You’ve all heard of the Better Homes & Gardens 48 Hour Challenge, right?  It’s where five top bloggers were chosen to makeover their porch in 48 hours with a $500 gift card from Home Depot, at the chance of winning a $5,000 bonus. Today was Mr. CG’s birthday, so while the tots stayed a bit late at school, for his birthday I spent 4.8 hours redoing the outdoor balcony he shares with his male business partners.  Yes, you heard me, four point eight hours!  I was entrusted with the job and given the same budget of $500 from the office, and all of my purchases came from Home Depot as well.

Here’s the CHALLENGE:  $500 budget from the office.  300 square feet of barren balcony, except for a few pieces of neutral furniture.  Four point eight hours (before the kids need picked up from school).

First things first, two rugs to define the seating areas.  At Home Depot, I purchased two 5×7 outdoor rugs for $59 each.  Then I also purchased one can of spray paint for $4.  With a bit of painter’s tape, I gave the neutral outdoor rugs a dark red band around the edge.  I also purchased some red and tan patterned pillows for $13 each to accent the loveseat and the chairs.

Next, I purchased some  deep red fiberglass planters for $39 each, and some plants to fill them.  I chose bamboo plants ($20 each) and a dwarf palm ($15).  I topped them off with ‘borrowed’ river rocks from the gigantic supply in the rock garden on the first floor.   River rocks on top of soil help make great mulch.

Then I created a mini garden in a $12 pot with $1 succulents, some aloe vera, and a red blooming cactus.  I also added the rock fountain from the office’s interior, and my own rock sculpture (that’s just river stones stacked on top of one another).

The business partners were very pleased with the transformation.

The deep red adds the necessary burst of color.  The river rocks and bamboo add “zen” as well as the succulents garden.  The rugs, planters and pillows unite the whole space, and it was all done for less than $500 and in less than five hours.  Rugs and paint = $123; Plants = $90; Planters and Soil = $130; Adirondack chairs and 6 pillows = $104; Bird Feeders and Nectar = $13.  Total without tax = $460

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Two days ago, I was discussing nightstands with my cousin Jeannie in Tucson and telling her how much I want to replace mine with one of these Terrific Trios from Ballard Designs.

Then I saw one on Craigslist this past weekend and quickly snapped it up for $25. 

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Last week, I posted some of my favorite dining spaces. Here are the rest of the images I’ve collected over the last few years.

House Beautiful, December 2008: Perfect blue walls and Chinese Chippendale chairs, paired with a dark wood table and floor, an elegant console and simple drapes. Photo by James Merrill 

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I am in the process of redoing my five year old daughter’s room, adding a little French garden inspired style to the space.  All of a sudden I was struck with the grand idea to paint a tree on her wall to carry along with the jardin theme.  What’s very strange is I don’t fancy myself a mural artist by any means, I typically shy away from wall murals as a bit “themey” and I rarely decorate with fake flowers.  Which makes it all the more bizarre that I would take upon myself the task of painting a cherry tree mural on my daughter’s wall and then glueing fake blooms to the branches.  Go figure.  But it turned out pretty cute!

My inspiration came from these images:

For the task, I gathered up some supplies including:

Follow up with your artist’s paintbrush to create finer lines around your edges. (It’s also a good idea to have your wall color paint ready in case you absolutely hate it. . . or just want to clean up the edges a bit more.)   Paint over center of trunk and branches with medium color brown paint to add some depth. Note: all of you folks with ‘orange peel’ wall texture will appreciate the bark effect that results from the texture underneath.  I didn’t paint it that way – it just happened.

While the trunk dries, paint simple leaves with your medium sized paint brush and light green paint in a simple leaf shape.

Then add a lot of dark green paint to your leftover light green paint, mix it, then swipe the leaves on one side or another to give some shading.

 You can even go back a third time with just the dark green paint to add more depth.

Return to your tree trunk with your lightest shade of brown/tan paint. Swipe the center of the tree trunk and the branches with your paintbrush using the paler color, then use a kitchen sponge to smooth it out. This gives the subtle look of light cast upon the tree trunk, and provides even more depth and shadow. If you’re sentimental like I am, carve a message into your tree trunk!

 (if you dare to decorate with faux blooms): Pluck the bloom off the plastic branch, and trim the plastic bottom of the bloom so that your blossom will glue flat to the wall. Apply with hot glue to the end of your painted branches.

And in the end, this is the result!

So tell me readers, give it to me straight.

Is it a botanical beauty, or are you totally allergic?