Welcome to this month’s Pinterest Challenge and this month is all about getting ready for summer celebrations with a red, white and blue-themed challenge ~ perfect for all our patriotic holidays and the 4th of July!
Star-spangled banners and cookouts, beach parties and camping, swimming and maybe even a sunburn or two and fireworks exploding overhead in velvety-dark nighttime skies ~ that’s what summer living is all about!
Our host Cindy of County Road 407 has found a fun vignette for us to use as our decorating jump-off point with all that in mind. This month’s Pinterest Challenge was to create a Patriotic Patio Scene inspired by one created by Mary from Home Is Where the Boat Is.
If you are just coming over from Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home and it’s your first time here at French Ethereal I am happy you are here! For everyone who’s a regular already I am always glad you are here.
😀
Our Inspiration Piece
Mary lives on a houseboat down in Charleston, South Carolina and shares her beautiful tablescapes, her gardens and garden shed plus the funny antics of her sweet white pups from her fun blog called ~ Home Is Where the Boat Is.
Mary’s patriotic patio vignette
I love how Mary has used so many American flags in her decorating! Simple and easy to find, American flags are something which are readily available this time of year and inexpensive to pick up from the local dollar store, grocery market or hobby store.
A Better Look at What Mary Used
* Mary set up her porch using lots of weathered woods in her beach style decor ~ she does actually live on a houseboat parked along a beautiful shoreline!
* American flags in several sizes plus a sweet vintage flag fashioned into a comfy pillow for resting against on the bench. Two other pillows add extra comfort, too.
* Little pinwheels sporting the red, white and blue of our nation’s flag.
* Tea towels in the July 4th theme.
* Two weathered wicker baskets and an awesome tin watering can.
* One basket holds flowers perfect for a summer party also in our theme’s colors!
Let’s roundup all our red, white and blue!
Back in California I had this cute flag hanging out front of our last home. It’s whimsical and cheerful ~ perfect for this season of ground blooming flower celebrating! I was looking around for it to turn it into a pillow cover to mimic the inspiration flag pillow, however…
I think I must have pitched it when we were moving out of our two California storage units in March… There was a lot to throw out and donate, friends… And many of my flags were falling apart.
🙁
I kept looking around the house and out in the garage and spied
Mr. Ethereal’s three large wooden trunks (he stores his childhood and track + field treasures in them). It occurred to me that I would need a coffee table… Hmm???
So the first thing I did was move this trunk outside! It is exactly the soft shade of French blue that I love and it brings in a bit of my personal style. The two benches were already in their spots and naturally create a wonderful seating area on their own..
Hubby’s trunk came from his Uncle Booty from his time in the US Air Force. They are at least 50 years old now and adding this trunk to our patio scene brings that wonderful weathered wood element in from our inspiration photo along with the white iron bench’s weathered slats.
Next I scoured my Craft Room boxes for the American flags I knew I had (still unpacking!). I didn’t have any bunting or pinwheel-type flags but I think the essence of our inspiration scene is captured here and that’s what it’s all about.
🙂
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| Love this as a wonderful place to read and sip a cup of tea! |
Back to the flag pillow
I have a very large outdoor flag which I tried draping along the bench back but it didn’t look right. So I went searching some more around the house. In the living room sofa I spied the two pillows I had sewn from a Waverly fabric with their lovely soft red roses on a linen background.
This pattern is Waverly’s Norfolk Rose, which goes in and out of style, but I have loved it for 30+ years as Ralph Lauren (or another of the big designers) used to use it in his decorating years ago. One added to our patriotic patio decor was perfect!
I didn’t find this fabric currently available on Joann’s online shop but I did find two similar here and here with red and blue backgrounds.
I am a Joann affiliate and may earn a small commission if you purchase through my links here but there is no extra cost to you ~ thank you. You’ll find my full disclosure here.
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| A good stiff spring breeze was blowing when I shot these photographs so the two tall oaks blowing branches and leaves created light and dark shots ~ sorry! |
Setting up the scene
The inspiration photo had three pillows bringing in the red, white and blue so I also brought out my blue-on-linen French lunch-eatery pillow. Layering in those two pillows atop our old family quilt added even more sentiment and richness to this porch scene.
I’ve continued my patriotic garden theme here with layering several potted plants and this little statue in place of Mary’s watering can. I did purchase a few red flowering plants and added them in with the lavender and white mini petunias in the large pot. More small lavenders yet to be planted in the yard are hiding just behind the angel statue on the ground.
I moved the little statue around a bit as I was working ~ part of the fun of decorating is moving things around until it “feels right.” Decorating fun is all about getting the balance right ~ objects and scale, colors and heights, the number of objects in a scene
It always takes a bit, doesn’t it? To get things “just so.” Adding in a natural rattan basket filled with the angel statue, a leftover red vinca set into a French pot and adding a patriotic tea towel completed this patio look. Essence of Mary’s sweet patriotic patio ~ trés bien! Non? 😉
If you missed my earlier posts for Memorial Day you can find them here and here. And past Pinterest Challenges ~
Thank you for pinning!
🙂
Our blog hop continues now with Terrie of Decorate and More with Tip. Stop on over to see how she has styled her sitting area for the 4th of July!
And I know you’ll love all the inspiration from everyone on today’s Patriotic Pinterest Challenge tour!
County Road 407 | StoneGable | Décor to Adore
Our Southern Home |Follow the Yellow Brick Home
French Ethereal | Decorate and More with Tip
Sweet Pea | Let’s Add Sprinkles | Chasing Quaintness
Art and Sand | Bluesky at Home | Lora Bloomquist
My Wee Abode | First Day of Home | A Heart Filled Home
Sharing this post with
Style Showcase 83 ~ Shabbyfufu
Summer Picnic Essentials + Outdoor Fun Blog Hop ~ Busy Being Jennifer
Waste Not Wednesday ~ Faeries and Fauna
