mountain porches

 design by Francie Hargrove

Highlands and its sister town, Cashiers, are both known for their beautiful mountain homes. Of course, most have covered decks or porches to capture the pretty views.

The screened porch below was a big selling point for us in the small ranch home we are buying. These are photos of the porch on the day we bid on the house. Plants and a rug will be added once we move in

along with a bit of furniture rearrangement, this feels a bit tight

The demijohn bottle, set of stationary chairs and round side table are going with the sellers.  But we are able to purchase the rocking chairs, sofa and dining set. I will be sure to post photos of sunny days on the porch soon, this day was quite dreary.

Here are some favorite mountain porch inspirations I have pinned...

a  Cashiers porch designed by Kathleen Rivers and featured in  House Beautiful. The striped rug!

this beauty was featured in House Beautiful

a Cashiers porch done by Phoebe Howard

A beautiful porch bar, done for the Cashiers Showhouse a few years ago. Checked fabrics look great in the mountains.

 design by Francie Hargrove

A log home in Highlands.... this home was actually owned by the same couple we are purchasing our home from. They had two homes in Highlands (one for family and friends) and are downsizing to a condominium.. The house was featured in Traditional Home.  Read more here. This is the same set of  porch furniture we are purchasing from them.

Kathleen Rivers designed this dining porch space that was featured in Garden & Gun. Fantastic view of Whiteside Mountain from this one.

Garden & Gun

A porch with black woodwork, painted wicker and awesome stone fireplace by Charleston designer Amelia Handegun.

I will be sure to regularly post some photos of our porch as we get settled. It will be the focal point of the house in the summer and fall.

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy

things I like this week

1. We are leaning towards a cream body paint for our new home with putty windows and trim. This is my favorite inspiration pic. The dark sconces look great with this combination.

Benjamin Moore color charts

2. Our kitchen in the new house will be a creamy white with light countertops. Similar to this but much smaller and without the pendants and double islands. It will be a galley kitchen with one island, windows instead of upper cabinetry and an attached open pantry with windows, refrigerator, cabinetry, shelving, counter space and a bar sink.

3. Blue crabs are in season here so I have been buying their meat at the seafood shop and ordering soft shells at restaurants. One of the easiest quick meals to prepare are crab cakes over greens with vinaigrette.  This watercolor is one variation but there are so many ways to make crab cakes.

source

4. I love this grill cover. Mary Ann featured it several years ago on her blog, Classic Casual Home. I want to have a local lady I just found who is making slipcovers for us to make one for our grill.

5. A new book about the homes of Furlow Gatewood, One Man's Folly by Julia Reed, has just been published. He is a well known but kind of under-the-radar antique collector, interior decorator and house restorer with great Southern style who lives in Americus, GA. You may recognize his homes as they have been featured in Veranda and elsewhere. He has great eclectic style. You can buy the book here.

6. I love the mirror on this porch.  The whole mix is nice. We have similar wicker. I want an eclectic look on our screened porch too.

7.  Libby of An Eye for Detail blog, featured a Euphorbia plant that is growing in her garden this week. We have never grown euphorbia. I love the form of the bloom, little mustaches over pert green double petals and want to try it in the gardens of our new home.

8.  Another eclectic patio, this one is in one of Furlow Gatewood's homes. You can find many images of his homes on Pinterest, go here to enjoy some of them.  This image was published in Veranda.

9. And finally, this been one of my go-to outfits for the last two months...white jeans and chambray. Being a wardrobe minimalist, I only have one pair of white jeans, the J Crew Matchstick Jean. I wash them often and wear them with every warm weather top, sweater and jacket I have.

source unknown

What are your favorite things this week?

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy

porch plants

Hi everyone! 

We are having a glorious week of weather after several days of dark skies and heavy rain last week. 

There are three porches on the home we are renting in Beaufort. We have a set of front porches and a little side entry porch from the driveway and garage.  

The front of the house has northern exposure so there is filtered light through the woods on each side of the house morning and late afternoon. We are using the classics...ferns and palms. 

Easy to find at good prices, the nurseries are full of them. They sell out quickly but new shipments arrive weekly.

 I added pansies to the base of the palms to add fullness.

We also have a bird's nest anthurium/anthurium hookeri placed in the middle of the porch so it does not receive too much light.

We have been enjoying the lower porch in the evenings with cocktails and mornings with our tea but the afternoon sun is starting to interfere as it lowers at this time of year. If this was our permanent home, we would hang outdoor drapes at the end of the porch to block the harsh afternoon sun.

The morning light is so pretty....

The upstairs porch has a delicate frilly palm.  I need to start learning the palm varieties. We are using the common ones I found at Lowe's. The top porch is our privacy porch with a full sized sofa, good breezes and nice views.

The side entry porch has a fiddle leaf fig that was difficult to find. I was looking for several months and had to finally order one. They are so popular that they sell out as soon as they arrive. 

We have a small one because the space is tight. I still have not found them at Home Depot where some other bloggers have. I just planted herbs in the tiered planter as I did on in our last home.

We thought these oleanders next to the chimney were goners after the polar vortex came to South Carolina but after painstakingly pulling all the dead foliage off, they are coming back. The landscaping on the house is simple, balanced and attractive. 

The back yard does not have a porch. A screened in porch would be perfect there because it faces the pond.

The pond has turtles that rest on the bank and take surprisingly big leaps into the water when we get close. Also wood ducks are usually here. Geese visit and spend most of their time honking at us if we are out in the yard.. The lawn is not in great shape but as renters, we are not really wanting to spend much on the lawn. I did buy weed spray and a neighbor boy is cutting the grass for us.

So what about your porches? Have you potted your porch plants this spring or are you making plans for when the weather allows? Sticking with the classic palms and ferns makes it easy.

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy

summer on the patio

Sleet and temperatures in the 30's today, forecast for same all week. How about some images with the promise of summer? I love the West Coast look of Pottery Barn's Abbott Collection. 

Shop here.

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