la·na·i
/ləˈnäē,ləˈnī/ noun a porch or veranda
I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time hearing the word ‘lanai’ and not thinking of the Golden Girls. To be honest, those girls had a true lanai…one that is near or on the beach. Our home is nice, but it’s certainly not lanai-worthy. It didn’t even have a fan, which is a requisite of a lanai.
Which is why I feel most comfortable calling it the back porch...
…but what I really want to call it is our cabana.
When B and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in Old San Juan, I fell in love with the romantic, tropical cabana-style decor of the hotel beach bar. Overhead fans, misters, coconut trees, mojitos, outdoor wicker furniture, sand, turf and brilliant jade green sea water enchanted me. Two years later I still can’t get the imagery out of my head. And if it’s left that much of an impression on me you KNOW I have to do something about it.
When we moved into this house our back porch left a lot to be desired. The concrete had rust stains and other unidentifiable stains that neither acid or power washing took out. I didn’t document this uneventful home improvement DIY project on the blog for numerous reasons. But trust me…don’t use semi-transparent concrete stains. Just go for the solid color concrete stain and save yourself the follow-up trip when the former doesn’t work out.
Shortly after that we purchased a patio set online. I wish we would have waited and gone to At Home instead, because the patio furniture from the Weston At Home Patio collection is divine. As is the rest of the At Home Spring 2016 collection. Let me show you what I mean..
If this doesn’t want to make you want to live outdoors I don’t know what will. At Home has outdoor decor collections for every style, lifestyle and budget.
From whimsy garden gnomes to luxe and lavish light garden decor, from modern retreat illumination…
…to coastal chic…
…there’s something you’ll fall in love with for your patio. The At Home store in Orange Park is one of my favorite stores and I plan on making repeat trips there for all of our outdoor living purchases. Speaking of which, their selection of patio furniture cushions is unbelievable! There are aisles upon aisles of cushions all organized by color, and they are some of the highest quality and affordable cushions I have laid my hands on.
If this rug looks familiar, that’s because you’ve seen it paired with the Weston patio collection above! The Textured Grey rug looks GORGEOUS on our newly-stained concrete slab. It is an indoor/outdoor rug. I’m glad I trusted my gut and went with the 8×10 size, as the 5×7 size would have been dwarfed by our patio set and the rest of the back porch.
My husband and I love it. We can’t stop looking at it. It is soft on the feet. Much, much nicer than plain concrete. Even though it took us a few days of prep-work and painting, the concrete slab looks even better with this rug.
Area rugs always pull a room together, and as long as the front legs of chairs are sitting on them, the space feels intimate and fosters conversation. Think about it….if these two white chairs weren’t on the rug, it would give the impression that you’d have to holler across the patio to be heard.
Even Chip loves it ;)
Here’s another closeup:
What’s a cabana without a tropical ceiling fan? Our old light fixture was pitiful. The plastic case was broken in order to change the light…by yours truly :)
I am already planning our next shopping trip to At Home. We need to add color to the room through throw pillows and more accessories. Just LOOK at the possibilities!
In addition, I’d love to pick up these solar hanging lights as well! Stay tuned for part two of this post, as I hope to put the finishing touches on our “cabana.”
Have you started sprucing up your patio for spring and summer outdoor entertaining yet? If not, head to your nearest At Home for patio heaven!
