This summer was supposed to be “the” summer for our garden. We had big plans to resurface our uneven lawn and build a kiddy corner for Luna, who absolutely loves to be outdoors.
Sadly, it’s been a bit of a washout. It hasn’t kept us from getting out and about, but it’s certainly hindered our garden plans a little.
What we have achieved though has really brightened things up so I wanted to share this quick mini makeover in case you too need a little boost to get the littler jobs done in the fleeting moments of sun!
The picture above was taken at National Trust’s Quarry Bank Mill in Styal (Cheshire) and I just fell in love with the lilacs surrounding this cute little private house on the property. I immediately decided lilac was going to be added into our garden somewhere. Anywhere.
Joe was given two lovely planters a year or so ago as a birthday gift and truth be told, they have just sat in the garden looking a little sad. So, we cleaned them, gave them a good scrub and decided to give them a lick of paint.
I really want a colourful garden and I happened to have a voucher for Valspar paint so I decided on Dusty Lilac from the Garden Colours range.
We’ve already used Valspar paint in our lounge (Down In The Nile), bedroom (Ruby Begonia) and hallway (Oopsy Daisy) so had good experience with it indoors, and thankfully, it’s just as good outside too! Two light coats did the trick and because it was so sunny when we painted, no waiting around for coats to dry, hell to the yeah!
I love the colour and this particular pastel shade for the garden. It’s the colour I originally wanted to paint our picnic table but that has sadly gone to greener pastures (aka the tip – a story for another day!)
(Yes I had to do some sneaky photography when Joe was digging up grass in the rain poor thing. Thankfully he has plenty of strong workwear from Engelbert Strauss which keeps him from ruining his better clothes. They’re really durable, even for someone like Joe who has a reputation in our family for breaking everything!)
We finished it off by planting these beautiful trees and I love how they look almost lime green against the purple on the wood. Because it’s an outside paint, it means the planters are already treated for weather conditions and doesn’t need a base coat which is how we managed to get these painted in a super quick turnaround. Not a bad little makeover for when Luna was napping! I hope you like them. I think they look awesome – come rain or shine. And there’s been rain. Oh, how there has been rain.