i just want to eat outside.

two summers ago russ demo-ed our house's sorry excuse for a back porch, it should be called a perch, really. it fit our grill and mary-kate olsen...and that's it. his plans were to build a large two level patio that we could enjoy as well as our basement renters.

last summer, russ finished the first level, and our renters have been living in the lap of patio luxury all year. i woudn't mind having that perch back right about now. i really can't complain, the man works so hard, the last thing he needs to do is more home improvement.
but, the rockstar that he is, he's finishing our level of the porch the end of this summer. (right, muffin?)

i think i may be addicted to decorating my house because all i can think about it what i am going to do for our outdoor living space. [didn't i basically re-decorate my whole house this year? yes, i did.]

here are some images i've been staring at:

images from san francisco idea house & point click home

loving bright furniture, a built in fire pit, the bright red door frame, potted herb garden.
have you decorated outside before? what shops/sites are good? i really don't know where to start.

p.s. the poll closes tonight & i am seriously so surprised by the results. i would have thought the opposite would happen. we'll delve into that later.