I clearly remember this moment, before I bought my house, when a real estate agent and I'm standing on the front porch as she described the annual Little League opening day parade on the street, Buena Vista Avenue.
I imagine my husband and myself in wicker chairs, watching the team in white uniforms when they dared to walk past us toward the ball fields. I imagined my three daughters on the fence, waving a white handkerchief to say beat the average respectable players.
Of course I bought a house. But life is different opening.
It turned out that the parade actually took place a block and out of sight. For others, the only interest of the girls I ever show in the porch is at Halloween, when they decided to rubber arm dangled from the ceiling. As for seats, they stood on the balcony, from which point we feel more comfortable to seduce a neighbor who walked by.
Today, the front porch features a faded doormat, an ivy plant that we often forget to water and cobwebs in the corner. Some hardwood floors could use replacement.
Last week I had an uncontrollable desire to create an empty terrace in a useful outdoor room. I'm not sure why, exactly, because I have so much useful in a room barely room that we use.
In any case, I realized after browsing online for a few minutes everything I might need to perform miracles that are available, from Catalina floor lamp ($ 155.70 in BackYardCity.com) to a vintage eight-legged chairs ($ 2800 in AntiqueWicker. Com ).
I saw decorative gardenia topiaries ($ 34.99) at ProFlowers.com plantations and shaped like an umbrella hanging ($ 59.95) on the WhiteFlowerFarm.com.
But where to start? Before I could find a solution, I realized that I had to deal with the new version of the recurring philosophical issue I face every time I left for the royal expedition to buy.
Is there an empty place in the life of someone who can only fill the outer space?
Fortunately, I was not the first to grapple with the topic. Derek Drummond, a professor emeritus of architecture at McGill University in Montreal, has visited the neighborhood students to find examples from outside the room and to observe how these spaces improve people's life.
I called him.
"I'm glad you think of the front porch, because for years it was the animals dying, and it was embarrassing," said Drummond. "They began to disappear after the Second World War because of their construction costs and because people stopped using them. These days, people sat in the back of the house."
"Then how can you spy on the neighbors?" I asked.
"In general, most people do not want to. It's a sad thing," said Drummond.
I began to feel virtuous.
"I have a front balcony too," I said. "I was out there drinking wine all the time, I mean after 4 am, of course, and disturb the people who passed by."
Given that I clearly had changed into useful balcony, I told him that I wondered why I felt the need for more outside living space.
"It's much better to have lots of outdoor space smaller than a large one, so you have one place to drink coffee in the morning when the sun on it and another place to sit and read," he said.
To make my narrow porch inviting, he suggested avoiding "a race situation"-one row of chairs facing the street, and encouraged to "circle seating" so people face each other.
A plan began to form. I imagine a two-seater sofa, one or two chairs, coffee table and rug.
After several hours of browsing, I narrowed my choices to two.
MaineCottage.com, furniture manufacturers last year began selling a strange, all weather wicker pieces directly to customers on its Web site, offers Fiona loveseat ($ 1,190) and matching chair ($ 690) in six colors and with 24 bearing possible.
Target.com has a four-piece resin wicker outdoor Loren set in antique white for $ 399.99. One option pillow-and-red dark gray line that looked like it might fit with the red porch floor.
To investigate, I went 30 minutes to the nearest Target store to inspect the furniture. There, on the corner of the garden and terrace, my 17-year-old daughter Loren saw the couch and matching chair. From a distance, the furniture looks great. Up close, it was a little plastic sheen, but my son convinced me that the dusty porch like us, who shine will soon fade.
We sit comfortably.
Excited about the possibility of instant shopping gratification, I asked a clerk if the set in stock.
He went to investigate. Ten minutes later, he again asked, "How big is your car?"
I bought the furniture at Target.com, pay a $ 130.89 premium for shipping, and I expect delivery within 10 days.
My dream when I bought this house almost realized. Only one small hurdle that remains is to persuade the Little League commissioner to change the parade route to Buena Vista Avenue.
source: www.chicagotribune.com
I imagine my husband and myself in wicker chairs, watching the team in white uniforms when they dared to walk past us toward the ball fields. I imagined my three daughters on the fence, waving a white handkerchief to say beat the average respectable players.
Of course I bought a house. But life is different opening.
It turned out that the parade actually took place a block and out of sight. For others, the only interest of the girls I ever show in the porch is at Halloween, when they decided to rubber arm dangled from the ceiling. As for seats, they stood on the balcony, from which point we feel more comfortable to seduce a neighbor who walked by.
Today, the front porch features a faded doormat, an ivy plant that we often forget to water and cobwebs in the corner. Some hardwood floors could use replacement.
Last week I had an uncontrollable desire to create an empty terrace in a useful outdoor room. I'm not sure why, exactly, because I have so much useful in a room barely room that we use.
In any case, I realized after browsing online for a few minutes everything I might need to perform miracles that are available, from Catalina floor lamp ($ 155.70 in BackYardCity.com) to a vintage eight-legged chairs ($ 2800 in AntiqueWicker. Com ).
I saw decorative gardenia topiaries ($ 34.99) at ProFlowers.com plantations and shaped like an umbrella hanging ($ 59.95) on the WhiteFlowerFarm.com.
But where to start? Before I could find a solution, I realized that I had to deal with the new version of the recurring philosophical issue I face every time I left for the royal expedition to buy.
Is there an empty place in the life of someone who can only fill the outer space?
Fortunately, I was not the first to grapple with the topic. Derek Drummond, a professor emeritus of architecture at McGill University in Montreal, has visited the neighborhood students to find examples from outside the room and to observe how these spaces improve people's life.
I called him.
"I'm glad you think of the front porch, because for years it was the animals dying, and it was embarrassing," said Drummond. "They began to disappear after the Second World War because of their construction costs and because people stopped using them. These days, people sat in the back of the house."
"Then how can you spy on the neighbors?" I asked.
"In general, most people do not want to. It's a sad thing," said Drummond.
I began to feel virtuous.
"I have a front balcony too," I said. "I was out there drinking wine all the time, I mean after 4 am, of course, and disturb the people who passed by."
Given that I clearly had changed into useful balcony, I told him that I wondered why I felt the need for more outside living space.
"It's much better to have lots of outdoor space smaller than a large one, so you have one place to drink coffee in the morning when the sun on it and another place to sit and read," he said.
To make my narrow porch inviting, he suggested avoiding "a race situation"-one row of chairs facing the street, and encouraged to "circle seating" so people face each other.
A plan began to form. I imagine a two-seater sofa, one or two chairs, coffee table and rug.
After several hours of browsing, I narrowed my choices to two.
MaineCottage.com, furniture manufacturers last year began selling a strange, all weather wicker pieces directly to customers on its Web site, offers Fiona loveseat ($ 1,190) and matching chair ($ 690) in six colors and with 24 bearing possible.
Target.com has a four-piece resin wicker outdoor Loren set in antique white for $ 399.99. One option pillow-and-red dark gray line that looked like it might fit with the red porch floor.
To investigate, I went 30 minutes to the nearest Target store to inspect the furniture. There, on the corner of the garden and terrace, my 17-year-old daughter Loren saw the couch and matching chair. From a distance, the furniture looks great. Up close, it was a little plastic sheen, but my son convinced me that the dusty porch like us, who shine will soon fade.
We sit comfortably.
Excited about the possibility of instant shopping gratification, I asked a clerk if the set in stock.
He went to investigate. Ten minutes later, he again asked, "How big is your car?"
I bought the furniture at Target.com, pay a $ 130.89 premium for shipping, and I expect delivery within 10 days.
My dream when I bought this house almost realized. Only one small hurdle that remains is to persuade the Little League commissioner to change the parade route to Buena Vista Avenue.
source: www.chicagotribune.com
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