The weather has been so beautiful in Texas the last couple weeks it has inspired me to actually buy live, living, breathing, plants (gasp)! I’m usually not an advocate for living plants, not only do I not have a green thumb but I just prefer the lifespan of a fake plant, especially inside. But it seems to be the trend in spring to buy real plants ( I wonder why ). So I’ve decided to jump on the bandwagon and see what all the fuss is about.

Luckily, I don’t have a bunch of landscape to work with, so I’m starting off small. At first, I was focussing on the back yard and trying to make a back yard oasis, but that was too big of a project and my ideas were too big for my expertise. So I stuck to the front porch, this is a ‘mini’ makeover after all.

Yes, you can go out and buy an expensive ceramic planter for $300… but for what purpose? Most likely people wont be able to tell the difference and if you live somewhere windy, just throw a couple of rocks or bricks at the bottom so it wont blow away… or get stolen from your neighbors.

The one that I bought is 25 inches tall from At Home. I did some research beforehand and this seemed to be the best store, with a wide selection and reasonable price. From my looking, the white ones are around $100 and the grey and black planters are $50 (for the same size!!). I have no idea why the white ones are twice as expensive but the only reason I could think of is that white is so trendy right now. So don’t get the white planters just spray paint the grey one white 🙂 I kindof got lucky and was able to find a white one on sale for $50 so make sure to check every label!

I don’t know about you, but I do not have a green thumb. I don’t care about keeping plants alive, I don’t have time to do the research on the different types of plants and how to make them thrive in the extreme weather of Texas. So the best solution for me is plastic or silk plants #knowthyself. Since this was my first time making an actual flower arrangement, I kept it pretty simple and broke it up into 3 sections with their own plant; 1) hanging plant 2) flower that adds a pop of color 3) plant that sticks straight up to add height. Hopefully, as I get more comfortable with flowers, I’ll be able to be more creative, but for now that’s my formula.

I bought my flowers at Hobby Lobby and Michaels and I’d highly recommend it. It looks like both stores rotate ever week between what’s on sale 40-50% and what’s full price. So once week one half of the store is 50% off and the other week it flips and the other half of the store is 50% off. So NEVER buy full price from these stores, wait a week until it’s on ‘sale’.

In the small white pot, I have purple daisies and daisy spray

While I fully appreciate fake plants and flowers for all their glory, I can appreciate the joy and brightness that fresh flowers things. There is something exciting about keeping a living thing alive and giving it a home in your house and watch it grow and thrive.

Now, of course, I decided to go out and buy flowers on the coldest, wettest day of spring. So all the flowers that I bought hat to be brought back to life, which was a little touch and go to begin with but I think they’re okay.

I’m a bad blogger and completely forgot what kind of flowers that I bought!! But I pretty much just bought the brightest ones that I could find 🙂

Doormats are such a fun, easy, inexpensive way to show your quirky side. Personally, I’ve never bought a doormat that was over $20 fun so it’s a fun thing to change out every month that doesn’t take up too much space when you’re storing them. My favorite places to get doormats are Pier1 and Pottery Barn, but Amazon is also great (you’ll just have to weed through a bunch more options).

Sadly, wreaths are the opposite of doormats, they are more expensive and take up a lot of space to store because you have to worry about crushing them :/ Because of this, one of my favorite things to do in the summer months (March – September) is to get a boxwood or simple green wreath and just decorate it with 5-6 flowers for the different months. It’ll save you a lot in your wallet and storage space! However, this idea isn’t currently pictured, my door decor in July will for sure show it. I got this wreath at At Home, but there are similar ones here and here.