When we enlarged our kitchen last year, the back patio shrank. The 70 square feet we added to the kitchen had to come from somewhere. We moved our patio bench, chairs, coffee and side tables, and outdoor rug back into place soon after we reoccupied the renovated portions of the house in December. The outdoor dining table remained in my husband's workshop for repairs required after someone dragged it out of the way, damaging the base. He got around to fixing and refinishing it last week and moved it back onto the patio, along with the not-so-pretty support system we'd previously had in place for the large umbrella we seldom used. Even though we'd already moved some things elsewhere, I thought the area was much too congested. I suggested an "adjustment."
I couldn't find many "before" photos as of course I didn't take any prior to our renovations.
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| This photo was taken near year-end in 2017. I wasn't able to precisely replicate the angle for an "after" shot as that Echium in the foreground on the left side of this photo is much larger than it was 2+ years ago. |
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| The chiminea on the right was moved to the bromeliad/succulent area near the garage at the front of the house in December. The shelf and pots below the old kitchen window (not readily visible here) were moved prior to renovation with no intent to bring them back. The huge umbrella stand on the left was the major bone of contention between me and my husband. |
When I noticed that the new roofline shades a bigger section of the patio than the old one did, I suggested swapping out the dining table and bench arrangements. In its new spot, the dining table is in full shade before 2pm so it looks as though we may be fine without the cumbersome umbrella or its stand.
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| This is the revised layout, photographed in early morning |
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| View of the same area from the back. A side benefit of the new arrangement is that the 3 pots of blueberry shrubs behind the bench get more sun. |
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| Most visitors automatically seat themselves on the bench or the cushioned chairs. Now there's no furniture between them and the ocean view beyond the garden. |
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| They can also see Buddha and his cat |
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| Mr. Frog approves |
Here's a wide shot of the area.
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| When I viewed this photo, I realized the cushions that belong to the table chairs were missing |
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| I dug them out of the linen closet |
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| The circle pot was hunted down and replanted last week |
The interior dining room and kitchen spaces now mesh well with the colors used on the back patio. I'd like to say that was the result of careful consideration on my part but it was actually pure serendipity. The throw pillows on the outdoor bench are temporary stand-ins for pillows now on order to replace those I tossed out last year. Now, if I could only find plants to fill in the empty spaces left when that huge trench was dug to replace the corroded gas line last November...
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
