When my dad passed away, he left an inheritance for my brother and me. I used the money I had to redo the inside of the trailer our landlord sold out from under us which caused me to lose a lot of the money my dad left me. That is a story for another day.
Today I wanted to share a story from our seiresšæ FROM PORCH TO PANTRY- Life in Bloom: Back Porch Furniture Thatās Still Holding Up After Years of Real Use I purchased at Walmart for Charlie and I when we used to sit outside under the carport at the Trailer/ Mobile Home.
Since we donāt do staged reviews in our home. Everything we share with you is something we actually use, live with, and move around as life changes. This back porch setup started as a Walmart clearance purchase.
An entire patio set for under $300. A gift for myself because I had always wanted backyard furniture but couldn’t afford it until I got the gift from my dad. Over time, this furniture didnāt just stay in one place. We used it, moved it, and adapted it to fit different parts of our home.
What was originally one full set now lives in more than one space:
- The couch is used upstairs on our balcony
- The chairs were moved to the front porch
- One of the tables anchors our back porch space
When we was in the trailer the couch sat up on our porch with and the tables and chairs was used under the carport for my friends to sit out on when they stopped by. At times David’s mom and my sister have asked for the furniture which when we moved I thought they would have to take.
That wasn’t the case when we moved into our Townhome/ Apartment at Appian Way because we have the back porch, front porch and balcony off my bedroom which is the perfect spot for the couch for C and Mikalya to hang out on or a reading spot for me.
This is what real home living looks like for usāthings donāt just sit pretty in one spot. They get used where they fit best. Even after years of use, the pieces have held up surprisingly well. Theyāve survived weather, daily use, and constant rearranging as our home evolved.
We’ve used the pillows it comes with and at times added extra pillows to the brown wicker furniture to dress it up. Or we have covered the cushions with blankets featuring different holidays to give the area a different look.
Being shot I thought the couch and chairs might be to deep for me to reach the flower but there not. Even Charlie and David who are over 6 feet fit into the seats perfectly and they are so comfortable. I can’t wait until I’m able to get a bistro table to go on the back porch.
The tables and one of the chairs will fit nicely on the back porch so when he and his friends are hanging out on the back porch, they have somewhere to sit. At any given time if you look for Bear you will find her stretched out on the couch taking life easy.
The Cracker Barrel sign on the porch and our seasonal dog figures from Ollies and Home Depo (used for holidays like Memorial Day, Labor Day, and the 4th of July) add a lived-in personality to the space. In our home we donāt decorate onceāwe shift things throughout the year, using what we already have in different ways.
Thatās really what this series is about. Not perfection. Not staging. Just real life in motion. Living on a budget making do with what we have or find along the way, or someone gives us because they didn’t need it.
This is part of our Life in Bloom -homeāwhere everything we own is used, moved, loved, and tested over time not only by my family but friends and dogs to. Is your home like this?
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
