The Tweaking Begins!

I can't help myself! Whether it's indoors or out, I HAVE to tweak. As I said, I have been shopping the house and today I shopped some of the outdoor areas as well and found some things that have been where they were for so long that I no longer even noticed them. Today I looked with a "new eye".

This old bench once served as a coffee table in my family room when I was very country and then on my porch for awhile. Recently, it has been out by the potting bench kind of holding the over-flow of pots and saucers. The elements have not been kind to it and the front edge of the top is rotting off but I think that makes me love it all the more for my "old world" patio.

The standing candleabra has been in my dining room for years but the only time we use that room is when everyone is here and when everyone is here, we're pretty filled up in there so the last thing I want is a candleabra sitting in a pathway full of lit candles! I have used it on the family room hearth before and loved it there as well, but now it will have a chance to weather and rust and I am sure I will love it all the more when I bring it indoors again!

I will fill the empty planter soon and put tapers in the small candleabra when we use it. Tapers don't fare too well in the Florida sun so I usually just add them as needed!

Somehow I have begun "merchandising" this area as if it were a shelf in a store. I just started grabbing up anything that even looked old world and sticking it there. I love the way it looks but it will kind of make my original "serving surface" difficult to do, so we'll see how it ends up when I actually have to put it to use. Youngest daughter and family will be here for awhile soon and we will be out by the pool a lot, so I will get a chance to see how I like everything then.

When I brought out the dried topiary, I realized how much I like that look, so I will now be the search for some live topiaries of all sizes. I will probably end up cutting my own from an inexpensive shrub as the last time I checked, ready-made topiaries were a fortune but we'll see. I have a beautiful one in a large metal urn on a pedestal by my front door and am considering dragging it around for now. I paid a lot for that when I first bought it and then realized that it was just an inexpensive plant that I was giving lots of money for simply because someone took the time to trim it in a pretty shape. I think I can do that myself. We'll see! I think I'll start small.

I dragged a bunch more out here, but haven't gotten them looking the way I want just yet, so I will save them for another post. Stay tuned.