Print and Pattern

Pottery Barn's catalog has been displaying a lot of lovely patterns and colors lately. (They are also the one catalog that makes me rue the fact that I will not be having a lobster bake at the end of a gorgeously decked-out pier... ever. Damn you, PB!) The Barn is also, in general, way out of our budget.

And then there's Target, our neighborhood friend, with readily available knock-offs of those coveted patterns. When searching for a new bathmat, I was delighted to find the one below. It would have been right at home rolled up and arranged with the PB rugs pictured above.

Sunspot + new soft thing = happy cat

We built a patio.

Last weekend we stepped out of our back door and into our pathetic backyard and thought, "how embarrassed are we going to be when we invite people over for bbqs?" Answer, "very." So we looked at our stacks of flagstone that we just happen to have and the resolution was crystal clear. Time to build a little patio. So we did.

This was probably midway through the project. Unfortunately, I did not get a good "before" pic, but if I did it would have shown a lot of dirt and weeds.
The patio took us two weekend mornings.


The end result!


It won't last forever, but it was a nice quick fix and offers a good place to place our fire pit. The daffodils against the garage literally blossomed as we were building the patio.

Modern Patio Pooch

As you can see in this blog, our home decor mostly leans toward the craftsman and, well, I'm not exactly sure what the correct term is. Maybe, classic? Traditional? That sounds dull, doesn't it? We have a great deal of dark mahogany antique furniture from a mishmash of eras, but it all seems to feel at home at the bungalow.

But I do have an interest in certain modern pieces, and I've mentioned our Saarinen table before. I've always liked clean lines.

Now I have a craving for a puppy. No, not the kind that chews up your favorite pair of Jack Purcells. This one:


Designed by a different Eero (Aarnio), this puppy would make a lovely footstool out on our patio. I think our friends' kids would love it too. Tyler thinks I've flipped my lid.