Bench makeover

For my outdoor living room I really wanted a cute, comfy bench to relax on. After a long search on the internet, finding a white bench within my budget seemed impossible! Instead, I bought a hard wood bench from Garden and Homes Direct and painted it jasmine white.

For the seat pad, I had some thick foam cut to size and made a removable cover for it out of hard-wearing cotton duck. I chose the stone spot from Cath Kidston so it would match the curtains in my garden shed, and added blue piping to match the cushions in my dining set.

I bought some cheap square cushions from Ikea and made removable covers for them in the Cath Kidston pink spot, which I trimmed with small white pom poms, and the Cath Kidston rose stripe, which I trimmed with pink and blue piping. The bolster cushions are from John Lewis, and are covered with a Clarke & Clarke blue spot fabric and trimmed with white pom poms.

For colder nights, I bought a green blanket to snuggle up in, which I got for less than £5 from BHS!

A quiet relaxing seat during the day, and a cosy place for drinking Pimms at night!

Have a sweet day!

My garden details

Bird cages bought at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Solar powered lanterns

Pink enamel trugs from the New Covent Garden Market

Enchanted bird plant cage

Bird house tea light holder

Pink enamel pin wheel

Bird bath

Rice Bird candle holder

Vintage ice cream sign

On Monday I showed you my garden transformation. Today, I am sharing all the details.

Have a sweet day!

My garden transformation

As you may know, I have been doing a lot of gardening recently. Firstly, because the weather has been so nice and secondly my house was a building site due to the new kitchen being installed. So, I finally finished my garden!

We started the garden a few years ago by putting up new fences to the right, fixing the fence to the left and back and giving them all a fresh lick of green paint. We removed the broken shed and gave the play house on the left hand side of the garden a makeover. You can read more about my garden shed here.

I cut a large oval shape out of the grass using a piece of string and nails to get the shape. Then around the edges I planted lots of lavender that I had grown from seed, Clematis to hide my water butt and to grow along the top of the fences, and castor oil plant, green bushes and grasses so the garden would stay green all year round. Finally, white petunias, campanula and 'silver dust' to add colour.

As well as a patio outside our kitchen, which we set up with an outdoor dining table and chairs for alfresco eating and barbecues, we used to have a second smaller patio at the back of the garden next to my garden shed. Apart from the barbecue and a few potted plants it was mostly empty and rarely got used. So, I got to thinking that I should make it more inviting with a place to sit, some lighting, and more plants and greenery.

We graveled over the patio stones and I bought a bench, painted it white and made a few cushions for it. I cleaned up our old bistro chair and tables and painted the woodwork white. I hung solar-powered lanterns and put up some vintage ice cream tin signs, and put potted flowers into some pretty enamel buckets. Voila: with the final stage of my garden transformation done, my outdoor lounge was finished!

Have a sweet day!

Pretty relaxing

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• Lisa Hubbard Photography

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• Pretty Pastels
  
• Pen and Paper flowers
• Pen and Paper flowers
• all about you

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• Trine Thorsen
• Trine Thorsen
• via Olive juice 19
  
• all about you

After a busy, fun packed weekend in the sun, I am dreaming of a quiet relaxing day picking flowers and having tea and cakes in the garden. Oh, to dream...

Have a sweet day!

Pretty fabrics and finds for outdoor living

1. Pink Moroccan pouffe
2. PVC - dotty taupe fabric
3. Bird trail fabric
4. Iris spot blanket
5. Solig solar powered outdoor lighting
6. Pink spot cotton duck fabric

This week in my series of posts, "Fridays Finds", I bring you a collection of pretty fabrics and finds that I would love to have in my "outdoor living room". I'm thinking of getting a white bench, making a comfy seat pad for it and scattering it in lots of handmade pretty cushions. For the inevitable colder nights, I will need some matching blankets to keep me warm. For lighting, I love the idea of hanging the pendant lights from brackets on the wall. Oh, and in my dreams some Moroccan pouffes to rest my feet on!



I found this gorgeous image from cute online store, Worthington Woodpower whilst searching the internet for pretty finds and just had to share it with you!

Don't forget you can click on any blue lettering in any of my posts to link through to the relevant store website or blog post for more info!

Have a sweet day!

Outdoor living room

Outdoor living room by Green Gate

With all the lovely weather we have had recently my mind has been buzzing with ideas for my outdoor space. I would love to create an outdoor living room on the back patio next to my garden shed. A stylish, comfortable place for casual dining and relaxing.

I want to make sure my space transitions gracefully from my alfresco eating area on the patio near the house, to the lawn, to the outdoor living room. So, I'm going to go for a similar colour palette to my alfresco dining but will tone down the red and green and add more white to make a softer pastel palette.

Outdoor dining room by Torie Jayne

On my wish list for an outdoor living room is a white bench with lots of scatter cushions, subtle lighting, a bistro table and chairs, and an open fire. I dream of snuggling up on the bench at night toasting marshmallows!

Here are a few of my inspirational tears for colour and theme:

Outdoor lounge inspiration by Country Living

Outdoor lounge inspiration by Country Living

Outdoor lounge inspiration by Country Living

Outdoor lounge inspiration by Easy Living

Pink Floral Box Cushion

Have a sweet day!