April 30th, 2016

Our time in Tuscany inspired us to add beauty to our home. We flew home on a Friday. The next day, we went shopping for plants (both artificial and real), pots, dirt and picture frames. We immediately got to work. The following week, S and I went to a home improvement store and purchased even more plants and pots!

Inside, I framed and hung a couple of pieces of art we picked up on our travels thus far. One was a watercolor painting from Paris and another was a creative print of the Piazza dell’ Anfiteatro Romano, where we stayed in Lucca. In both cases, I met the artists which made the purchases more meaningful.

 

They are in our kitchen where we see them daily…reminders of sweet times.

We loved seeing all the potted plants around doors, window sills and balconies in Italy. The rustic beauty was enchanting! In a small effort to imitate what we saw, we made arrangements around the outside of our home. We rummaged through our shed and yard and found an old barrel, a door frame, pots, wood, rocks, sticks, a little lantern and cement blocks to work with. If you came over, here’s a glimpse of what you would see…

 

 

Already, we are enjoying the facelift all the plants have given to our home. Our landlords came over last weekend and immediately complimented us on the entry area. It was fun to show them we value this home of theirs and ours. We still have a few more ideas but are waiting for the weather to warm up a bit before we implement them.  One of our next projects should be a rain collection system being that we are in the land of plentiful rainfall! Hopefully, this summer, draping vines and a plethora of colors will create a beautiful sanctuary to invite others to enjoy as well. Please know that includes you too!