Aloha, and welcome to my mini Maui lanai makeover!
And a BIG welcome to those visiting from The Procrastinator’s Summer Porch Tour 2015!
Kathy from Petticoat Junktion is the brainchild of this marvelous event! A few procrastinating bloggers have banded together to showcase their own summer porches. Are you late in the game too? Good! You won’t feel out of place with this group. 🙂
Because I’m in the land of Maui at the moment, and I miss DIYing (I really do!), I wanted to join this fun reason to play with my current space!
My son and I are absolutely blessed to be renting this amazing ground level condo, owned by a friend of our family. I love love LOVE it so very much, because when I wake up each morning, I can slide those patio doors open, and feel the crunch of the grass (and a million flower petals) beneath my feet.
The beautiful, surrounding gardens offer a natural extention to the patio, and I couldn’t be more in love with the grounds! More on that soon. First? Let’s pretty things up.
Because it’s a rental, you obviously can’t leave anything of great value out, only to have it stolen, or ruined from the nightly sprinklers.
But even if just for this event, I wanted to cozy it up a little, to show that just a few very minor tweaks can really enhance a small space.
These aloe vera plants have already come to my rescue, nursing my first Hawaiian sunburn. And they worked!!
So they will also get some special treatment as a thank-you… 🙂
First off, everything was moved off the patio, then the tile floor got a good scrub with just a scrub brush and dish soap.
A few weeds were pulled, and some bricks arranged around the air conditioner just to tidy things up.
I will say… in a perfect world, I can see landing a bunch of reclaimed wood and building a little coffee station or serving area along the right wall or over the air conditioner. But having no junk nor tools on hand (imagine..), I just pulled a few things from inside the condo.
So as I was working, I took a small break and walked the grounds. Upon returning, I actually gasped…
Such a startling difference, with really, very little done!
A pretty lamp for a little nighttime illumination, and the tall grass hiding the air conditioner were the main game changers.
Two beach towels helped soften the hard lines of the chairs, and the bright pillows adding a little Hawaiian punch! ( I couldn’t help myself…)
I’m really crazy about the lamp. They were a set in the bedroom so they are not outdoor compliant. But they cast the best filtered, soft light! And on a non rainy (sprinkling?) evening while sitting out there, it’s perfect.
These flowers had actually fallen from the trees and were nesting on the lawn, so I borrowed a few.
Ohhhh.. you have no idea what the lawn looks like. But I’ll show you. There are gorgeous petals everywhere you look!
The lounger was temporarily moved onto the lawn. Perfect! Why not take advantage of that beautiful yard?
Seriously… this is what fallen leaves look like in Maui. Incredible, isn’t it?
And here’s the newly enhanced garden…
The two aloe vera plants were sitting on stepping stones of their own, so I just moved them over a little and incorporated some things that were already sitting outside, and added a couple of coconuts.
The sprinkler hose was embedded into the soil, and is keeping ‘my yard’ green, so it’s allowed to stay. 🙂
The pretty cement bird cloche houses a candle inside, so it’s perfect beside the lounger.
I can barely believe that gorgeous palm leaf can live outside in the elements.
And my insanely amazing yard. Would you like a little tour?
You can see an entire blog post on these beautiful grounds HERE.
This is my view from the patio. I love peeking through all the trees and vegetation, framing that gorgeous arbor in full bloom.
And how do you take your kona coffee? 🙂
This was so fun! I hope you enjoyed my little tour with a twist! Think this little oasis would do it for you? 🙂
You can visit my own patio back home (from last summer) HERE.
If you’re curious, you can view the rest of my Maui posts HERE.
And now, I have a treat for you! Visit the blogs below to see what porch beauty awaits elsewhere…
Wow, so gorgeous! I would love to visit someday. As for you, Miss Donna, I can’t believe your don’t travel with an extra suitcase full of junk for when inspiration strikes! 😉
Ha! Thanks Kimm! I had planned to fill an extra suitcase up while here, but it appears the beach doesn’t host flea markets. What’s up with that?! 🙂
That looks so relaxing! I would want to hang out on the patio all day every day, but then again it is Hawaii so you have the ocean and all THAT! I’ll just have to enjoy my view of the muddy soy bean fields for right now and let me tell you, soy beans are not as picturesque as they sound 🙂
Yeah, it’s been a toss up on where to spend time over my morning coffee.. overlooking the garden out back, the beach or the pool. The choices have been tough! 🙂
Thanks for your visit, Pam!
WOW! You did an outstanding job without having tools or junk. The difference in the porch is amazing. I love the pops of red. Love the idea of a coffee bar to hide the air conditioner. Have any vacationing neighbors commented on your patio makeover? Hawaiian Punch…..really.
Oh Kathy, this tour has lit a DIY fire under me. After viewing everyone else’s, I want to visit the nearest Home Depot and do more. LOTS more. Chanting to myself now… go to the beach… go to the beach… haha
I couldn’t leave my pretty stuff out so no neighbouring comments. But I bring a few things out if I know I’ll be sitting awhile. 🙂
Thanks for your visit and putting on this fun challenge!
What a fun adventure! And those “fallen leaves” are definitely ones I wouldn’t mind…
How awesome! When I retire…My blog is on the tour, too…I hope you’ll stop by!!
Hey Kirby! I hope you make it here before you retire… there’s effort involved dashing to all these fun places! 🙂
So glad you stopped by! Sorry I didn’t have your link up at first… all fixed!
Ohhhh Donna, I love what you did! And without your tools! What a fabulous place to spend the summer. Fantastic photography too! I love Maui! Thank you so much for joining the tour. ~Jeanette
Ohhh Jeanette… I feel like my hands are tied behind my back with no tools in them. haha But somehow an extra kona coffee to keep them busy is working.
This was a fun challenge. Now I want to do more… #help.
Your lanai looks so cozy and comfortable. Just a little tweaking went a long way! You really lucked out with a ground floor unit and all that grass to enjoy. Fun, fun, fun!!!
Aloha Donna and Cody, you have done some amazing rearranging of things, love all the pictures. The big shell is a conch so Cody and you need to practice at sunset, you will laugh and laugh. It does take practice and only as the sun sets. I can do it so you both can. Glad you are having fun and the place looks amazing.
Wow. What a small world. I immediately recognized the lanai space from your photos. My husband & I own condos above that unit on the 4th & 5th floors. I love the grounds and landscaping of the Kihei Akahi complex, too. It is our favorite vacation spot. Love what you did with your slice of paradise!
Wow, what an amazing place to have a porch! And you made it look so nice with just those few small changes! The view is breathtaking, of course. Thanks for giving us a tour and letting us imagine we’re there too! Glad you joined in on the tour. ~ Angie
I love this – putting things together to create a simple space is so much fun. This is awesome and the flowers in the dish are a perfect detail. Simply beautiful.
You can take the girl out of the DIY workshop but you can’t take the DIY out of the girl!!!
I love your website and blog. I understand the need for ads for your income but I find the ads very annoying and they interfere with your pictures. Whatever change that was made to your blog months ago regarding the ads has made a negative impact on the quality of your info/pictures shown on your blog. I know you spend a lot of time and energy on your blog and I am bummed how much the commercials/ads ruin it.
Thanks for the feedback Sandy! I’m currently working behind the scenes to minimize the more intrusive ads. I don’t have the issues Americans appear to have, being on Canadian soil so I’m investigating what’s going on and what to do about it. I appreciate your feedback!
I still have a ceramic pumpkin and fake fall leaves on my back porch. I haven’t even bought potting soil and my succulents are half dead from needing transplanted. I haven’t even planted one flower. The gardens are as slow as I am – hydrangeas are just now squeezing out blossoms. I have to reset the whole garden in the fall so I’ve pretty much decided to wait until then
Really lovely with you using what you had on hand- even so I love the items around the pots.. Can you come and stay at my place in Australia and do the same? Please………………xxx
Okay, what kind of strange voodoo magic is this that you can completely transform a patio simply by rearranging the furniture that is there and adding a few carefully chosen items??? This is an extremely useful post because it shows that you don’t have to go out and purchase a bunch of stuff or even build anything…just use what you already have, but place it in a way that opens up the space and makes it feel welcoming. You did a fantatic job on this, Donna…makes me wish I was laying in that lounger, watching the pretty petals fall. All. Day. Long. 🙂
I loved the tree leaf shadows behind your lounge chair. So pretty.
Have a great time!
Isn’t it funny/sad how we accept the shhhtuff that is dealt us in life, not knowing we need a deep breath, change of scenery and knowing we need to take care of US! I am so proud of you for being the strong girl you are and going for it. You are my HERO, my role model! I cried almost sobbing while reading you’re heartfelt story. I felt your pain. Thank you for sharing and giving us the strength to do the same.
Thanks Missy! I think you meant to post this at: https://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2018/07/permission-to-thrive-through-a-long-vacation-inspiration.html however I’m glad I found your comment here regardless. xo