Hello! Hope the weather has been nice where you are. We’ve been experiencing some cold weather here in the Bay. Snow on Mt. Diablo in April? Isn’t it spring already? They’re saying 80 degrees by the middle of this week though so we can’t complain.
Aside from the unusual chilly temps around here, spring is usually absolutely gorgeous in the Bay Area and this year is no exception. So many shades of green everywhere! And so much fun pollen for allergy sufferers…
I took a few pictures on my walk around the Lafayette Reservoir a few days ago and even with the clouds it was really beautiful. We are really lucky to live so close to this pretty place. The path around the reservoir is about 2.75 miles with a few gentle hills. It’s the perfect distance for a walk or at least Belle thinks so!
Seeing all of this green has me looking forward to spending more time outside again. This will be our first summer in our new Bay Area home. While our last home had a large yard, at least by suburban standards, we now have a cute but tiny fully landscaped deck and patio area. We are fine with this trade-off because it will be so much less work and expense. Now the challenge is to maximize the space.
Below are a couple of pictures of our old backyard to give you some idea of the size we had compared to what we have now. We completely remodeled the yard during the seven years we lived there, including adding the pool. We loved the extra space when the kids were teens but we found we didn’t use it as much once they we were empty nesters.
Now that we’ve downsized, we are thinking about how we want to use our new small space. Our current yard has a small covered deck and courtyard. It is just big enough for our needs. It’s currently empty and in need of some TLC after the winter storms.
We have purcased new patio furniture from Costco, which is our go-to for quality outdoor furnishings. Patio furniture can be so expensive, and since we’re only here for part of the year we can’t really justify overspending. All of the furniture in our old backyard also came from Costco and we were really happy with how it lasted. We also only buy furniture with Sunbrella brand cushions because we’ve found that other outdoor fabrics can’t handle the intense California summer sun.
While this Costco set is admittedly pretty plain, my plan is to liven it up with accessories. I’ve already picked out a pretty Threshold outdoor rug from Target. I’ve learned from experience not to spend too much on outdoor rugs because they tend to get gross after a couple of seasons and need to be replaced anyway.
I’ve also been eyeing some things in the clearance section online at Serena & Lily. Luckily there are two Serena and Lily Outlets less than an hour away. I’ve been looking forward to checking them out to see if they have any good outdoor decor.
The store I visited had tons of chairs, rugs, mirrors and rolls of wallpaper, plus a huge selection of light fixtures. They also had bedding, pillows and pillow covers. It was quite amazing. However, what they didn’t have was a lot of outdoor furniture or decor, which makes sense since spring items are in season in stores right now. I’m still glad I checked it out though because I found a beautiful white cal king bed blanket and a new decorative pillow cover for our bed, along with a really nice white bamboo frame mirror (see pic above) for my daughter’s room. That made it worth the stop.
Since we won’t be staying very long before heading back to San Diego I’m hoping to get the backyard pulled together so it’s ready for summer when we come back. That makes it tricky to order stuff and get it delivered in time so Amazon Prime has come in handy. I’ve already ordered a couple of things to round out the deck. This cool Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit with Stand is going to be great for chilly nights. I also replaced the outdoor electric candles in the chandelier.
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I think our little backyard is off to a good start! I’m looking forward to finishing it up when we return to the Bay Area in late May. Until then we’ve got places to visit – Napa, the Mediterranean and Newport Beach! Have you made any traveling plans for the summer?
Hope you come back soon. Have a great week!
