The weather in Sacramento has been perfect, let me elaborate on how perfect. We've had sunny skies with temperatures only reaching the mid-70’s. Mild weather in Sacramento during May is seriously unheard of. Typically the Summer heat wave is already rolling in with temps in the high 80's to mid-90's. Since the weather has been so nice, I’ve been spending a lot of time outside working our patio. My plan is to have my patio ‘Summer Ready’ by Memorial Day, which is right around the corner. I’m basically picking up where I left off last Summer, see more of my patio here.

Last Summer I tackled a few patio projects, I gave my existing outdoor dining room table and chairs a paint make-over (see more here) and added lots of plants to our patio. We also added lounge furniture to our patio. Now that our outdoor living area is coming together it feels like the square footage of our home has doubled. I love having an outdoor living room and dining area.

I’m a firm believer, that when you have a have a small home it's crucial to fully utilize all your spaces, especially your outdoor spaces.

Our Patio Before

While I love how my patio has slowly come together over the past three Summers, there’s an area on my patio that’s an eyesore. When you have an older home, you sometimes inherit design dilemmas that cost way too much to correct. The eyesore on our patio is our electrical box and meter. Both are literally smack dab in the middle of our patio. While re-building our house, it was determined the cost to move the meter and electrical box wouldn't be worth it. My dad suggested having our contractor ‘build-in’ the meter and electrical box, that way it would look a little more finished.

I considered DIYing a panel to cover the meter and electrical box inspired by Dana at House Tweaking, who built a fab cover for hers. However, since ours a combination electrical box/meter we needed to able to have easy access to our electrical panel. Just an FYI, we have a smart meter, so having it covered up won’t be an issue for the electrical company. They still #BillUs!

See how the meter and electrical box sticks out like a sore thumb? Plus its right not to our outdoor seating area.

After looking for a design solution to help disguise the unsightly element on the patio, I found the solution a planter with trellis! I love planters on patios, I love how they add so much interest and color to outdoor spaces. When it comes to planters for outdoor spaces it's always better to go big and vary the planters in height and style. I recently added the Gardener’s Revolution Classic Vine Garden Kit to my patio. The trellis planter, comes in three colors: white, red clay and espresso. The planter is huge and I love that it has a grid style trellis attached to it. I also love the style of the planter it feels modern and fits in perfectly with the existing planters on my patio. The new planter adds so much good drama to our patio! Plus I love the vertical element of the trellis that draws your eyes up and out.

The Classic Vine Garden kit came with three large organic bags of soil and organic all-purpose fertilizer. I planted two Pink Bower vines inside my planter, and three small potato vines in the front of the planter. I took my time winding the vines through the metal trellis and carefully attached the vines with twine to the trellis. I can't wait for the entire vine to flower, its going to look ever prettier.

We shifted a few plants on our patio and moved the side table to the other side of the chair to make room for the planter. My husband and I placed the trellis planter in front of the eyesore on our patio, right next to our outdoor sofa.

As you can see in the picture, below the trellis planter is the perfect height to help disguise our utility box and electrical panel. Even before I added the vines to the planter, I was thrilled with the result!

The trellis planter looks incredible on our patio and the vine adds so much color and cleverly disguises our meter and electrical box. I’m also thrilled that the planter was easy to assemble and is self-watering! Even though I’m growing flowering vines in the planter, you can easily grow vine crops in the planter. I love how pretty the planter looks on our patio, its such a pretty addition.

This planter would also be perfect on small open patio or balcony for privacy. The vertical element of the trellis would help create the feeling of a wall. As the vines flourish over time, it would add the privacy element on an open outdoor area.

Modern Vine Trellis Planter

I'm thrilled with this new patio update and I can't get over how incredible it looks! What do you think of our new trellis planter?

This post is in partnership with Gardener’s Supply. All words are my own.

Happy Monday! I know Monday's can be rough, its back to the grind. But honestly its one of my favorite days of the week. Why? Because on Monday on the blog I celebrate living small. As a small homeowner living in under 1200 square feet with a family of four and a lab puppy, I know first hand the challenges of living small. I started the design series Small Home Style in 2016, to share small home design ideas and tips to help small home dwellers stylish maximize their spaces.

I seriously love a small well-thought-out kitchen. But, let's be honest not every small kitchen space feels like space is being properly utilized to its full potential. While small kitchens can be a challenge. With challenges comes opportunities to get creative design-wise. I've put together design ideas and storage solutions to help maximize a Galley kitchen. Today, I'm sharing Five Stylish Design Ideas for Galley Kitchens.

Galley Kitchens while practical in a small home or apartment, they can be very tricky to make it work.' Typically Galley kitchens are set up with workspaces on either side with not much 'open' room between cabinets. In addition, many small Galley kitchens are closed off from the rest of the home or have both entrance/exit to another room in the home. I'm sharing Five Stylish Design Ideas for Galley Kitchens. I've put together design ideas and storage solutions to help maximize a Galley kitchen.

Five Stylish Design Ideas for Galley Kitchens

ONE Add Built-ins. If your Galley kitchen has a doorway, consider adding built-ins around the doorway to provide stylish provide extra storage. In the kitchens below, adding the built-in cabinet gives the small kitchen a stylish exit and lots of additional storage for bowls, cutting boards, and books.

TWO Open Shelves. When wall space is at a premium in a small Galley kitchen, go vertical with open shelves. Open shelving is great in a small kitchen! Open shelves allow all you stylish store all the items you use most often out in the open. In addition, the shelves can be narrow for holding smaller items or deeper to hold plates. Open shelves make kitchen items feel more decorative. In my kitchen, I have open shelves between a cabinet and my fridge. On my shelves I have plants, bowls, cookbooks and much more, see more of my kitchen here.

THREE Hang it Up. Create addition storage underneath open shelves, by adding a hanging bar to hold pots, pans, and miscellaneous kitchen items. Having kitchen essentials out in the open will make you more likely to use them, plus it's like having art on your walls.

FOUR No Wasted Space. A lot of interior Galley kitchens lack windows, leaving a black space about the kitchen sink. Consider adding a shelf with brackets to go above your kitchen sink to hold artwork, plants, and flowers. Also, add lighting above your sink with either a pendant above of wall sconces.

FIVE Bring in Pattern. Patterned floors are everything and a complete show stopped in small spaces (see above and below!) How pretty are those tiles! I love that you can totally splurge on pretty tile for a small space and it won't be a budget breaker. Is patterned tile too much of a commitment? No worries, bring in a pretty patterned rug. Geometric or a Vintage-inspired Persian rug make a fabulous statement in a small kitchen.

I hope you've enjoyed my five ideas to help maximize the space in a small Galley kitchen. Tell me, what type of kitchen do you have? What ways have you maximized your kitchen to make it more storage savvy and sttlish?