New Blog Plan: Casa Fridays!

Happy Friday!

So, as I mentioned yesterday I'm going to add some features to my blog to encourage myself to post. On Taste-Test (or Tasty, I haven't decided) Tuesdays I'll be doing the usual recipe posting, restaurant review or a profile of an ingredient I use often. On Fridays I'll be doing a Casa feature, where I'll share what I'm doing to fix up the apartment, link to pictures/inspirations I've found online or possibly do a fashion piece or two. So we'll have 2 theme days a week and then have a regular post somewhere in there if I can come up with an idea for a post.

So to kick off the Casa feature this week I'll tell you all about my "super-exciting" patio plans. One of the things I was the most excited about when we moved into this apartment in September was the large balcony. By the time they finished the new railing, it was almost December, so we haven't spent any length of time enjoying it yet. But with the weather starting to warm up, I've been reminiscing about past summers and how we used to eat most of our meals out on the back patio. Now because I've been having visions of sipping lemonade in the sunshine, I came up with a basic idea of what I want to do with our outdoor space.

First of all, we definitely need some sort of small, 2-seater table. I've been looking quite a bit, but everything I've found is either too expensive or just not my our style. That was until I stumbled upon this small, cheapie set from Jysk:

Jysk.ca

I think that 80$ for a wooden set is a pretty reasonable price and I love the natural, low-key look that it has. I'm planning on picking it up this weekend, but not before I sit and test out those chairs. I can always add a couple of cushions in a fun color if the seats are a bit hard.

Last week I also managed to score a set of solar, twig-like lanterns. I didn't snap a pic because my camera battery is dead, but they look like these decorative balls, just strung on a string:

Google Images

These will be wrapped around the top of the glass railing for some ambiance & soft lighting at night.

A few other things I want to add are a planter with some high branches, possibly an outdoor rug of some sort (for Abby) and maybe a piece of weather-proof art, just to brighten up the beige space. Because the table and the lanterns are very neutral, I plan on adding pops of color with the planter, rug and accessories. I'll post some progress pics and show you the final result too, so stay tuned!

Thanks for visiting!

xo Janelle