Monday, July 13, 2009

The view from the windows

One of my favorite garden shows to watch on PBS is P. Allen Smith's Garden Home. Recently he was talking about the need to design our lawns and gardens with a thought to how they will look from our windows.

I thought of that as I read what Manuela has been doing to her deck recently. You can read more about it... here. Just scroll down. I... ummm.... "borrow"... lots of her ideas. The idea below was inspired by her garden plate collection. :)


I've tried to make the view of our deck pretty from the family room window. Even though our deck is used a lot, the way it is set up and decorated has a lot to do with the view we have from the family room and kitchen.

These are the scenes from my French door leading out to the deck. That plant sitting on the table above sometimes hangs on the front porch, too... you may have seen a picture of it there (shown below).


Originally I wanted one large picnic table on the deck but we could not find one that wasn't way out of our price range.

As it turned out, using the two small tables has been excellent when we had people over. A happy "accident" that has turned out great. Someday I'm hoping to find a third small table very cheap...


This scene through the window above my kitchen sink was completely by accident, too. Sorry about the fuzzy look but there is a screen on the other side of the glass. :)

The plant you see on the deck fence has a bug problem so I separated it from all the others while I try to mend it. I was so surprised to see how nice it looks there while I do dishes.

I'll probably keep it there this summer and plan other plants there for the future. Another happy accident.

Of course, being surrounded by trees makes for a nice view, too.

15 comments:

~~Deby said...

Beautiful....this is our first year in this home..and we have a huge deck with much potential...I am enjoying this post and of course all of your pictures...
deby

Scrappy quilter said...

It looks wonderful. Isn't Manuela's blog just the neatest. She has so many incredible ideas. I've picked up a few for our home too. Hugs..

Stickhorsecowgirls said...

Beautiful, wish I could say the same for my place!

Okay, Brenda, P. Allen lives right down the road from me. He has a wonderful country place where you can pay (pricey but probably worth it) for lunch and tour, etc. Wanna come and let me and V show you around!!! Something to plan...C

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

Everything looks so nice and pretty! I love how you hung those plates on the deck!

I like the reminder of planning the outdoors to look nice from our indoors!

Vee said...

Well now this just nestles in nicely with what I have been pondering today. I was seated in my grandmother's chair and looking out the windows at what will be her view. Oh my! It wasn't good at all. I have got to come up with something. I've asked my beloved to ponder it as well...a birdfeeder? a hanging plant? Something!

You've created a wonderful space and Manuela certainly does inspire a lot of us!

Becky K. said...

This is sweet, Brenda. You are surely carving out a sweet place to spend time.

Becky K.

Lorna ~ Lace and Ivy Cottage said...

The view from your kitchen sink and deck is lovely. I like how you decorated the railing with the plates. I think I'm going to go out and clean up my front porch as soon as the heat lets up! Have a wonderful day!

Cheri said...

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. Ps. 16:6

Your home and deck remind me of our Northwoods home which we left a year ago to come to TN to care for my ailing parents. We miss our woods (no Bigfoot there :) ), but have tried our best to create a 'pleasant place' in our cow pasture subdivision with no trees over 10 feet tall.

We have no deck, but a screened in porch is a nice substitute and we have planted tons of flowers to beautify the view.

Soothing to the eyes and the soul.
Blessings.

Anonymous said...

The way the stripe in the chair picks up the colors of those pretty plates really adds to it all too. :) I'd never thought of putting plates on the deck. I put them as a boarder around some of the smaller trees and in some of the pots of flowers for accent but this is a new one. You will have to watch if the wind comes up...we get wind here a lot but mostly in the fall. You and Manuela really inspire us. Jody

Married life said...

Beautiful. You have such a lovely yard.

Abounding Treasures said...

Brenda,

All the pictures are gorgeous but I really love the vases and flowers lining your kitchen windowsill :o)

Cheryl (Copper's Wife) said...

What lovely views!

Anita said...

Just beautiful and such a gentle reminder to keep things looking good from the inside out. Thanks again for a delightful post.

Tracy said...

Wow! Just beautiful.

Beth said...

I hope you don't mind if I borrow your idea for the little glasses and bottles on the window sill. I have a couple of blue votive candle cups on mine, but I've been wondering what else I could add for variety...now I know to be on the lookout for some neat bottles at the yard sales!

My son (age 7) loves to bring me flowers and pretty weeds he picks outside. Having little cups on the sill will make it easy to put his little offerings in water right away.