Cottage Life: Screened-in Porch Design

How is it already late July and we still haven't moved into our cottage?! This year's constant rain is to blame for the slowdown in construction. Right now we are looking at mid August so fingers and toes all crossed for no further delays. 

A key reason for picking our cottage model is the huge screened-in porch. I would be surprised if this didn't turn into the most used space. We will have a lounging and a dining area. As usual, I came up with a few design boards. 

Below is the one I think I am going with, sans the hanging seat. We have mature trees with high canopy surrounding our cottage, so I am trying to keep the overall colour theme to a minimum so it doesn't compete with the view. 

I also really like the plaid rug in the design board below. 

This blue rug adds a touch of colour to the overall neutral space.  

This Scandinavian style conversation set from JYSK was the jumping-off point. It's an extension of the Nordic cottage style from inside out. 

These rattan Paris bistro chairs will form a porch dining nook. I am still trying to hunt down a vintage style metal patio table to go with them. Any suggestions? 

Before I go, I will share some of the flowers coming out in July in my jardin de fleurs. 

Lavender Hidcote Blue

LA Dreamin Hydrangeas - epic fail this year for trying to turn them blue. They issued non-stop flowers in vibrant pink. 

DIY Petunia planters from PC Garden Centre. 

ZZ plant in my foyer is nearly 5 foot tall. Took six years to get to this size. I tried staking tall branches but they are still topsy turvy. Any idea how I can keep them growing upright?

In a few weeks we will be replacing our door sets with these gorgeous Emtek Richmond in French Antique Brass. Can't wait! 

Cottage Life: Dining Room Design

June was off to a crazy start at work. A month flew by before I realized I was yet to finish the cottage dining room post saved in the draft status. Normally we would be somewhere else globetrotting in early June. Not this year. Busy at work was one reason; then there's the cottage to get ready for; and then there's all the Spring blooms I missed in the previous years. I am so happy that we pushed our travel schedule to later in the summer, because for the past month, I've been enjoying the fruit of my labour, my Spring jardin de fleurs. 

Pink Korean lilac from my backyard. 

Rhododendron didn't disappoint this year. Vibrant pink flowers adorned the tree - it looks like a giant bouquet from distance. 

 Blue Lilac Miss Kim issued super fragrant flowers for a good two weeks. 

Wine & Roses Weigela put on an impressive show with hundreds of small bell-shaped pink flowers. 

Blue Irises came out in mid June but only last for a week. 

Smoke tree in the backyard. Hidcote blue English lavender is about to bloom - they smell sensational! 

And then there's the white flowering Dogwood Kousa. I didn't know what to expect from it this year: a lot of young trees don't bloom for a number of years; and some of them may not even come back because GTA is really a stretch for Dogwood's hardy zone. Fortunately, our Dogwood didn't just come back; it issued hundreds of clean white flowers! 

Now onto our cottage dining room design. This is the design board. 

The jumping off point was these Elbow chairs I scored from HomeSense, for a fraction of their normal going prices. Gotta love the Scandinavian design which perfectly infuses style into comfort. You can find similar ones at Rove Concepts here. 

As for the dining table, I started the hunt with everything MCM and Danish, but then decided to go a more rustic yet still modern direction. A live-edge table with hairpin legs fits my vision perfectly. Picture below: the Reno solid Acacia wood dining table from Structube - that's a lot of table and style for the price!

I wanted to use a pair of the Ikea Almsta as host & hostess chairs but unfortunately they are not very comfortable and only intended for indoor use. 

I found this chair of similar style to the Ikea Almsta, an all black version of the ever-popular Paris cafe bistro chairs in rattan and aluminum frame. The best part is it's commercial grade and all weather proof, so I could use them in my dining room as well as porch dining area. 

So in love with them! They will be put to good use during family/friend gatherings and long chats around the dining table. I will be back to write about our screened-in porch design. 

Spring into Summer

Heat wave in May in Toronto? What the what?! That's right. It would appear that we skipped spring and sprung straight into summer. Spring was short-lived this year - a mere ten days of sunny, cool and crisp air, and poof, we woke up to this hot and humid 30 degree Celsius weather. I am not complaining; I just wish Spring would've stayed for a bit longer. 

While the warmer winter, cooler & shorter spring confused the heck of some flowering trees such as Cherry or Lilac, the sudden heat wave has been good for other plants in our yards. 

Like these blue Catmints - they are the more ornamental cousin of Catnips. Smell isn't all that pleasant, but I planted them for that very reason. Its pungent smell can supposedly repel Japanese beetles. So I am hoping these Catmints will do the magic, and stop those suckers from devouring our Linden tree this year. 

Blue Catmints are actually very attractive perennials. 

I've always wanted a Rhododendron, and this year I finally picked up one from PC Garden. In case you haven't visited PC Garden yet, I would urge you to go ASAP. Everything there looks so healthy and lush; and they are all so fairly priced compared to other traditional garden centres. I've started to track the growth of this Roseum Elegans Rhododendron - couldn't wait for those super pretty pink flower clusters to come out. 

Another exciting new addition this year is the LA Dreamin Hydrangea. It claims to issue blue, purple, pink, green and white hydrangeas all in one shrub, regardless of the PH level of the soil! Hello gorgeous, where have you been all my life? 

This is what my LA Dreamin started out as. 

The Red Wine Weigela I planted last fall wasted no time to adorn itself with tens of bell-shaped pink flowers. 

And as usual, my reliable Dwarf Korean Lilac fills my backyard with this heavenly fragrance. 

Have a great weekend my friends! And best of luck to Raptors tonight! #WeTheNorth

Spring Refresh - Part Trois

Forecast said thunderstorm but the heat and humidity raged on and there's still no sign of rain. It's been a pretty dry Spring so far and I think my yards can use a deep soak just about now. I hope you took advantage of the summer-like weather on Victoria Day. 

For many, Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada is the weekend when people start planting in their yards. Our neighbours are mostly Italian, and known as landscaping enthusiasts, they were outside cranking up their curb appeal long before today. Luckily I enjoy gardening so our neighbours' work only gave me all the motivation and inspiration I needed. Before I take you through the part III of my 2015 spring refresh series, I would like to show you this brass sculptural sphere I picked up from West Elm the other day, and the fuchsia Phalaenopsis orchid from Ikea. I think I might have developed a slight obsession for orchids over the past few months. Two of the Phalaenopsis orchid plants from February are gone, and I know given my skills, chances for them to rebloom are close to none. But they gave a solid 3-month of nonstop gorgeous flowers when it was gloomy and cold outside, and for that, I will continue to replace them and enjoy them throughout the year. 

Now let me take you outside. I don't know about you but I spend most of my summer in our yards when we are not up at the cottage. When it comes to gardening, the kinky garden hose was by far my single biggest challenge. I've tried many "never kink" and "heavy duty" vinyl hoses but they were either to difficult to wind up and release, or at some point all tangled up. I heard a lot about the expandable hose, read all the positive and mostly negative reviews, and decided to give it a try anyway. I bought the Big Boss Xhose from Lowes. So far it's living up to all its promises. It has made watering my garden a breeze. I only hope it doesn't burst like it happened to many other users. Let see how long it will hold up. 

As a result of the harsh winter we had, a few shrubs in my yards never came back this spring. A good lesson learnt is always to burlap the not-so-established plants before the first frost. So I replaced/added a few plants including this gorgeous pink Perennial Sage "Lyrical Rose". I love flowering shrubs; I have about 20 of them throughout my garden, planted there to take advantage of a sequence of blossoming times throughout the season. When picking perennials, I look for those long blooming types that give showy flowers from late spring through early fall; and flowering shrubs that bloom multiple times like Bloomerang Lilac. 

Veronica "Royal Candles" in royal blue was another perennial I added this spring. 

I stumbled upon this rectangular one in black at PC Garden Centre. I was pleasantly surprised by the plant selections, and the stylish yet inexpensive planters from the President Choice.

While there, I also picked up a few perennial Campanula plants for the said planter. 

I also added Potentilla "Gold Star", Lavender "Hidcote Blue", and a few Rhododendron shrubs. I can't wait to share with you my Jardin de Fleurs this year! 

I hope it was also an amazing long weekend for you. I am going to sign off for now and enjoy a glass while appreciating the fruits of my labour.