 🙂 i love you!!!:) 🙂 😛

Lisa - Those beautiful pentas and lantana are my favorites! AND the happy doggy faces – so funny!

Kelly Krause - I love this whole space! It must be pretty protected, cuz I thought the winds would howl over your Kansas plains. I know I could never pull that off up here in MN!

Kelly Krause - I love this whole space! It must be pretty protected, cuz I thought the winds would howl over your Kansas planes. I know I could never pull that off up here in MN!

amy - Megan– where’d you find the grey slip-on Chucks? I have them in a lighter grey that were exclusive to Nordstroms–I need a new pair and they’re out in my size. Love yours!

Talia - What a gorgeous spot! You have quite the green thumb. I love flowers and would spend every free moment on your lovely porch!

Michelle from Australia - Annie and I have the same thoughts on camping! Way to go girl.

And I wonder just how much excess luggage I will be bringing back home with me after my visit to Kansas in November? I suspect it might be some…..

Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures.

Beth - This space is FLIPPIN’ adorable. Well done! I’m inspired now. I dabbled in potted plants and mixing up containers this summer, but I’m committed to amping up my plant game next spring! Love this! Now to find a cat in Alabama named Jay Z…

meg duerksen - Tiffany – yes most guys would. Craig doesn’t seem to care so I’m happy about that. Life’s too short to worry about nail holes in the walls. ☺️

meg duerksen - It’s some kind of wood product siding – not aluminum. I just screw right into it. Most husbands would flip out but Craig’s cool about most things like that. ☺️

meg duerksen - Rhonda – it’s some kind of painted carving. I can’t recall where from. It was at the barn we go to for camp and a camper bought it for me as a gift.

meg duerksen - Dawn – yes! I get a hammer and a big screwdriver and I bang on the screwdriver with the hammer until it goes through. Repeat four times. That’s how I make the holes in my containers. It’s not fancy. And it’s loud. But it works!

meg duerksen - Holly – I water everyday and fertilized three times this summer. 🙂

meg duerksen - Heather – gardening for fall? I don’t do that because everything will freeze soon after. I’m not a planner either. I just go to the nursery in May and buy what looks good. I go to four or five different nurseries though… Not just one. And I get what looks best at each of them. It’s always different.

heather - i would love love love it if you could share your gardening plans for fall ahead of time so my plants could even be 1/10th as fabulous as yours! what a beautiful space you’ve created.

Heidi - I really love this space. I wish it were this awesome at my house too. I guess I have work to do. Maybe when my kids (9, 6, and an 8 month old) get older I will put more time and effort into pretty things! Thanks so much for sharing. 💗

Tammy - Wow, it’s absolutely perfect! Thanks Meg for sharing it with us!

Holly - Love all the color and your plants look phenomenal! Do you water a bunch or use a lot of fertilizer? If so how often? My Texas container garden is getting through by the skin of it nose.

Dawn - One question–do you drill drainage holes in your metal containers? Just curious how they drain. I love the look!

Rhonda Elder - Such a cozy, beautiful space. I’m curious about the colorful painting to the left of the window. What is it?

Kristen - How do you hang things on the house’s siding? Does your husband flip out at you decorating the exterior walls at all? Love the look!

Tracy - Well…simple enough! 🙂 Thanks, Meg!

Marsha Kern - It is beautiful! I love the containers!

Tiffany - Truly, what a H A P P Y porch area!! Love every inch of it! How do you hang the pictures on your house/siding? I think my husband will croak if I hammer nails in our siding… 🙁

meg duerksen - Katie – only the side with the white cabinet gets wet when it rains really hard and it just drys out pretty quickly when it’s over.
and i may take stuff down in the winter but i may not. It depends on how severe our winter gets. 🙂

meg duerksen - tracy we just use bug spray.

Tracy - Meg – I love it!! I love your porch and I love how you do movie nights and ice cream sundae parties out there! But one thing I always wonder when looking at your awesome pictures is how do you deal with mosquitos? I LOVE to be outside in the evenings as well. Summer nights are the BEST! 🙂 But the mosquitos chase us away within minutes! Do you have a secret you could share? 🙂 Thanks!!!

Tiffany Day - love it so much! Thank you for posting more pictures – its inspiration for me – I really want to get my back porch/deck decorated!! and being that is uncovered thrifted chippy stuff is PERFECT!!!! love it all!! thanks again for sharing!

Katie - Loveeeee it! What all do you take down/bring in in the winter? And what about in the rain? Just super curious 🙂

Jennifer Greeley - Your plants look amazing. The Texas heat just about killed everything but the sweet potato vines in my backyard. I hope you get to enjoy your space for many more months!

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photos of the week

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the peonies have been blooming.
which always means rain is coming.
and it has.
so i made sure to cute what i could before they are mushy.
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checking out the local green house!FullSizeRender (14)
curious chickens.

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weekend basketball.
all year round.

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donuts!!!
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she’s a grumpy old bird.
her feathers match her personality.

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and speaking of eggs….
i bought this little Egg Cooker recently and WE LOVE IT!
we can have hard boiled eggs within minutes!
we have eggs for days with all these happy chickens and my kids love hard boiled eggs.
just fill the bottom of the cooker with a few tablespoons of water and turn it on.
and in a few minutes… hard boiled eggs!
easy, healthy breakfast or snack!
no pot watching.  no oven preheating.  no thinking.   it’s mindless.
and i like things like that!!
and it’s tiny and takes up very little space in your cabinet!

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multi-tasking.

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track meets.
talby is a triple jumper, long jumper, high jumper, hurdler and runner.

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talby worked hard on her hurdles this season and won FIRST PLACE at League!!

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scott is a high jumper.
sean throws shot put, discus and jav but the one meet i was able to attend of his… got rained out just as he began.

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Treat Yo’ Self!

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piano practice after school.

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mornings are hard.
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lots to plant!
i got all of my pots planted on saturday.
now i have a bunch of perenials to get in the ground!
i love gardening season!
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we expanded the chicken coop fenced area.
i’m pretty sure they LOVE it!
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loving this book “Looking for Lovely” by Annie Downs.
it’s really good!
i think we’d be friends.  🙂

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these four girls broke the school record in their relay!

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all my girls were home for craig’s birthday.
i like that.
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all the 8th grade girls after they won the League Track Meet.
and so smiley because track is now over!

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my lady friends!!

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my favorite chore.

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waffle is a total weirdo.
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it’s been a pretty good week.

smilehearts

favorites from the internet | - […] Meg posted about this egg cooker. […]

Renee - Can I ask a rude question? How much do you spend on flowers each spring? I would love to recreate the impact you give, but have no idea what to expect financially. Do you shop around? Buy the cheapest? Or just splurge?

Kari - Your peonies are gorgeous! We have some in our yard, but they’re always covered in ants. Despite their beauty, I have to restrain from bringing them in because I’m afraid of bringing in a bunch of ants. How do you keep the ants off of them/get them off of them before you bring them in?

Tobi Layton - What a fun post! And, on a personal note, it brought back memories! I used to triple jump, long jump, and hurdle for the Swathers! It was fun seeing pictures of my alma mater!

Lynne - OMG I can’t believe that you have a pet named Waffles. We have a cat named Waffles because he waffles from good to evil at the drop of a hat. What kind of dog is Waffle? OH by the way your peonies are beautiful.

Rebekah Wales - I’m so glad I’m not the only one whose children like to recline on the kitchen counter. 😀

Andrea - I love it when you post random pictures!

Kimberlee Jost - The peonies with your Grandma’s cow…I have looked at that picture at least 10 times. Something is drawing me in. I want to live in that picture. Shop print?

Mary - Can you please tell me where you got your adorable frayed jeans. Love them!!!

Crystal D - We bought the egg cooker in November and it is amazing!! One of my favorite appliances. We’ve used it over 25 times and only once had an undercooked batch (I don’t think I used enough water). I cannot give it enough “5 stars”

Kathi - I also love your pictures! Could you blog about your chicken coop and how you tend to your chickens? We are considering chickens, neither of us has any chicken experience. Any tips?

Sarah - I love your photos. You inspire me to get behind the camera more often. Also, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know your friend Jana. She’s co-teaching one of my classes and she is so very lovely and insightful. 🙂

jamie - HAHA the waffle photo made me laugh out loud almost snort! can you imagine having that in your shop as a canvas??!? and HELLO with the egg cooker it’s now in my amazon cart where has that little thing been all my life. the COLORS of all your flowers are just so stunningly beautiful and happy. your photos inspire.

meg duerksen - Julie- the alarm is slightly obnoxious but it’s no big deal. We have always had perfectly cooked eggs! It’s totally a great appliance!

Julie Cross - So excited about the egg cooker but when I looked at the reviews on Amazon, people hated it. Do you think the alarm is annoying? Or that they undercook? Just thinking that they might have improved it since those yucky reviews. Thanks!

Lori - Love your photos! They are so bright and happy! Looks like a pretty good week to me 🙂

stephanie - I love all your pictures! The daisies and peonies especially. I just moved to Utah after living in the southern half of the US (desert and Gulf Coast) for my entire adult life. Can I just tell you how thrilled I am that I now get to grow peonies?! They are my favorite and won’t grow in the south. So now I’m in the club! lol

cathie w. - These ‘random’ tidbits of your life are some of my favorite posts!! Love all the color and thoughtful musings. Have a fabulous week!

Chris - I love when I come to your site and there’s a new post full of pictures. They inspire my morning. Love the bright pink peonies. We only have white, which are beautiful, but those pink…

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a fall walk

kansas has such a beautiful fall season with the best temperatures.
but we know how soon it will change from the colorful leaves to everything dead and brown.
so we got outside this past weekend and we brought the dogs.
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you’d have thought those dogs had NEVER been outside before?!
they were so happy!

of all the leaves, my favorite trees are always the red ones.
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Andrea - GORGEOUS!!!!

Amy - Gorgeous colors!! Thanks for sharing!

Mindy - Stunning photos of the fall leaves and such cute kids and dogs : )

Kendra - Such gorgeous photos!!

library momma - What camera did you shoot with? Nice!

Lynne - Hi,

Your dogs got a very special treat this weekend. Is one of your dogs a labordoodle? We have a labordoodle and Sadie would be so happy to have gotten that great walk you had. I was also happy to see you with your children as well!!!!

sharon / theprincipledtype.blogspot.com - ohhhh mother nature! you win, again!!

Julie - Such stunnig leaf colours, especially against that blue sky!!

Jennifer - I love your photos and was wondering what camera you use?

Becky Fouts - your photos are stunning!! I can’t quit looking at them, thank you!

Carrie - So pretty! I always love all your posts, but I especially love photo-heavy ones!

Stephanie - What a beautiful post! I miss fall….

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loving the deck…

since the beginning of july i have spent every evening (and morning) out on the deck.
all the heart eyes!
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so this was our deck….BEFORE.
last summer and this summer until the beginning of july.
it was so depressing.
literally.
i would go out there and feel cruddy.
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i started with flowers.
i went to find some… and in july in kansas it’s not an easy task.
Just like with most places you are supposed to start in late spring.
but i was not motivated then… i was motivated now!
so i started at home depot.
they had Pentas and basically everything else was dead – SO DEAD.
so i bought the pentas.
then i went to Menards… they had cladiums.
then to Lowes… they had black eyed susans and petunias.
then walmart… they had vinca plants and zinnias.
then to my local nursery and got all the vines and draping plants and filled in with more vinca.
i went to world market and found cushions 50% off because it’s JULY!
and target for the fun picnic blanket that i turned into a tablecloth.
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i found this old cornice at an antique store in our town and thought “YES! This will help with character!”
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craig hung it up for me the same day!
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i blogged about our white table HERE.

the lights were also from target in the home & garden department.
to hang the lights…i could not find gutter clips in july either.
they claim they are seasonal (christmas) but i claim that is dumb… because it is.
after much discussion with a dude at Ace Hardware we decided that maybe some heavy wire would work?
and it did!
i bent wire into S shapes and bent it over my gutters and then strung the lights through.
i would have hung more but i didn’t think we had a ladder tall enough and craig wasn’t home to show me where the tall ladder was…
🙂
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with all those cute details you barely notice the gigantor speakers right? (ha ha ha)
those speakers are not attractive but they ARE effective.
they are awesome for our movie nights.
maybe i will paint them?!  i mean why not?! recover the black speaker with cute fabric?
anything would look better than giant black speakers.
but like i said… they work great! so they stay.
that old metal office cabinet i also found at an antique shop.
i want to paint it bright yellow but i haven’t had time yet.
and it weighs a TON so i have to be very ready because the men in family won’t want to move it twice.

i really like having mirrors in outside spaces!
they reflect more light and the views are always pretty.

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i had LOTS of containers from when we redid the patio at the farm house.
(it was soooo cute and i miss that yard a bunch!)
almost all of my containers are old and junky that were other things originally… lard cans, galvanized buckets, trash cans, a bread box and a wash tub.
i bought a few BIG bags of dirt and got busy planting every container i had.
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this white cabinet has been everywhere in all the houses.
it originally was an old built-in in our Illinois house basement.
it came with the green glass knobs!
for awhile it was annie’s dresser, then held our games.
it was in my craft room… the living room… my bedroom…
and now it’s on the deck!

and i am guessing some one is going to ask how i hung things up on the siding?
well… i tried to find siding clips and couldn’t.
so i decided to just hang it like i would inside… and i put a nail in the wall.
that is making most of you cringe and pass out but it’s not aluminum siding… it’s wood.
and life is about more than having perfect siding.
so i did it.
the end.
ALSO… the small signs are hung with 3M command strips.
which could be one of the worlds best inventions ever.

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having chalkboards outside make for silly stuff that the kids feel like writing… right now it says “Justin Bieber 4 Life” and no one even likes Biebs anymore here so it’s just funny what will be written here.
the rainbow pillow cases were from IKEA.
the polka dot cushions are from Target… i just ordered even more.
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animals
everybody loves the deck… even the grasshoppers.
🙂
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every morning i wake up and have my coffee out here.
it went from the worst space in the house to AWESOME.

and i trash picked that white iron lounge chair over 10 years ago.
🙂

SUPERskinnysideways

Becky Kindel - I love how you’re able to make spaces so colorful, inspiring, and inviting. And that lounge chair is the best thing ever!

Lori - Meg- I would live on your patio if I could. The transformation is amazing! I just love it!

Your blog was one of the first I started reading years ago, and it is still one of my favorites 🙂

Melissa - Love love love – it’s amazing how much color and flowers can trasnform a place

Chris - This space is so happy! How you manage to keep all those flowers looking beautiful is like a miracle to me;)

chrissi - best deck ever.

Heather - Wow! I have serious porch envy right now.

Beth - O.M.Gee I have a major girl crush on your deck right now! We have a patio space that I have been milling over ideas to make it more enjoyable and homey. This post inspires me. I’m making it happen in the coming weeks. #goals

Karina - I love your deck. I would spend all my time out there too! (Where did the cornice go in the after pic? Please tell me it didn’t fall!)

Linda - You have an amazing ability for putting together space. I love it! I wish I knew ho to pull things together like that!

Mickie - Love, Love, LOVE it! I love to spend time on our patio too but I have to admit that yours just looks SO happy! And, I can always use happy. It just makes me want to hang out there with my coffee in the morning and wine at night. The perfect beginning and ending to a day!

jen - It looks great! Now will you please come to CO and do mine? 🙂

Rachel - Absolutley goregous! I LOVE it! Toally love your sense of hunour too x

Lisa - Of all the pictures you’ve posted on Instagram and on here I never noticed the speakers until you pointed them out. Haha! I guess I’m not very observant. Or they really aren’t that noticeable. I’m sure you’ll come up with a cool way to cover them but even if you don’t they really don’t stick out.

Lisa - Love what you have done out there, it’s beautiful!

Kristin S - Fly to NC and redo my BORING deck. In five years I’ve sat out there maybe… twice?

Renee - Do you have any advice on planting so many different flowers, especially when they’re sharing a pot? And keeping them all so alive and vibrant?

amyjupin - looks amazinnnnnggggggggg!
let’s layout and work on our tans and drink taladas!

Erin - looks great!! I love every thing! Almost bought that picnic blanket at target today. It was marked down. Now I want to go back for it. Lol!

Jenny B. - Meg, you amaze me! It looks wonderful! I actually did not notice the giant speakers until you pointed them out. Then I laughed because, hello… they are huge! 🙂 I was more interested in the fact that your electrical outlet is up high, as if it was put there just for stringing lights! This post makes me want to go out and decorate our back porch! It also makes me think about using some stuff outside that’s not necessarily made for outside (like mirrors, chalkboards, and school chairs!). Love all that stuff… Also, I remember when you got the Trex patio furniture, and I searched for it on Walmart’s website, and it directed me to a giant T-Rex lawn ornament. HAHA! 🙂

El - Where are your cropped white pants/jeans from that you are wearing with the green shirt in the 4th picture? Love the beautiful flowers!

deb meyers - …and those of us who bought oodles of potted color in spring may or may not have just heaved the sad and crispy remains into the compost…

ann a - We ate at a Mexican restaurant recently that had speakers up in the corner next to the ceiling. They were painted with big bright flowers (right on the black stuff). Your deck is unbelievable! (Except I believe it bc everything you do is awesome.)

Jeanie - I think your yard is wonderful. We enjoy our deck so much too. I just ordered a cow print and am anxiously waiting on delivery. I have to admit that I saw your family last night a at Stearman. I was so freaked out. It was like a celebrity sighting. Ha! My husband said. “You could tell her how much you love her blog”. But I was too star struck. Anyway, cute green dress and your family is darling! What nice teenagers you have. You are exactly the way you represent yourself on your blog and that is neat.

natalie - i am OBSESSED. girrrrl, this is SO GOOD. p.s. i buy plastic light clips at the thrift store because you’re right – they’re seasonal & that’s just plain dumb.

Kristen - I think it looks amazing! I love all of the little touches you added, but pretty much everything you create is amazing. 🙂

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old lamps are rad.

if i was a good DIY blogger i would have thought to take a photo of the lamp BEFORE this project.
but i was too eager to start and my phone had just died.
i found this lamp for $3 at a thrift shop probably two years ago.
the big round part is ceramic.  (awesome right??)
it was already white.
the base and the tall skinny part were a black-ish brass color.
i tried to live with it but i just couldn’t… so i took the lamp to my garage… i took Press-N-Seal and wrapped the ceramic part with sheets of PNS until it was completely covered.  i put PNS over the cord and the electrical parts too.

then i spray painted the brass with white spray paint that was already out from another project.
it was satin finish.
So then the lamp looked like this….
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this is the only picture of have of the old original nylon-polyester shade that it came with… grainy and dark but you can see that it was like any old lamp you would see at a thrift shop or garage sale.
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when i buy an old lamp i am looking for one with a shade that has a wire frame underneath.
if you bought a lampshade now at a store the shades are made from a plastic form… which is fine and i have lots of those.
but if you want to recover it.. that is hard!
so with old lampshades.. the heavy duty wire base make recovering much easier.
honestly i wouldn’t even bother trying with a newer lamp shade.

i went through my fabric stash and chose ANY that i thought might possibly work in my living room.
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small b&w dots – michael miller/spearmint green with birds – joel dewberry
green birds – heather bailey/red flower – suzy pilgrim waters/gray pin dot – wavily
butterflies – anna maria horner/BIG dots – moda/
multi color dot – laura berringer/cream & black dot- riley blake/gray dot – jackie studios
mint green dots – michael miller (lilypad)/green dot – michael miller (mint)/large green circles – joanns
charcoal & white birds – robert kaufman/small black dot – hobby lobby/green &turquoise floral – anna maria horner

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i love ALL of these fabrics!
(i order almost all of my fabric from HawthorneThreads.com)
i draped them over the shade to compare.
i took a picture for myself to look at all of them to help me decide.

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my top five were: b&w birds – large green circles – big black dots – butterflies – red floral

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i chose the red floral “panel”
it is printed like this.. in a panel not a continuous pattern.
and i got a close up of the designer so you could see it.
it really is a beautiful print!  it makes me want to paint when i look at it.

and then… i sat in bed and watched a show with my glue gun and made this lamp shade.
i showed a basic tutorial on how to recover lampshades HERE about three years ago.
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and while i’m at it i will show you the whole room in it’s current state.IMG_0903
oh hey look! we hung pictures on our wall!
one year later but we did it!

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i got the africa map from @sparrowmercantile on instagram.
the other map was from Bearly Makin It.
i made the curtains from the ikea fabric again to match the dining room ones.

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the be Brave sign is from Salty Bison.
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i found our piano on craigslist in december.
the couches and chairs are the ektorp from ikea.
they are holding up well… white isn’t perfect but i love it so much.
there is lots of pattern going on in here… i know.
but i like pattern.
and color.  🙂

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the chalkboard is just MDF painted with chalkboard paint that i used to cover up some ugliness at the farm house.
talby wrote song lyrics on it.  🙂

our buffets are matching and they were also from craigslist.
craig painted them.  (you can see them from last summer HERE)
the pictures and canvases are up but they will be changing/moving/rearranging  all the time.
(i order my canvases from all the canvas places… mpix – canvas on demand – canvas people – all of them)
and i think i will fill in that whole wall on the left.
i have a thing for photos.
i will keep adding “stuff” on this left side but for now it looks like this.
complete with Wii cords hanging down… so fancy.
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the ‘glass is half full’ print is from Studio Mela.

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i moved it over to the door way for better light and i loved it over here too!IMG_0948
those red flowers make me so happy!
and how cute is that print from KatyGirl?!
the flower vase is from world market… table from Bearly Makin It… mirror was thrifted & spray painted.

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i can’t wait to find the next great lamp!
it’s so much more fun to recover and revive an old ugly lamp than to buy one done.

Lisa - Love this room! Can I ask where you got your “Smile” letters? LUV!!

Shelie - Absolutely LOVE your style. Our previous home was lots and lots of whites and neutrals and I was never really happy with it. Our new home has white, but lots of color too! Love your lamp too! I would have a blast thrifting with you!!

mary beth @ www.mbzinteriors.com - Hi, just found your blog. Your home reminds me of mine, lots of white but pops of happy colors. I adore your colorful staircase. We have a 1 year old Golden too who is on a professionally installed invisible fence. We had to raise the shock to the highest, he is friendly too. Now when he runs out without the color, he stops on a dime at the edge of the yard not realizing he does not have the shocker on.

Janet C - That first picture of the dogs cracks me up! They look so serious 🙂

lisa - Your home is so bright and cheerful… and looks so comfortable and welcoming. I say that means you’ve done a great job decorating!

Kelly O. - this post inspired me to look at my home in a different light…. we moved from our fabulous forever home due to a job transfer and I’ve never felt that this house “fits”–but after reading this post I will have a new living room full of colour pizazz and my style by the end of the month! thanks for sharing your inspirations and your quickie fixer uppers to thrift store finds!

sharon / theprincipledtype.blogspot.com - no kiddin’ just bought myself the coolest mcm (goes with your mad man crush! lol). it’s blue, tall, totally boss! funny story: it replaces the broken sunny white and green one (i loved) of which i asked/blamed just about everyone i know for breaking . . found out it was husband! never thought of him!! ha-ha.
you shade here is a beauty 🙂

Erin - I love your blog. Your home is gorgeous. It seems so happy and fun. I have a big family too. So I love to see how you set up your house to meet the needs of your family. Wish you could come to California and help me with my house!

Sarah Wolfe - It all looks fabulous… love ALL of it!

Lisa - I like all your patterns and colors, and I don’t think it’s overpowering at all since you have white backgrounds. It all looks very nice and inviting.

Kirsten J - Ok. Love it! I’d have gone safe with black and white polka dots prolly. And genius on the PNS. Are you kidding me?!?! Why have I never tried that?

Amy K. - I spy a “before” picture of the lamp in the ones with different fabrics draped over the shade! =)

Julie - There is nothing wrong with liking colours and patterns. It is so nice to see a home that looks like someone lives there. One that is not just looking like it is painted and decorated for resale. One that has personality and makes you want to explore. Love it.

Lela - Where did you buy that fabric used on shade? I need it!

KirstenP - You covered the whole lamp with Press-N-Seal – is that the plastic food wrap that comes in a roll? How did you get it all so smooth? The lamp is beautiful!

Jennifer - Your lamp turned out so nice, and I love how warm and comfortable your home looks. Like a place where you would be welcomed in and visit without being worried you were going to mess something up!

Nanette - That was my fabric pick for you too! I love it! Again, you have inspired me. I was thinking about recovering the inside of one of our lampshades…I might try it now!

Heather S. - You’re doing great? One year to get pictures up? No biggie! We’ve been in our home 5 1/2 years now and just finally did our master bedroom the way I wanted it done. It’s a fabulous little retreat for me now. Ektorp chair from Ikea, new duvet and cover also from Ikea, basket with blankets, and the best part…..a coffee station right in the bedroom! On Saturdays and lazy days we can have the coffee right there while we lie in bed and look out of our window watching birds…and this past Saturday – hot air balloons that floated past our hill. It’s dreamy!

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