By Pam, blogger at SimplySouthernMom.com
As a Southerner I grew up with a vision of my future home featuring a wide front porch, perfect for relaxing and sipping a glass of iced tea, along with a carefully mowed yard filled with lots of flowers. In reality I got a small front porch, some scraggly flower gardens and an overheated patio. I wanted to love my patio, but in reality I despised it. Surrounded by a wall of intricately patterned cement blocks surrounding a barren concrete wasteland. Whoever had designed the patio had built it on a slope, so it ran slightly downhill. Not only was it ugly, it was so hot, with the Georgia sun shining down on our heads, that the kids would stay there for approximately two minutes during our impromptu picnics and then ask to go inside again. This year I decided it was time for “Project Patio.” I researched DIY ideas to redo our patio (hint: projects coming soon!) and presented them to my family. I had all sorts of ideas to delegate to the family as I felt I should be creative designer and management. One item I knew I wanted was a fountain to give the patio ambiance and a relaxing water feature. I found this hand painted Translucent Lighted Fountain with a Floral Design from Brylane Home and immediately began to work it into our design.
An upclose view of the handpainted designs.
Admittedly, I am having a few challenges with redesigning our patio, which is why the fountain is setting on a pile of cement blocks and not occupying a place of honor on the patio. We are expanding the patio, which means cutting down a tree and digging out the roots. I have accomplished chopping down the tree– I swing a mean chainsaw–but haven’t gotten all the roots removed yet. When I do, watch out! I am building a flower bed from cement blocks and installing the fountain in a prominent position of honor. This fountain is made of polyresin and is much lighter than I expected. That’s both good and bad. Good in that I can move it wherever I want easily, bad in that tornado season is approaching and strong winds would move it around. I plan to place some pebbles in the base to, hopefully, help it keep its position. I’m pleased to add the fountain can be wiped clean. I have enough outdoor furniture and objects to scrub without adding more. At 20 inches in height and 15 inches in diameter, it might get lost if added to a huge outdoor area, but will look good as a focal point for a smaller area.
I plan on visiting the Brylane Home for more of my seasonal needs. They have a planter and trellis I have my eye on! You can check out their Facebook and Twitter page to keep up to date with their products!
