Porch Pondering Part II + A Fab Find

Summer has officially arrived. This weekend in Wilmington, we saw temperatures in the 80s. Woohoo! Needless to say, my beau and I tackled a lot of outdoor projects to get the house warm weather ready. You may recall this post from a month ago where he and I started painting my front porch. Well, I'm happy to report that we finally finished. Phew! I think our hard work has paid off with a clean, fresh and appealing (instead of peeling) porch and, more importantly, an outdoor space we can enjoy this summer.

Of course, now that the porch floor is perfectly painted, I feel like covering and swanking it up! I headed to Target on Sunday to pick up this rug in hopes of getting one step closer to the look below. (Outdoor bart cart + basket chair swing? Heck yes!) 

Bar Cart/ Lounge Chairs/ Garden Stool/ Swing

 But when I got to Target, the website had lied- the rug was nowhere to be found. Lucky for me, Target had better things in store.

Does anyone else feel like a good lamp is hard to find? Sure, you find fabulous options at $400+ but a seriously great buy in the lamp department is a rarity. As I debated whether this impulse purchase would pay off, I just happened to run into my favorite decorator friend. Her mutual affection for this find had me officially sold and we strolled around until the lamp found itself a great textured lamp shade. Now the lamp has found its permanent home in my living room and couldn't be a better fit. What do you think? 

The other table lamp in the living room is a World Market find from five years ago. Its mother of pearl finish has a glamorous but organic appeal to it. I've always wanted something to complement it without being matchy matchy. Mission accomplished? I think so! 

So on to the next task- today my kitchen gets repainted! Hallelujah! Peeling paint must be my lot in this phase of life as the kitchen ceiling and walls currently reflect crack house status. Maybe after it is finished I will post before and after shots. Moral of the story: a homeowner's work is never done...at least this time someone else is doing the painting!