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I cannot tell you how EXCITED I am to have a front porch to decorate for the holidays! It’s our first Halloween at the townhouse and whether we end up getting trick or treaters or not, the decorations were going up! This is the first time EVER in my adult life that I’ve actually had a front porch of my own and not just an apartment door so I definitely had a lot of fun with it!

Bats: Similar | Skeleton: Similar | Spider Webs: Similar | Candy Corn Lights: Similar

Our front porch isn’t super big so we decided to also take advantage of our Juliette balcony for some decor! We added a skeleton we had, as well as some spider webs and lights. Since he gets s little windy up there too we also tied the skeleton to the balcony with some twine.

My other favorite part of our decor are these bats! How fun right?!

Next up is the front porch! Of course we all know the real stars of the season are pumpkins! We picked up a bunch of varieties at Trader Joes this year. I also brought out a wood crate we had to add a little height and give us more space to stack pumpkins. Add in some corn cobs and some lights and the front porch was ready to go!

Wreath: Option 1 & Option 2 | Halloween Ornaments: Similar

Another fun decor element is our wreath. I actually got this years ago when I was living in NYC and thought I was splurging (it was a whole $30 😂). What I love about it is since it’s black and silver I can change the decorations to match the holiday. In NYC this was more a matter of space, but even still I like having the option. So for Halloween, I add a spider and some Halloween ornaments. For Christmas, I swap out the ornaments, add some ribbon and a hanging snowflake. Then for Valentine’s Day, I add some cute heart lights. It’s nice to have something that is versatile!

Spider Webs: Similar | Plastic Spiders: Similar | Halloween Tombstones: Similar

To finish off our decorations, we added spider webs to our bushes with plastic spiders sprinkled throughout them. Then a few faux tombstones in our flower beds!

It was so fun getting in the spirit! I hope you liked the tour and maybe even got some inspo for your decorations too!

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Welcome to our living and dining room! Something I absolutely love about our townhouse is that it gets such great light! Add in the yellow paint that’s throughout most of our house and it always has bright and cheery vibes. Which is definitely nice during our gloomy PNW winters too! Another thing that is really awesome about the space is all of the built-in shelving! I definitely didn’t waste any time filling those puppies up.

Couch: Similar | Cowhide: Similar | Pom Pom Throw Blanket: Similar | Tray: Similar

Our living/dining area is located on the main floor (which is kind of the second floor) and something else I really liked about the townhouse is it didn’t have a huge dining area. I know that’s not a popular opinion and maybe my thoughts on this will change. For me though, having a full separate dining room is such a waste of space… We really wouldn’t use one, so I love that we have an area that is functional but doesn’t take away from the use of the room. We also have a balcony right off of the dining area which gives us another little area where we can eat or hang out.

When it comes to our shelves, let’s be honest, they’re mostly used for my plant babies 😂🌱. They’re certainly the stars of the room with my sun-loving plants on the shelf nearest to the window and the ones that need less direct light on the other. Definitely serving out that purpose well!

For the rest of the space, I wanted them to be both functional plus highlight things that were personal to us. We do spend a lot of time in this space after all! So you’ll find that reflected through the artwork, different family heirlooms, and some of the rocks we’ve picked up from our adventures (yes we do that) that are on display. Designing each shelf was really all about purpose, meaning and a dash of styling.

Also, I’d like to let it be known that when I designed the “Let’s Stay Home” print for Evan’s first apartment… I did not anticipate the pandemic of 2020! It definitely has a different meaning these days.

Rug: Similar | Plant Basket: Similar | Decorative Suitcases: Similar

The other end of our living room, connects to our kitchen which is super handy! It’s really nice to be able to still chat while one of us is cooking and also being able to watch the TV if something is on. Plus being able to hand things through the opening if very practical.

When it came to the TV, the big opening where the plant and suitcases are was actually where the TV was intended to be. Our house was built in 2003, back in the era where the TVs were so deep! We decided against putting it there though and went with mounting it instead. It just worked out better and made more sense for us.

Light Fixture: Home Depot | Bar Table: Amazon | Bar Cart: Target | Bar Stools: Target | Shelves: Ikea

Now onto the dining room area! Like I said, this space isn’t too big but it works out perfectly for us. We had this bar table from our old apartment and decided to stick with it here too. When it comes to the dining area, my favorite part is the new lighting fixture for sure.

The one that was there when we moved in was a lot bigger and a little dated. I mean, it worked and everything, but since we opted not to have an actual dining table it ended up just looking too big for the space. Plus, with everything being very move-in ready it was really the only thing I kind of wanted to change. Queue me starting to look for light fixtures… My goal was to find something that was smaller, was a little more industrial, and wasn’t a million dollars. It took me a hot minute to find something I was into but this one ended up being perfect + it was only $150! Which, if you’ve looked at lighting before you know that’s a steal for those types of lighting fixtures.

On top of the bar cart, is my tried and true open shelving for some of my favorite glasses. I’ve integrated this design element into pretty much all of the apartments I’ve lived in since my NYC days and it’s always one of my favorites. I also swear by these shelves from Ikea for doing this. They are SO much sturdier than others I’ve tried. Another thing you can do is spray paint the hardware so you can put a little of your own touch on the look too.

Spray paint is my friend let me tell you! Another thing I spray painted was the barstools! I had a set of two but since we put the table in the middle of the room we needed another set. Of course, after buying a house I was trying to save wherever I could and didn’t want to spend the brand new price for another set. So instead, I looked on Facebook Marketplace, got a set of 3 for a whopping $25 and then I spray painted all 4 of them black so they all matched. My original two were a bronze metal color and the new ones were white, but the spray paints didn’t match perfectly so I just went black so they’d all match.

I’m a little biased but I think it turned out pretty good! Here’s a final look from the dining area peaking out onto the balcony. This is a fun little corner too because our hummingbird feeder is right outside and then they also like to sit in the trees right outside the window! They’ve officially become my unofficial pets now. Plus that tree has been moved into many rooms and was on a mission to die but has been thriving in this corner ever since so it’s staying there for the long-term! Oh to be a plant mom!

I hope you enjoyed the tour and I’ve linked to more of the products we used + some similar options below! if there’s anything specific you’re interested in though be sure to shoot me a note!

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One of the reasons I fell in love with our townhouse when we first looked at it was the outdoor space! Boy have I been thankful we’ve had it during the pandemic too… Being able to eat dinner outside, read a book or get some fresh air while working… it’s been a blessing that’s for sure! Since we’ve been spending A LOT more time at home this summer than we had planned too I’ve been really focused… ahem, obsessed… with making the most of the space. All without spending an arm or a leg because ish is a little nuts right now and holy cow can outdoor furniture be expensive! 😳

So now that we’ve officially finished the space, you know I had to share how it turned out! Before we do that though, here’s a few before shots so you can see what we were working with. It’s definitely not a huge space so it was all about designing the space with function, making it fun and keeping that budget in check.

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There’s 3 main parts of our outdoor space, the patio, side yard and balcony — all of which needed some help! Throughout the winter and spring we started picking up a few things here or there, including our patio set that we got for a steal right after Christmas. I’m talking half the price! For the most part though, we needed to furnish all 3 areas.

The Patio

The one thing we had to start was our 4-piece conversation patio set! So we weren’t totally starting from scratch on this space. Evan also really had his heart set on getting a fire pit for the backyard. Our backyard is super tight so we definitely couldn’t have wood-burning ones but found a great propane option that was pretty affordable off of Amazon. Since we got that, we decided to use the table that came with the patio set more as a side table or bench if we need extra seating. If you get a fire pit, I highlight recommend one that has the metal cover too so it’s easy to cover for our many rainy Washington days.

Patio Set: Similar | Outdoor Pillows: Walmart | Outdoor Rug: Similar | Fire Pit: Amazon

Then for a few Costco buys! I had been looking for weeks for outdoor rugs that, again, weren’t ridiculously expensive and Evan found this one at Costco in the exact size we needed for $40 off! I wish I could link that for you guys but they’re out for the season. If you’re in the market for a new one next year though, definitely check them out because the quality is awesome! We had also got one of their outdoor light sets for Christmas that we hung from the fence. We just used little screw hooks on each fence post to keep things simple. The Costco light set is a great deal too because it’s 48-feet and they were less that $50. We ended up needing to get a smaller set to finish off the side yard and even on sale those were $30 and they were only 24-feet. So another thing to add to your Costco list!

BBQ: Lowe’s | Patio Lighting: Similar

Evan’s family also gifted us this amazing BBQ as a housewarming gift! Which has made the backyard 10 times better than any decor we could have done! This is on the other side of the main patio kind of in the corner between the side yard. Then we finished off the space with a few plants, of course! I had got a flat of marigolds for the garden and my flower boxes in the front of the hose so we filled up a few more pots with those and then Evan really wanted to get a Japanese Maple tree in honor of Scoots so he picked up that little guy! In a few years it will probably be the perfect height to fill up that space too.

The Balcony

For the balcony, we decided to keep things really simple and keep that budget in check. I went back and forth on some different options but decided to save on this portion and we went with a few stackable chairs from Home Depot. Then I added a little signature Anna color to the space with an outdoor mat and some throw pillows I found at Michaels on clearance. Evan also found the side table on clearance which finished up the space perfectly! Now we can enjoy weekend mornings out there watching the hummingbirds.

3 Piece Patio Conversation Set: Rattan Set Amazon | Rocking Chair Set: Amazon

The Side Yard

This one was the toughest part! I was so torn on what to do with this space. The side yard is pretty narrow — I’m talking 5 feet across so we definitely didn’t have too much space. I also didn’t want the space to just go to waste though! I must have went back and forth on 10 different ideas before finding reasons why they wouldn't work. After running through so many ideas, I had just decided to leave it as is for a dog run for Benji and figure something out next year 🙈. Evan knew I really wanted to do something with it though so for our anniversary he decided he was going to makeover the space for me!

The one thing I was really hoping for that space was having a place to lay down especially because it’s shaded over there for a lot of the day. Originally I was thinking a hammock, but we ran into the prob of the stands being too big and there’s concrete poured below so we wouldn’t be able to dig up for posts — like I said, so many ideas squashed! All that being said, he decided to build me an oversized bench! Then we had also gotten some pavers from my sister that they weren’t using so he put those in place, leveled out the space with more gravel and even got a little patch of grass for the corner for Benji!

Pavers: Home Depot | Pea Gravel: Home Depot | Large Pillows: Lowe's | Standard Pillows: Similar & Similar | Chaise Cushions: Lowe's | Cinder Blocks: Home Depot | Landscape Divider: Lowe's

The bench is 8 ft long and a little more than 2 feet across so plenty of space to lay down! We found a few different simple designs on Pinterest that we liked that were simple and didn’t involve too much construction. He built it out of interlocking cinder blocks and then some wood for the top part that he stained and sealed. Then to finish it off, I bought some cushions to make it extra cozy!

Since he made the bench, the size was a little bigger than most of the standard cushions so I ended up getting two chaise lounge cushions and then a few big outdoor pillows to mix in with some others I had already bought. All of the cushions and pillows were on clearance too so it was a major score! Can you believe those big pillows were only $13?! On top of the other smaller ones I got at Michaels for $7 a pop! If you’ve ever shopped for outdoor pillows you know that’s a steal!

Here’s a look from above too so you can really see we weren’t working with a lot of space there! overall I am SO dang happy with how the space turned out. I knew Evan would do a great job but it really exceeded my expectations and I’m so excited to spend more time in the backyard now that summer weather has finally arrived in Washington!

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