porch sitting

Last Thursday, around noon, my husband texted me a picture from our local antique store.  My first thought was "what are you doing at the antique store and why aren't you at work?"  My second thought was what a cool bench!  His actual comment with the picture was "Not sure where you'd put them but you need a birthday present"... I guess I'm pretty low maintenance since it was 3 weeks after my actual birthday but it's the thought that counts, right?  And where to put them?  Well I'm sure I could come up with something.

We've been "enjoying" unusually warm weather here in the Pacific Northwest so I decided to get some things done inside last Sunday instead of outside... fitting my birthday present into my front porch moved to the top of my list.

I had decided to rearrange a bit and take the two wicker chairs totally out of the space.  I picked them up at Pier 1 right after we moved here but they were never comfortable... I even tried down cushions but still way too hard and uncomfortable to sit in for very long... although my labs did love them.   (You can see my porch before here  , here and more recently here.)

Of course this little swap created a domino effect and everything on this side of porch was moved around.  An old metal plant stand that previously held my lemon tree was the perfect size for a side table and a vintage tray (yes that IS Niagara Falls) fit snugly on top.  Just right to hold my cold drink.

The bottom shelf fit a vintage child's booster seat... some gardening books and Martha's huge entertaining book that doesn't fit anywhere fit just perfectly.

My new perch for reading... and the sunny view isn't too bad either.

I kept the two down pillows from the wicker chairs to act as a cushion and snagged a pillow off the couch to lean against.  Now I have a cozy little spot to sit back and read a book... a spot that isn't in the living room when the TV is on... nor sitting at the dining room table or even in bed!

Just enough room for me to stretch out with a good book... and I think it may even stay clean since the dogs don't seem to care for it too much.

Removing the wicker chairs really made this little front porch seem bigger too.  Those chairs were pretty bulky, barely fitting through the doorway.

And perhaps you noticed that there was a metal chair to match the bench... one cool thing about both is that they actually fold up!  Nice during the holidays when the Christmas tree comes out here.

The other side didn't change much except for the little green wire plant stands moved back to their original spots in from of the windows... only one jade plant in each and lots of white milk glass bud vases to fill them up.

The freebie cabinet didn't move anywhere... this really is the perfect spot and it's shelves on the closed side are full of my growing Little People collection... just the right spot for some playing on the floor someday.

The scraggly lemon tree didn't stay in front of the door, it moved over into the right side corner but I was hunting for the plant saucer I needed to put it on before moving it.

And the other little addition?  Well, this was my purchase a couple of weeks ago.  A vintage metal child's outdoor chair.... it's actually a rocker too!

For now until a certain someone gets a bit bigger it can stay inside in the porch.

Cuz this little someone isn't quite ready for a chair of her own yet.

Last Friday I got to be the babysitter for a bit while my daughter had an appointment... it was a hot day and we enjoyed a little walk to Green Lake in Seattle.

But as you can see, as "selfie" expert I am not!