A Year of Change: May’s Project

Ummm…..seriously, how is it almost June?!? But with the end of month, that means it’s time for another Year of Change challenge! Click here for March’s {stencils} and April’s {furniture re-vamp} projects if you haven’t been following the series previously. Each month I team up with four other bloggers {and a guest blogger or two} and we makeover an area based on the theme for the month. By the end of the year we plan to have made BIG impact in our homes with each of these smaller projects!

The theme for this month was to do something outside. And yes, it was that vague. We wanted to leave the challenge open for interpretation and let the creative juices flow. Which worked out well, because I’m pretty sure there is NO way I would have finished a project this month if it wasn’t outside! And we were lucky enough to be joined by two guest designers this month, Emilie of Shell and Chinoiserie and Kari from Kari-Joy in addition to Suburban B’s, Commona My House and Rosa Beltran Design who are in the core group. It’s always fun to add new members to the mix each month to see what they come up with!

Since I was out of the country half of May, I decided to really focus on things that needed to be done – not necessarily a fancy project. This included completing cleaning up our flower beds and planting ten planters {yes, ten!?!}. The courtyard and front yard were my main focus – but again, this month is more functional that stylish. I’m really happy with the updates!

My last full update on the courtyard was my love letter to it the end of last summer. I’m really that obsessed with this space. The focus for the courtyard this year? Clean up the flower beds, complete the planters, create a stone path from outside, add taller trellises, string some lights and add some decorative pillows. I’d still like to add an outdoor rug to the space at some point but I’m loving the updates so far.

I tore out all the old mulch and herbs {they had grown out of control}. I added some jasmine, lavender, and hydrangea along with fresh mulch. I plant to start some potted herbs this weekend so they can be better contained.

A few more detail shots:

I have the string lights on remote control and I may or may not turn them on every night just so I can gaze lovingly out into my glowing courtyard. Don’t act like you don’t do that too 😉 I would have done about three more strands, but two was the max allowed for this set {I picked them up at Target}.

Check out the below before and ‘after’ – these were taken just 11 days apart!

{ May 18 / May 29 }

This is what this planter looked like last year by the end of summer using similar plants. Crazy right?!

Moving on to the front yard, I focused on my five planters and cleaning up the front bed from where I tore out all the spirea last year.

I kept things pretty similar with my four matching planters. These get full sun all day so I was careful to select durable, sun-loving plants. I started with itty bitty plants this year so I’m happy they’ve even come this far in the 11 days since I planted them. But they still have a long ways to go! Let’s not pay attention to that dead tree you see in the second picture okay? I’m still holding out hope for it 🙂

I added three knockout roses to the area where I pulled the spirea – mostly because they are pretty much maintenance-free, they’re perennials and the space needed some color.

Here is the front porch planter. I went with a tall palm this year in lieu of the same spiky plants I used in the courtyard. I also went for a little more color this year. These comparisons, again, are only 11 days apart!

{ May 18 / May 29 }

Here is the same pot mid-way through last summer. As you can see, I think the tall palm this year will really help fill the space better. The spiky plant nearly drowned last year as crazy as the other plants got!

I just love these Year of Change projects so much! They definitely get my butt in gear to finish projects from start to finish! Something I am definitely in need of 😉

Be sure to stop by and check out the project from Suburban Bitches, Commona My House, Rosa Beltran Design, Shell and Chinoiserie, and Kari-Joy!

Oh, and if you’re looking for a way to add some fun personality to your yard this year, my TIKI Brand giveaway is still open until July 4th!