New Shades...

     While the hubby was away, I made quite a few changes in the house.  For instance, I painted the living room, gave new life to a papasan chair that had been trashed, re-covered the cushions on the lanai furniture, put up fun lanai lights, and put down some indoor/outdoor rugs in the lanai.  All the changes made our house a much more pleasant place to be, and the changes to the lanai helped the space transition from a nearly unbearable/unusable oven to a space where you actually wanted to spend time. 

     When he got home, he loved all the changes... especially the lanai.  He carries his laptop out there to eat his breakfast, check e-mails, and read the news every morning.  Although we both agreed that the space was much more welcoming and fun, it was still just too hot during the middle of the day and throughout the mid-afternoon.  (I had secretly wanted bamboo shades, and I came super duper close to buying them while he was away, but I decided against it until I knew if we would spend much time there.)  Sitting out on the lanai the other morning, however, the husband said, "Do you know what we need out here?  Blinds or something.... It would make it so much cooler."  Bingo!  If it's his idea, we can go all out! 

     So to the store we went, and we came home with new bamboo shades.  I love them!  The keep a lot of the bright sunlight out, but they aren't completely solid, so we can still get some natural light and see what's going on outside.  In the photos, you don't get the full effect because it's impossible for them not to be backlit, but you'll get the idea.

Oh... And Kent also had the idea (with a few hints here and there) that it would be super awesome to have a ceiling fan out there.  That's why there's a hole in the ceiling and a light fixture on the table.

Yesterday, we he decided to install the ceiling fan.

This is what my living room floor looked like for about 2 hours...

He had a few setbacks (mostly because he refuses to look at instructions), but it's finally up.

And it rocks!

Yes... That's Duke in Kent's lap in the papasan.  Big baby...

And just so you can see how far things have come, here's a before and after...

Well, I'm off to enjoy my awesome lanai!  Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday!