The Courtyard Reveal

Back in April I posted about my pathetic looking Courtyard titled "Outdoor Space Rivalry", and after 54 days, 10 projects, 1 tornado, 5 hail storms and too many days of 30 plus MPH winds to count, and a handful of 100 degree days later... I am proud to present the REVEAL!

I won't bore you with lots of verbiage on this post, instead I'll just show you numerous photos with captions... mostly because today I'm also posting the Backyard Patio Reveal (here).
Each space has it's own style, the Courtyard has a feminine "English Garden" feel and the Backyard Patio has more of a masculine "Global Attitude".

So without further adieu, I present to you the COURTYARD!




This is the view from the front door looking toward the Porte Cochere

Looking from the Porte Cochere toward the front door

Trellis next to the entry has Bougainvillea growing on it.

The other side of the entry is a Hibiscus topiary next to the Vacation Memory Chair

To the right of the chair is a Luna Hibiscus ready to bloom

On the other side of the guest bedroom window is a pair of Hawaiian Plumeria potted in the faux terra cotta pots (see tutorial here)

Opposite the Courtyard entry is another chair that is used for a plant stand

The table next to this chair is an old sun dial that's missing it's dial

On the wall is a pair of wrought iron plaques with Morning Glories growing up twine and Crape Myrtle in the front

I made all the pillows with outdoor fabric in blues and greens here

The Ficus trees offer shade and privacy, the tutorial for the containers they are in can be seen (here) 

The DIY Pottery Barn Lanterns (here) I made look perfect in this space



My Son made me the small blue pot for Mother's Day when he was in grade school,
he's in college now!

 This is the view of the Courtyard from the driveway

The view from the street looking through the Porte Cochere

I hope you enjoyed the tour of the Courtyard, be sure to check out it's rival... the Back Patio (here)

I will be joining these fun parties...

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

Delightful Order for Delightfully Inspiring





Outdoor space rivalry

We have two out door rooms, a Courtyard in the front of the house and a covered Patio in the back. 

The Courtyard is jealous of the back Patio, and with good reason.

The Patio is very large and covered, it has an outdoor kitchen a living and dining area with comfy overstuffed furniture, tiled floors, ceiling fans, nice lighting, beautiful golf course views and a eastern exposure that we and our guest love to hang out and relax on.

The Courtyard has a feeling of privacy, has a nice view of a greenbelt area that runs in between the yards across the street, it's a great place to drink  tea and read the paper in the morning with it's western exposure it stays cool and shaded by the house until around noon. it has beautiful sunsets in the late evening and open to the stars at night.

So why would there be a rivalry between them you ask? OK so you didn't ask but pretend that you did so that I can build up the story here.

The courtyard, even though it's the first impression of our home, and deserves much more respect than it's been getting, has become the dumping ground for all the old patio furniture with it's faded cushions and just so happens to be way too small for the space, all the old mismatched pottery, a unsightly hose reel and NO decorations at all... yes I'm ashamed, very ashamed.

See for your selves the horror...

No your eyes are not playing tricks on you, the floor is slopped toward the center where the drain is, making furniture placement tricky.  If I move the furniture far enough away from the center to where it sits level, it's small scaled makes it feel too far apart.

A very large and very blank wall that is just crying out for some wrought iron art work, trailing plants and vines growing up it. 
Egad!! just look at that ugly hose reel, but don't look at the plants, they will actually be very lush and pretty soon, they have just come out of the golf cart garage where they have been spending the winter, so they look a little rough around the edges.

I think a wall fountain would be nice next to the window. See what I mean by mismatched pottery and faded cushions?  This is what people see when they come to my front door, can you see why the court yard is up set and feels so neglected?

More blank walls in need of some art and more space in need of larger furniture, and yes... that is Tessa looking out the window, she always manages to find a way to be in the blog.

This is the view from the front door, looking straight through the porte cochere, to the left of the arch is the golf cart garage, to the right is the drive way.

This is the entrance to the court yard and more mismatched pots. An arched iron gate would be nice here don't you think?  Nod your heads in agreement please.

As you can see, our courtyard has every reason to be jealous of it's rival the Back Patio, and out of respect to the Courtyard, I will not be showing any photos of the Patio in this post (it will get it's own post too, just to keep the peace between the two) I show you all of this because starting next week with the arrival of the Courtyards very own furniture (not hand-me-downs from our previous home) a long over due make-over for the Courtyard has finally begun.