You will probably have no issue with me saying that these past 6 weeks have flown by. I mean, why would you? You’ve been watching all the ORC madness unfold from the comfort of wherever you read the blog. I’d have to agree with you though, short of a long afternoon spent waiting for a shadow to stretch across the backyard this ORC has been fairly painless. So here we are, week 6 of the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda of Calling It Home // here//. You can see the official participant reveals // here //. I’m excited to see a few of the reveals (The English Room, House of Brinson, Christine Dovey, Old Brand New), but will probably click-through to all of them. Make sure you circle back and check out the other linking participants // here // on thursday! We’ve all worked so hard this round, and everyone deserves a round of applause.
In completing the spaces I felt that the front step and the backyard – despite being designed together with each other in mind – are different spaces. As such, I’ll reveal the front step in all its glory on Friday.
*HomeSense, The Home Depot & Wayfair sponsored this post, but all thoughts are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make PMQ for two possible.
If you haven’t been following along, you should head back to the beginning and click through all of the updates to see what and why we did what we did.
Week 1 – introduction
Week 2 – front step
Week 3 – back step
Week 4 – dining area
Week 5 – lounge area
// Week 6 – The Reveal //
I would be remiss if I didn’t extend a loud, boisterous and over-emotional thank you to HomeSense, The Home Depot & Wayfair for sponsoring me on this One Room Challenge. It was a pleasure working with them – as always – and the quality of the products we chose speaks for itself.
And now, without further ado, the great outdoors, starting with the lounge area! Everything but the food and fern were HomeSense finds, so you know the selection is top notch this year. The little bird house is actually meant to be hung much higher, but I’m hopping an endeavouring little bird will make its home there so that we can enjoy it too.
This area got a little makeover once I started putting things into place. I added more lights and a bar cart – we really needed the extra space for drinks and food, and it fits perfectly between the lounge and the BBQ in the corner against the fence. The giant fern helps fill the space while adding a needed pop of colour.
By moving the green lattice to behind the BBQ, we’re filling-up that huge Brown space and adding some greenery to an otherwise bare spot in the yard. The rose gold dipped string lights from HomeSense look magical when light-up at night.
The extra greenery and lawn ornaments on the stoop do well to create a lush and inviting entrance into the space. The ivy box is another HomeSense steal at 49.99$ (compared to 90$+) and it hides all the cords and wires that feed into the socket near the door – so really, we all need an ivy box for our back steps. Money well spent! The big blue bowl planter has got all manner of plants growing in it, and in a month or two it will look lush and bountiful.
The stripped garden stool changed sides and is now against the house and the cedar privacy screen. Another mega fern helps add colour and density to the step, while a kicky lantern provides more guiding light in the evenings. I don’t know what’s in the water out here but giant farms are par for the course, and they’re kinda funky.
Don’t ya just love the giant bald spot in our yard? Someone had a pool here before, and they killed the grass and earth beneath it so thoroughly that nothing grows! It’s an eyesore to say the least, and no grass seed will take, but at least everything around it makes up for it, right? We’ve got plans to add a giant rug of some sort, but we need to figure-out the grass situation with housing first.
I built a little privacy screen to go around our AC unit. Just because it’s an eyesore doesn’t mean I should have to look at it all summer. The cedar screen was an easy assembly and distracts from all the brown siding.
The inky blue plates and bowls were another HomeSense find. I spotted them in the store and practically ran to grab them. They pop so beautifully against the blue tray and the white tabletop, plus there’s something so fresh and summery about them. They kind of remind me of the bottom of a lake at the height of summer. The pink cutlery was a thrifted gem, and each cutlery set is sealed with some gingham ribbon.
Once the trees grow-in, we won’t see quite so much of our neighbours’ goings on. Until then, this is the view. Come on trees and tall grass! You can really see how much the pergola helps frame the space. It feels like its own little area, an extension of our home, and I cannot wait to entertain outside.
The chairs are from Canadian Tire – a last minute addition – but the cushions are Homesense. The long cushions on the benches are a custom job because I haven’t seen many 8ft cushions these days. They attach to the bench’s braces using snap ties. They’re made with outdoor fabric and water/mold-proof foam, so you know these bad boys will last for a while longer.
Circling back to the lounge area just goes to show how complete and compact our backyard is. The spaces are close without overwhelming each other, and they will allow for a natural flow of people in an evening or during an event. Well done us!
And now that this is done, I can’t wait to go build myself a sun-lounger and take a nap in the backyard. Let me know what you like about the space below!
Sources: all furniture & accessories unless otherwise specified – HomeSense
Pergola: Hampton Bay 10′ x 10′ available at The Home Depot // here //
Captain’s Chairs at harvest table: Canadian Tire // here //
Expandable Privacy Screen: Wayfair Canada // here //
