A few years ago, I obsessed over an outdoor daybed for my front porch. The goal? I could picture myself working for hours out there in the middle of the day, working, reading a book and enjoying a glass of iced tea.
The reality? As our only outdoor covered workspace, my front porch often finds itself hosting saws, woods and other project accoutrement. The daybed is still there but the pillows have been stacked in a corner and the cover needs washed. My current ambition? Pull my front porch out of the depths of renovation despair.
Now, perhaps I’m being a bit dramatic. In reality, it actually doesn’t look bad from the road. However, that may not be a good thing. If it looked bad, there would be mutual incentive to clean it up. Nope. That’s not how we roll. My hubby, who likes to leave “piles” while his projects are ongoing has learned that as long as the piles are neatly stacked and largely unobtrusive, I’ll let it go. His need to not pull everything out to have to put it all back mid-project trumps my need to have everything completely tidied up at that point. So, along with the neatly stacked pillows, the excess boards are neatly stacked under the daybed and even the saw is packaged under an unobtrusive dark gray tarp. Only the delivery guy knows the sad truth of our front porch.
Still, the front porch is also a symbol of our old life as avid home renovators. It’s time to clean it up again.
Genuinely, I’ve felt this way for awhile and at least since we finished the planters. What’s been stopping me? Honestly, even the daybed as first imagined was a little disappointing. It just doesn’t feel like a “me” space.
And that’s where my mood board came in.
These days, I’m fixated on no-cost, low-cost decorating. Why? Well, if we are really serious about retirement, there can’t be big decorating expenses anymore. Plus, let’s be honest: there doesn’t need to be. The furniture portion of the deck – or anywhere else in this house honestly – has been taken care of. That’s the pricey part of renovations. The rest? Well, my belief is that as long as you buy sturdy, “forever” pieces, you can change out accessories and quickly/cheaply complete the vibe. My goal? Complete the vibe.
Setting myself a budget of $150, I’m moving forward on the vibe. A welcome mat, some new pillow covers, a small outdoor area rug and a can of spray paint and I’ll make it happen. I’ll also scrub the deck boards with some bleach and dish soap to get rid of grime, put all of the tools and excess boards away and wash the existing daybed linens. I’ve got an indoor throw I can use on the daybed for a little no-cost decorating as well.
My result? Summer cabin in the woods. That’s always the feeling I go for. In this case, it’s beige/brown, navy and green with hints of red plaid as the front door is also red. To make it less fall/winter and more summery, I’ll also add a large pot of red flowers in a beige planter. For my very neglected side deck, which has become a place to store our grill and bike rack, I’ll also complete a little spruce up. For this, a friend of a friend fixes aluminum webbed chairs where the webbing has frayed. My hubby loves those chairs so, I’m having the chairs cleaned and fixed with an updated webbing in a neutral pattern. That particular deck will also get the small white table we sometimes use by the firepit to add a little charm. Finally, some of our many deck plants will relocate there to create an earthy, relaxed space.
The whole point here is not my decorating prowess – which is questionable. Instead, its about a process to bring order to chaos and to do so without adding additional burden. It would be easy enough to just spend money to create the looks I want. But spending creates its own chaos. Instead, repurposing what we have, making it work for us and keeping the entire mood calm is worth so much more than the dollars saved. If I bought more “stuff,” we’d have to store more stuff in the winter, we’d have to earn to offset that lost cash and the noise would start piling up again.
Instead, I’ll keep it simple, keep it low cost and keep it as natural as I can make it. Reusing what I have isn’t necessarily a statement about being environmentally friendly (though it is) or about being cheap (though it really is). Instead, it’s about embracing a serenity that matters to me. Clutter feels like chaos to me and despite my husband’s desire to keep all the tools out until we’re completely done with a project, I just can’t roll that way. Thankfully, he’s also learned to appreciate the need for calm spaces. I also crave comfortable and quiet. That’s why the daybed was so important and that’s why the “vibe” is so important. If there isn’t some sort of cohesiveness, it’s just all noise and that bothers me. Finally, I need the reduced financial pressure. That is vital to me, us and our future lives. While it was a bit fun to go crazy and finish each and every space exactly as we’d like it, those days are over. If everything is a tradeoff, I’d trade off an expensive look any day of the week for the extra cash reserves to finance our lives.
This week, I’m facing a super challenging week with a lot of work for my now primary client, but additional work for two other clients and a proposal due by the end of the week. The headspace demands are over the top. What keeps me going is this idea that at the week’s end, I can focus on creating this space for us. That’s vitally important to have something good to look forward to after a week which promises to be chaotic.
So yes, it’s a mood. It’s my mood and the only way for me to carve out a little of that peace I need so much.
The Yuppie Homesteader 