Moms are awesome

This is true. If you don't believe me, ask your mom. She'll tell you what's up.

This past weekend my mom and two of my little sisters came to visit me. It was the first time that they had seen my new house since all of the summer projects began. I was humbly delighted by how much they loved the progress that is being made. You see, interior design is a pasttime that all of the women in my family enjoy. It is something that I have always shared with my sisters and mom, so I was really looking forward to their visit because I couldn't wait for them to see the changes I had been telling them all about.

One part of the house that really hasn't been touch before this weekend was the patio.



 Though I had a very nice chairs and table set that I recently re-stained, I had not done much more than that. Also, because the yard is so small, we hadn't even cut the lawn since we moved in 2+ months ago (fail). As a result we had a mini-"garden" springing up right outside windows.

Okay, I admit it, I again forgot to take a "Before" picture prior to cutting the grass, so I had to snap a secret picture of my neighbor's yard, which looks nearly identical to how our's looked just before I raized the greenery. Hopefully this gives the idea of how we had let our yard let go of itself.

Because my mom is the best, she decided that she wanted to help me fix up the yard. With the help of my two sisters, we went out to TJMaxx and Lowe's to find a few goodies for the back yard. After weed whacking the grass down (there was no way I was going to buy a lawnmower for my teensy backyard), we set to work beautifying the patio area. Here is how things look now:

 You like? I sure do. We got the blue-n-green paisley cushions from TJMaxx. They are outdoor-ready and quite comfortable to sit on. Everything else came from Lowe's, even the flowers.

The pattern of the rug goes perfectly with the cushion's paisley print. To top it off, we have the mini plant stand that also repeats the delicate flourishes in the rug and cushions, yet without overwhelming you.

Though it is August, the flowers we picked out are hardy ones and should last until October or later (assuming that I don't fail to keep them hydrated). The flowrs also go quite splendidly with the short and sweet weed-grass.

I am so grateful that my mom and sisters were so generous in giving me a nice patio. I had hopes of getting to it eventually, but never expected it to turn out just so well. I feel like I am sitting in a fancy, posed magazine photo scene. But it is real!

All of this goes to say that we now have a very pleasant view from our window:

Here is the final product once more:

If you have learned anything from this post, I hope it is one of these three things:

1. Don't let your grass grow too long before cutting it.
2. Having nice outdoor space makes a huge difference. You'll be surprised how much you can do/change without spending too much time, money or energy.
3. Moms are AWESOME!