FRONT PORCH : SPRING UPDATES

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Citrine_living_lanterns3Spring is a very short lived season here in Montreal. Even though the snow melts and the temps warm up, we get a LOT of cold, dreary, damp days. May and June are hit and miss, so when we get the sun, it’s a true blessing! Buds are finally growing on the trees (it’s a little late this year), my perennials have just started to poke out of the ground and I love to check the progress as it all starts to grow! We can’t plant anything until the end of the month because of frost, so it can be a long time to wait! I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I’d been looking for new lanterns – I was down to only two mismatched ones, brass and black.
Citrine_living_lanterns8I wanted to share my latest purchase with you, from HomeSense (HomeGoods if you’re in the US). I bought these two light grey wood lanterns, with LED lights and I absolutely love them!Citrine_living_lanterns7I was looking for ones to match the black or brass but I stumbled upon these – and fell in love.
Citrine_living_lanterns6I think they were literally made for our house, the color is an exact match with our stonework.Citrine_living_lanterns5I put the lanterns in front of the door, rather than on the steps, becuase I think they add warmth and are so inviting and welcoming as you enter. Also, being made of wood and not metal, they have to stay dry – I learned this very quickly when it was pouring rain and I had them on the steps – I went to look at them and the water was seeping right into the wood – they would never withstand the elements! Make sure if you have wood lanterns (unless they’re made of a wood that can stand up to water, like teak or cedar), keep them in a dry spot! The same happened with my beautiful brass lanterns – they rusted from the rain, so now I have to touch up the one I have left with some outdoor spray paint. Lesson learned!Citrine_living_front_porch5You can see my empty planter, here on the left –  I’m very eager to get something in my planters to add some color here. I’m trying to decide whether I want to plant a grass, or flowers. I’m still undecided. Last summer I had some beautiful coral impatiens in them and then in the fall, I swapped them out for my fluffy deep burgundy cattails (as I like to call them because I don’t know the real name), which I love, as well as mums. I am no gardener by any means – my husband says I have a black thumb because I kill everything… So I like maintenance free plants!

Here is the porch last Spring :front_portch3 frontporch

My lanterns have clearly seen better days… I ended up throwing out three of the four that I had, unfortunately they were very rusted and corroded. On a side note, the purple flowers in the garden beds are really pretty but they don’t last all summer and by the time they stop flowering, the plant itself is a little weedy looking. So I think I’ll be replacing these this year. If you have ideas of what I should put here, please let me know, I’m always looking for suggestions.

Here is a look from last Fall :fall_porch_day6fall_porch_day9fall_porch_day8You can see more of my home from last fall, HERE. I planted hydrangeas and another lavender-type plant under most of the windows – which are really hard to see here, they’re very small! They haven’t started to bud yet and I’m praying they survived the winter…I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they come back and I’m very eager for the warm weather to finally stick around.

GET THE LOOK OF MY PORCH HERE :

Let me know what you think of my new lanterns and if you have any recommendations for plants! I always love to hear from you! xo

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7 Comments

  1. tamaraanka says:

    Hi Christine, Thanks for stopping over to visit, I’m really happy you like what you see! Unfortunately, I don’t have the name of the stone or siding – it was all through our builder. I can tell you that the stone is real stone, laid one by one. We chose to have flat grout, rather than recessed grout – I wanted it to be flush and have an ‘old world’ look to it. As for the siding, it’s basic vinyl siding, nothing fancy! I hope that helps and thanks again for visiting!

  2. Christine says:

    I love the exterior of your home. Can you tell me the name and manufacturer of your stone facade? Is it a veneer? Also, is your wood/shingle surfacing Hardie plank or wood. Your home is beautiful!

  3. tamaraanka says:

    Alex, thank you so much for stopping by and leaving such nice comments :) I am so ready to get some color on my porch! This door was ordered through our builder and unfortunately I don’t have the name of the color. It was just “I want a black door” lol! I’m so happy you’re enjoying my blog, please stop by any time! xo

  4. Hi, I love everything about your house. Amazing job. I especially like your front door. Really shines. What paint did you use? I also live on the east coast and suffice to say I am ready for some nice spring days. Home goods is awesome? Anyway keep up the good work.

  5. tamaraanka says:

    Cathy, you are so lucky! I love California and it’s my dream to live there some day! The weather is high and low here too and it’s always unpredictable. We live for the warm months and it can be really hard waiting for them! I hope your plants turned out beautifully! I can’t wait to do mine and yes, Spring better be nice haha! Thanks for stopping by and thank you for your kind words! xo

  6. Your house is beautiful. I love the stone. Those lanterns are stunning and they really do match. Hope the warm weather sticks around for you. Here in California, we are in the 80’s one day and in the 60’s the next. We’re all over the place. I don’t think we will get another frost. At least I hope not, we live in higher elavation , but I think we’re safe. I worked hard today planting flowers in pots. So spring needs to be nice.

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