My crazy ideas

So, often in the course of decorating my home, I get these ideas in my head. For the most part I can visualize them, but it doesn't mean I know that specific item/plan exists. I do this with clothing too. I know *exactly* what I'm looking for and what I want, but who knows if it's out there or is feasible. I blame my mother. She does this too. It makes shopping difficult sometimes. Rumor has it, it makes us difficult to buy gifts for also.

Our pergola project definitely started as a picture in my head. When we realized this thing had to come down, I knew what I wanted, but wasn't sure how to create what I had imagined. Well, in this case, my vision definitely paid off! I posted a few months back about it. A quick reminder of the before:

Whole top section was rotten. Took very little effort for my Dad to yank that crap off the top. Then a rented truck from Home Depot, a bunch of treated lumber, some deck hangers, blood & sweat from my Dad (thanks!) and we had this:

Next step? LOADS of time on a tall ladder, a bucket of paint, some cursing & sweating from me, but I eventually finished the painting. And, I found this guy on Yelp to transform the bolt of Sunbrella fabric into strips that fit my vision. So, here you can see, painting done, strip number one on it's way up (and lots of giant plastic uglies yikes! as least the picnic table in neutral right?! that's what I tell myself)Once we figured it out, the hanging process was sort of fun, watching the whole thing take shape. It involved a staple gun, some hanger bolts, wing nuts and lots of ladder time. And alas, it's done!

We are still in search of a new pendant light. I had purchased a six arm iron chandelier, but a) it isn't a hard wired fixture and b) it's a bit too much. If anyone knows a good place for outdoor pendant fixtures, I'm all ears!

The front end fabric piece can be pulled down so that when the sun is blaring it's way down in the west, the person dining in the sunny seat isn't blinded. Z and I sat outside on Sunday night, watched the sun go down, chatted and shared a few drinks. My crazy idea seriously paid off this time. Seriously. LOVE our new pergola!