Robin's Room

When we moved into our house, I told Robin that I would compromise with him on home decor. You see, Robin really likes more modern decor and I...don't. Our decor is definitely a mix of traditional and transitional, nothing like the light wood, clean lines, and metal that Robin would choose if things were left up to him.

In an effort to mesh our two styles, I told him that if he'd let me have the rest of the house, he could have 3 rooms. He happily agreed.

His 3 rooms? His office, the garage, and outside.

As you can tell, I chose to interpret the word "room" very loosely!

He was actually pretty happy with this arrangement and so we've spent a fair amount of time getting his "rooms" fixed up for him.

Last year, we added a beautiful red cedar pergola to our backyard. My dad, a contractor, built the entire thing by himself. I knew it would turn out well...my dad has great taste and he's a perfectionist. It turned out even better than we hoped and has added so much to our backyard.

The pergola was a perfect option for us because our back porck is right outside of the only window in our living room. I didn't want to completely block all light but the angle of our house means that we can now sit in shade in the afternoon. Perfect!

Robin is also a big fan of bamboo. We drove to someplace he found online in south Houston that sells a lot of bamboo and he selected some clumping bamboo for the backyard. We now have 4 different clumps of bamboo against our fence around the yard. To my surprise, it actually looks really nice! Our backyard is very small and we didn't want to eat up too much yard space, so the bamboo gives us a lot of green for the buck. You can see the bamboo here before he planted it (and right before we hired Chemlawn...our grass looks great now. Bye bye weeds!).

We also recently added an Oklahoma Redbud tree. I went to college at the University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner!) and there are gorgeous redbud trees all over Norman. It is just about to bloom. Can't wait to see it!

Anyway, we've been searching for new patio furniture in earnest since the pergola was finished. We had just doubled the budget in despair of ever finding something we both liked and that met our needs when we found this set at Target.com. A sale, free shipping, and the AAA 10% discount made it a no-brainer and it is on its way. Hopefully, we will be lounging on our new patio furniture next week.

Robin insisted on an ottoman for the chair and I insisted on a neutral color and something that would be comfortable for lounging. This set made both of us happy and the great reviews and amazing price sealed the deal!

Image via www.target.com

Sorry about the mini-image. Apparently, Target does not want you to know about it's patio furniture!

We picked up a loveseat, 2 chairs, an ottoman, a coffee table, and an end table. We may add an outdoor rug but haven't decided yet.

Also on the to-do list for the backyard this year:

• plants for along the back of the house
• brick the area beneath the faucet/hose
• add some planeters and hanging plants to the pergola

I can't wait for the reveal!

In other news, the kitchen renovation begins TOMORROW!

(Yay for not even being able to feel guilty about not cooking.)