Two wooden buoy ornaments painted with red, white, and blue designs, one with stars and one labeled "USA," rest on a wooden surface next to a potted green plant and a blue ceramic object.
Text logo reading "South House Weekender" on a soft, watercolor-style blue background. "South House" is in uppercase serif font; "Weekender" is in a larger, cursive script.

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What I Can’t Let Go Of:

Will someone please tell me:

How are we halfway through 2025? How is that possible?

Are you feeling that too?

Compounded by arriving at 4th of July week.

See here at the lake, the calendar is basically divided in two, half the year is spent getting ready for the 4th of July and the other half is getting ready for the Christmas holidays.

Everyone participates and looks forward to this week’s events. The lineup changes a bit every year, always inventing new events and the schedule evolves depending on what day of the week the 4th falls on.

But one thing is for sure, it is always loads of fun. We always meet new people. The planning and work begins early as it does with anything this big. There are loads of volunteers and opportunities for more.

Our kids are usually here for the week, but this year will be different. One son, who is now back in KC, and his girlfriend will be here for many of the activities.

Due to our daughter’s work schedule, we have put off our full family gathering until the week of the 12th. I’m actually looking forward to this week of activities without hosting a house full. And then still having everyone here for a week, when it’s a little quieter and we can do just what we want to do including exploring more of KC.

The five grown kids (who live in DC, KC and LA) just want to have time together,
playing games and being silly. And everyone is looking forward to have our
almost one year old granddaughte/neice here!

(If you don’t hear a lot from me these next couple of weeks, you know why!)

On the Blog


Beautiful living room wall filled floor to ceiling with floating book shelves surrounding three deep blue cabinets with a TV on top, accent lamp and plants

Floating Library Shelves!

YES! With the right shelves and installed the right way, you scratch your bibliophile itch in a clean, modern way!

Four years later and these shelves remain strong, steady and level!!!


How to Hack IKEA Ivar Cabinets for Deeper Storage!

And then a companion post on the second part of this makeover where we hacked IKEA Ivar cabinets for deeper storage and topped with a walnut countertop.

Blue wall mounted cabinet with floating shelves above and on the sides

Holy cow! What a great way to share the punchline, the critical step or a valuable tidbit!!!

Remember, these tips are exclusive content for my creative community.

They will be in the Saturday newsletter emails only

(and sometimes in the FB and IG stories for my followers there).

It’s just one way I can say thank you to all those who support me time after time!

Don’t worry, you too, can become a House Mate!

Are You Thrilled With Your Porch Planters? Not So Much?

Is it because they are too short for your front door? Or maybe they just look like everyone else’s?

If either is a problem for you, do what Michelle at Michelle’s Design Life did. She fabricated her own.

She shared all the details in her blog post.

Maybe you can elevate the planter you’ve already planted, or hold this idea for your fall porch styling.

A black planter with green ferns and leafy plants sits on a black pedestal by a brick wall and glass door, next to a gray patterned outdoor rug.

Three mason jars filled with water, lemon slices, fresh herbs, and floating candles sit on an outdoor table, with green plants and pink flowers blurred in the background.

DIY Citronella Candles That Smell Great

Don’t let mosquitoes and flying pests spoil the festivities coming up!

Ann at On Sutton Place shares her quick and easy solution that also happens to look gorgeous and smell great.

It’s like winning the trifecta of Summer outdoor entertaining!

I hope you’ve been enjoying the weekend!!! Thanks for hanging out with me a bit,

round image of Diane smiling next to a Signature that reads: With Joy, Diane

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2 Comments

  1. Diane I’m so surprised and honored that you liked my recent porch planters post enough to share it on your fabulous website/blog! I’m such a fan of your great creativity and wonderful writing, so I’m even that much more flattered that you would think to share my work! Thank you, thank you!!!!

    1. My pleasure Michelle — I ONLY share posts that I think my readers will enjoy!!!