Creating Faux Floral Arrangements for Royalview

Faux Floral Arrangements in White, Blue, and Purple.  
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It’s craft day at Royalview! I love it! I’ve not dabbled in any sort of craft in quite a while, so I am very happy to be at a point where I can play, and have fun decorating our new home.

As you may have seen from previous posts, Willie and I have been enjoying shopping at our local antique and home decor shops, and I’ve found some really cute items that I thought I could easily use as vases, as well as some actual vases.

The cute blue vase (with the wording Blooming Flowers, Sweet Home) pictured above is one that I found on Amazon a couple of months after we moved in. There was already a pretty blue floral arrangement included with the vase that we’ve enjoyed for a little while now, but with it being floral craft day, it’s getting in on the party too.

We found the stemmed white milk glass bowl at Sweet Magnolia Emporium’s booth at Yesterday’s Treasures in Willis, TX. This is one of my favorite spots to shop. Kelly has a very good eye for home decor items, and she is a joy to talk with. She has stayed in touch with me, and lets me know if she finds anything that will be perfect for Royalview. Check out the very tall, black plant stand above. That’s from her booth as well. I was so ecstatic to find that there.

Now, here’s what the blue vase’s arrangement looked like before (it was pretty as-is), as well as 2 white milk glass vases and 2 vases with yellow arrangements from Yesterday’s Treasures.

Floral arrangements redo, before pics.
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I of course knew that the yellow flowers would not be staying. When I shop, I always like to envision how I can work with an item that I like, that may not automatically fit in with Royalview’s aesthetics.

You may notice that the background in these pictures do not exactly match. There were actually (2) floral craft days and some additional decor added during the interim between, like the black plant stand. It’s all a continuous work in progress, that Willie and I are enjoying very much.

This is the first haul of faux florals that I picked up at Michaels in Conroe.

Doing faux floral arranging in white milk glass vases. Faux floral haul from Michaels in Conroe, TX.
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And, my second faux floral haul was from Hobby Lobby in Conroe.

Making faux floral arrangements in white milk glass stemmed bowl and clear glass apothecary style jars.
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Here’s a closeup of the stemmed white milk glass bowl that I got from Kelly (Sweet Magnolia Emporium), and the 2 super cute apothecary style glass jars that I got from Rosey Opals Collective Market in New Waverly, TX. Another new fave shopping spot! And, they have an ice cream parlor inside. I’ll have to do a post on all these super fun shops that we’ve been finding lately.

White milk glass stemmed bowl and two clear glass apothecary style glass jars.  Antique shop finds in Conroe and New Waverly, TX. acrossthelake.blog

You can see that I love making a mess when I work.

Faux floral arranging mess.
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It’s a happy mess. When you see this, you know I’m in my happy place.

It even extended out to the kitchen counter. Happy, happy arranging!

Faux floral arranging mess in kitchen.
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The color tones I am using here at Royalview lean heavily toward white, and denim hued blues, with a few added purples. I do have background/furniture combos in gray/white and brown/white, and some bits of black here and there. I carry these color tones throughout our home, and the whites, blues, and purples in our gardens as well. And green, I suppose, with all the greenery.

And here are some of the completed faux floral arrangements. You saw these two already, from the first pic. These are two of my favorites.

Two faux floral arrangements in white, blue and purple.
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Do you remember the two yellow floral arrangements? Here they are now in blue. They are now residing on each side, atop our entertainment center.

Two floral arrangements in blues.
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And, the super gorgeous black plant stand from Kelly at Sweet Magnolia Emporium. You can also see one of the blue floral arrangements at the top of our entertainment center.

Beautiful floral arrangements at Royalview.
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The blue vase arrangement now has a home on our dining room table.

Faux floral dining room table centerpiece.
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Here’s a cute little purple arrangement that went in one of the smaller white milk glass vases.

Purple and white faux floral arrangement in white milk glass vase.
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This now resides on our coffee table.

Purple and white faux floral arrangement in a white milk glass vase.
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I love how the purple helps break up all the blue and white, just a bit.

I’ll show you where the arrangement in the stemmed milk glass bowl, and the two clear glass apothecary glass jar arrangements now reside, in a future post. That’s a whole new story to share. We’ve had some beautiful new antique furniture additions in the dining room.

Do you enjoy making your own floral arrangements as well? What are your favorite color choices? Please feel free to leave a comment.

I hope my floral arrangement ideas inspire ideas for you, and what you may want to design for your home, from both vintage and new finds.

Till next time, stay safe and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Faux Floral Arrangements, Blue Florals, White Florals, Purple Florals, Making Flower Arrangements at Home, Lifestyle Blog, Lake Life, Conroe, TX

Royalview’s New Outdoor Furniture

MIXPATIO 6 Piece Outdoor Patio Furniture Set from Amazon in White Metal with Beige Cushions.
https://amzn.to/442UEMc
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Woo Hoo! We finally have outdoor seating at Royalview!

It’s been a few months in the waiting, but it is all coming together now.

Here’s our before photo. We’ve had a couple of plastic chairs to suffice during our wait. We had, I believe, 7 projects that needed to be completed before we could set out any nice furniture. Let’s see… first there was power washing of the entire house, gutters installed (full house), whole house generator installed, propane gas tank installed, whole yard major landscaping project, septic tank pumping (that was a curve-ball), and outdoor ceiling fan replacement. Yep – that’s 7!

Before:  Patio Pic
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But hey! We made it! Hooray!! Now we get to relax outdoors in comfort and joy.

Firstly, I knew I wanted an outdoor rug to go with our indoor theme, so I chose this pretty Nicole Miller New York Country Danica Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug in the color Blue/Gray.

Nicole Miller Country Danica Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug in Blue/Gray.
https://amzn.to/42AiRXH
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The rug arrived very nicely rolled and wrapped in plastic.

Nicole Miller Country Danica Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug in Blue/Gray.
https://amzn.to/42AiRXH
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Willie and I were able to easily unroll and place it where we wanted. It’s a nice heft, but not too heavy to move around.

MIXPATIO 6 Piece Patio Furniture Set in White and Beige.
https://amzn.to/442UEMc
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The patio furniture set we chose is a 6 piece set from MIXPATIO. It’s from Amazon of course. I do like to state that Willie and I are now Amazon Associates. We love ordering from Amazon so much that we thought it would be nice to be able to share our favorites with you.

The outdoor furniture set we chose, and they do have options, includes a sofa, a marbled-look coffee table, 2 chairs, and 2 rocking chairs. We opted for white metal with beige cushions.

MIXPATIO 6 Piece Outdoor Furniture Set in White/Beige, from Amazon.
https://amzn.to/442UEMc
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I think this set is so cute! I love how the arms curl around. Reminds me of a sleigh style. The backing is beautiful, so it looks very nice when looking out our backdoor window. They even have a lovely wicker edging/trim along the bottom sides. They are very well done, and very heavy, let me tell you. I somehow managed to help Willie tote the couch from our garage to the back porch. I did have to take frequent stops to set it down, but we made it . I love that this furniture is heavy. It’s a great quality and I will not be worried about it blowing away, I can assure you. This set is made with a steel frame.

The cushions are waterproof and very easy to maintain. We’ve not had these out very long, but I’ve already wiped off something that got on one of the cushions. From where, I do not know… but thankfully it came off easily, and we just had a very big thunderstorm last night (Easter night), and everything survived in good shape. The cushions are not wet today at all, so great news.

MIXPATIO 6 Piece Patio Furniture Set from Amazon in White/Beige.
https://amzn.to/442UEMc
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The tabletop on the outdoor coffee table has a lovely white/gray marble look. It actually matches our indoor countertops. Yay, bonus!

Table from the MIXPATIO 6 Piece Outdoor Furniture Set.  White marble look table top.
https://amzn.to/442UEMc
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So, now as our little sign says, we can sit and relax.

MIXPATIO 6 Piece Outdoor Furniture Set from Amazon in White/Beige.
https://amzn.to/442UEMc
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But what about the 2 rocking chairs, right? Well, I chose this particular set with a plan already in mind. I wanted cute rockers for our front porch, so we can sit out there and enjoy our view of the lake from our hilltop.

White/Beige Rocking Chairs from the MIXPATIO 6 Piece Outdoor Furniture Set in White/Beige, from Amazon.
https://amzn.to/442UEMc
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Aren’t these just the cutest?

Rocking Chair from the MIXPATIO 6 Piece Patio Furniture Set in White/Beige.
https://amzn.to/442UEMc
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We’ve already received compliments from neighbors, including this very special neighbor, Carlton.

Rocking Chair from the MIXPATIO 6 Piece Patio Furniture Set in White/Beige. 
https://amzn.to/442UEMc
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He came by to see what was going on over here, and hang out with us for a little while.

I will tell you, this outdoor furniture set does require full assembly. We ordered this in March, and Willie’s had time to tinker around with it, getting all the pieces put together and then the covers on the cushions. Everything was shipped separately and received on multiple days, but it all came in, and in a timely manner. We weren’t in a hurry since we had other projects in line before we could get this all set out.

We’re both very happy with how this set can be used on both our front and back patios. We’re really enjoying it and happy to have comfy seating.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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MIXPATIO 6 Piece Outdoor Furniture Set: https://amzn.to/442UEMc

Nicole Miller New York Country Danica Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug: https://amzn.to/42AiRXH

MIXPATIO Outdoor Patio Furniture Set, Metal Frame Outdoor Furniture with Waterproof Cushions, Nicole Miller New York Country Danica Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug, Lake House Outdoor Decor, Conroe, Texas, Lakeview Home

Royalview’s Solar Garden Lights at Night

Ohhhh…. I love outdoor lights at night…. How about you?

This is one project I couldn’t wait for. I’ve been praying for a beautiful garden all lit up at night for several years now, so I was very excited to shop for some gorgeous lighting for our new gardens.

I knew I wanted to shop my favorite go-to, Amazon, as they always have a very large selection of everything to choose from, and I love being able to shop from home sometimes, so yeah, they definitely had some exciting offerings to choose from.

We went with three different varieties of solar lights. Swaying Outdoor Lights (or Firefly Lights), Cracked Glass Ball/Globe Lights, and Pathway Lights (Lantern look).

Everything arrived very quickly and very nicely boxed.

We had a fun afternoon getting all the lights opened and seeing how everything worked.

Everything was pretty much assembled and ready to go. The only assembly was attaching the posts to the Pathway Lights, which Willie accomplished brillliantly.

We chose these particular Pathway Lights for their height. We wanted to make sure they would shine high above the plants going down our front steps.

We purchased 2 packs of 8 of these Pathway Lights. They come in packs of 2, 4, 6, or 8.

We love that all the solar lights we purchased are automatic on/off. You just have to set them to “on”.

We acquired all the lights in March. It is now April and they have been coming on like clock-work every evening, and staying on all night long. I have risen very early before sunrise, and they’ve all still been on, and shining bright. They are all so beautiful, and have been very durable as well. The only evenings that they have not all stayed on overnight, has been due to rainy days. On sunny days, they are good to go, which makes perfect sense; they are powered by the sun.

They add so much enchantment, so effortlessly. Let’s take a look from our front door at dusk:

Lighted front door path with solar pathway lights from Amazon.
https://amzn.to/4cJffY7
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Amazon Associates Link
Royalview’s Front Door Lighted Path

We love this view so much, and now it’s been made extra special with the addition of the Solar Pathway Lights.

Front Lakeside Steps Lit Up with
Solar Pathway Lights from Amazon
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Amazon Associate Link
Front Lakeside Steps Lit Up with Pathway Lights

And, our backyard garden:

Beautiful garden lit up at night with firefly lights and globe lights.
https://amzn.to/42JzBNs
https://amzn.to/4jmAh12
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Amazon Associate Link
Garden Lights at Night

These lights are all just too much fun. As our gardens have grown, the lights still are holding their own, and shining tall and bright every night. We couldn’t be more pleased with every one of them.

Which is your favorite? Or, are you like me, and love them all? Feel free to leave a comment!

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is good!

Johanna and Willie

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(Willie and I are Amazon Associates. All links that you follow from our posts are directly connected to Amazon. Any purchases you make from our links will earn us a commission. Thank you!)

Solar Lights, Solar Pathway Lights, Solar Cracked Glass Ball Globe Lights, Solar Swaying Lightening Bug Lights, Amazon Finds, Amazon Associates, Garden Lights, Texas Gardens

Our “Mystery” Dianthus Has Bloomed!

Bright pink Dianthus.
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Bright Pink Dianthus

Wow, you guys, look how stunning the color is on our “mystery” Dianthus’ blooms! I’m still not sure of the species. I Google Lens’d my photos, and a lot of options came up: Dianthus Plumarius, Neon Purple, Fuchsia, Sweet William, Floral Lace Lilac, Jolt Purple, and more.

All I know for sure is, that they’re gorgeous, and I adore the color.

I’ve taken several photos over the past couple of days as they have been opening up. Here’s one from afar so you can see how tall this plant is, compared to the other plants in the garden. When this was planted up front, it was a lot smaller than the others.

Very tall bright pink Dianthus.
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Very Tall, Bright Pink Dianthus

You can see how many more buds are getting ready to open. This will be glorious in full bloom.

Bright pink Dianthus.
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Bright Pink Dianthus

There was no filter used for this photography, and no edits. They are just this vibrant.

Beautiful Fuchsia Dianthus.
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Beautiful Fuchsia Dianthus
Bright Fuchsia Dianthus
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Bright Fuchsia Dianthus

I hope you enjoyed the blooming of our Dianthus as much as we have.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Bright Pink Dianthus, Flower Garden, Spring Flowers, Fuchsia, Hot Pink Flowers, Texas Flower Garden

Royalview Home Decor: Living and Dining Room Area Rugs

The task of choosing the floor coverings for Royalview has not been taken lightly. We definitely wanted blue and white area rugs to go with our Lake House/French Country Home theme, as well as something that would be easy for us to install, and care for. We looked through a lot of designs and loved this Vintage Medallion Carpet that we found on Amazon. It is a washable, ultra thin, low pile area rug that really checked all the boxes for us.

Our rug arrived nicely boxed and sealed.

Here’s what it looked like when we unwrapped it.

We were impressed right away at how beautiful it looked and felt.

It is so soft. It feels wonderful under bare feet. Now, this rug is thinner than any we’ve ever owned, and at first I wasn’t sure how we’d feel about it, but you know, it was easy for us to unpack and lay down ourselves, so that was an instant plus.

It lays very well. We’ve owned this now since February, so we’ve been living with it for a little while to see how it performs, and we’re still loving it a lot. We opted to not get padding, so it’s very close to the floor, but we’ve been fine with that. It seems to keep us from having any tripping issues as well, since it is thin to the floor. We have not had any slipping or movement issues either. Win, win, win, on this one.

We’re really enjoying the color and pattern of this beautiful area rug as well. The color tones are perfect for our furniture. This particular rug that we chose comes in different colors and patterns. This one is a Vintage Medallion Carpet in Blue-06, and we got to choose the size we wanted, which is 8×10.

We’ve enjoyed this rug so much, we decided to purchase another one for our dining room, this time in the size 6×9.

Beautiful 6x9 Area Rug from Amazon in Vintage Blue.
https://amzn.to/42l7G50
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We think these rugs are really beautiful. They have a vintage, worn look, but still have vibrant color. Perfect for the look we’re trying to achieve in our home decor here at Royalview.

I wanted to also show you a closeup of our table decor. I purchased a vase with a faux floral arrangement from the brand Leftover on Amazon for our table, and we’re very happy with it.

I chose this arrangement for it’s vintage country style vase, and the wispy blue, purple, and white faux florals. It’s so pretty, and has some eucalyptus sprigs as well.

The big surprise in our dining room table decor is the large blue and white platter.

Would you believe I’ve had this and didn’t even know it? It’s the truth! I brought this along with us here to Royalview without even realizing it. I had some old platters that were apparently handed down to me? Given to me? by someone in my family. I was going through some of our boxes and found this with the other platters. I was so shocked. It is perfect for our home here.

Vintage blue and white platter with village lake and boats theme.
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I couldn’t have even imagined a more beautiful or fitting piece of decor for Royalview, and apparently I’ve had this for years without even realizing.

It’s like it’s meant to be here with me now at this time, and at this place.

But, back to our floor decor, here’s a picture of how the rugs look in both our dining and living room areas combined.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our home decor post, and that it’s brought some inspiration your way.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Amazon Associates, Home Decor, Area Rugs, Vintage Rugs for Decor, Washable, Thin Rugs, Vintage Style, French Country House Style, Lakehouse Style

Antiquing with Willie and Aunt Bunny

Hey there everyone!

Project Decorate Royalview has been in full swing around here lately. We’ve had several fun decor shopping sprees this past week, which included a fun birthday shopping spree with my Aunt Bunny at Mimi’s on Main, in Conroe, TX, and a spree at Yesterday’s Treasures in Willis, TX.

On Bunny’s birthday we traveled to downtown Conroe to visit Mimi’s on Main. Mimi’s is a very charming antique mall with so many beautiful things to see.

Aunt Bunny at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX

This booth up front caught my eye right away with that fire engine and Flapper fashion. So fun!

Fun Antique Finds at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX

Easter decor was in full display.

Easter Decor at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX

So many beautiful things to shop.

Farmhouse Decor at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX

We enjoyed visiting all the different vendor booths at Mimi’s. Bunny really liked the old books, and we came across a little child’s tea set just like the one we used to play with together when we were children (Bunny and I are only 6 years apart in age). There were a lot of things there that reminded us of our childhood. Perhaps we’re antiques too!

Tea for Two Poem, Antique Books at Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX

We had such a great time browsing, and I did find several pieces to bring home with me. Yay!

I found these 2 cuties together so I purchased them together. They are now residing on our entertainment center in the living room. I love their distressed white washed look, and I’m collecting quite a few bird figurines, so perfect! I do not know what the other figurine is exactly. It reminds me of a chess piece. But it’s really pretty and ornate.

Cute Ceramic Pieces from Mimi’s

I love this next piece. Willie picked this out for me to hang my jewelry from. I almost didn’t get it, but now I’m glad I did. It’s so pretty, and makes my necklaces so easy to store and choose from. There are smaller little hooks on the inside portion where I’m hanging my bracelets. White wash distressed look – bingo!

Antiqued Jewelry Holder from Mimi’s on Main, Conroe, TX

Willie and I had another antiquing spree the next day. We invited Bunny to join us, but she had another engagement. Hopefully we can meet up with her sometime soon at Yesterday’s Treasures. This antique mall is in Willis, Texas.

This was our second visit. I found a lot that I loved on our first time around, so we went back again to spend more time there looking at everything.

Yesterday’s Treasures Antique Mall, Willis, TX

I absolutely love all the blue and white kitchenware and dishes residing in one of the booths.

Beautiful Blue and White Kitchenware and Dishes from Yesterday’s Treasures, Willis, TX

I picked up this vase and brought it home with me. I saw it previously and left it behind, but this time I got it. The big incentive was a marked down price from $20.00 to $12.00. It is huge. 18 inches in height.

I know the paint is kind of gaudy, and that’s why I didn’t pick it up the first time, but I’m thinking paint project… I have another piece (woodwork) that I brought with me to Royalview that I’ll be painting soon as well, so we’ll see what we can do with this one too.

Here are some other finds from Yesterday’s Treasures that are now residing at Royalview:

Fun Antique Finds from Yesterday’s Treasures, Willis, TX

This setting is on the top of our entertainment center in the living room. Everything pictured is from Yesterday’s Treasures except for the wood riser (Amazon affiliate link), and the worded metal plaque.

Check out these cuties we picked out for our coffee table.

That little horse caught my eye, it’s so ornate and the pattern on it’s body compliments the table runner and our living room rug so well. I’ll share our Amazon rug finds in a future post. They’re really pretty. But the table runner is from Amazon as well. This is a Blue and White Peacock print. Here is our Amazon affiliate link to that. I ordered two of these. This one’s size is 13×60. I also purchased a 13×90.

Also in the coffee table setting is an antiqued white lantern in which I placed a cute little blue bird that has rocking chair legs. The lantern was a fun surprise. There was a couple (vendors) who were packing up things in their booth, and I stopped by to ask them a question, and they asked if I would like the lantern. I said yes, and they gave me a $20.00 discount. It was priced at $35.00, and they sold it to me for $15.00.

Rounding out the Yesterday’s Treasure coffee table setting is a really pretty glass bowl. This one caught my eye as it was casting the most beautiful blue hue at the antique mall. I need to find the right lighting to get it to glow the same here. The top portion has a milky hue in which you can see the iridescence.

I just really love how I am able to find pieces that go together to create a unique look and feel in every setting. I call the setting on our entertainment center our Alice in Wonderland Setting. All the items came from different booths and I wasn’t really going for any theme, they just all ended up going very well together and had the Alice vibe to me after I arranged and set them all together.

This last Yesterday’s Treasure setting is on an end table that we brought with us. I first purchased a blue and white lamp on a previous visit to replace a lamp that we brought with us that no longer matched our decor, then on our next visit, I found some more goodies to complete the setting.

The faux books were an Amazon purchase since I knew that was something specific I needed to add some height. The ones I picked out are so beautiful and they are actually storage boxes as well as lovely decor. The larger blue book says Oscar Claude Monet, and the beige book on top says Rembrandt Paintings and Portraits. So classy. The wooden butterfly is from Hobby Lobby (yeah, those are other hauls). So I had already purchased those 2 items to go with the lamp, but it needed something else, so I had that in mind while shopping at Yesterday’s Treasures, and found the 2 bird plaques and the wooden bead garland to pull it all together. I’m really loving it now.

So, as you can tell from this post, we have been shopping decor in local small business shops, local big box stores, as well as our favorite go-to, Amazon. It has brought about a very eclectic mix of items, and I’m having so much fun curating different but complimenting looks for all the areas around our new home.

We have also purchased wall decor, but have not hung any of that as of yet. We’ll get to that next hopefully. Willie is also working on putting together patio furniture we purchased from Amazon. Looking forward to that getting all set up. We have an electrician coming out to install a new ceiling fan under our patio, so there’s a lot of things going on over here, as usual, and we are loving it!

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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P.S. I’ll leave you with some more fun moments from Bunny’s birthday outing!

She’s such a ham!
Birthday brunch at First Watch
They brought out Bacon Cornbread for her Birthday Cake
Thank you to the very friendly Manager for Bunny’s impromptu birthday cake!
Emma from First Watch. She’s a blast!

Thank you First Watch Willis, TX for a very fun and delicious birthday brunch!

Antique shopping Conroe, Willis, Texas, Decor Haul, Home Decor, Lake House, French Country Home Decor

Royalview, 3 Months Later

What a difference 3 months can make.

Here is Royalview at the present time, and the 2nd picture is from when we first arrived in December 2024.

If you’ve been following our journey, then you know all the projects that have gone in to getting Royalview to where she is now. It’s been quite the journey, and we are thankful to all the wonderful people who have worked so expertly to get her looking and functioning at her best.

Now that most of the outdoor projects are complete, (and I say “most”, we still have a few little things that we’re finishing up) I can now turn my main focus to getting the inside completely unpacked, organized, and decorated.

Willie and I have already been doing a little shopping around our new hometown, visiting a couple antique malls and such. I’ll keep you updated on the progress of all that. It’s been a lot of fun. We’re enjoying getting to know our townsfolk around here in the Conroe, Texas area.

Till next time, be safe, and follow your joy. God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Before and After Home Improvement Photos, Landscaping, Landscape Design, Texas Lakeview Home and Garden

Living the Lake Lifestyle at Royalview

God has truly blessed our lives.

Johanna and Willie of acrossthelake.blog

Where we live, our lifestyle, everything. It has all been changed, and turned around for the better. We couldn’t be happier or more grateful for all that God has done in our lives, and how he’s elevated our lives, and brought us to this beautiful place that we now call home.

It is so amazing to sit out in our front yard and view the lake from our garden.

Covered swing in garden area.  acrossthelake.blog
Garden bridge from acrossthelake.blog
Johanna and Willie of acrossthelake.blog

We are beginning new traditions together here. One of our very first is sitting outside and talking about our day as we enjoy the beautiful lake view.

Not to mention, enjoying all the very pretty flowers that are in bloom.

Beautiful purple Salvia flowers.  acrossthelake.blog
Purple Salvia
Beautiful white Verbena flowers from acrossthelake.blog
White Verbena

We are now also blessed with daily visits from Bumble Bees, Dragonflies, and Butterflies who are enjoying all the gorgeous blooms.

It’s very quiet and peaceful here. We can hear the March winds blowing through all the trees, and see the dancing of the water as we sit and gaze.

Living the Lake Lifestyle at Royalview.  acrossthelake.blog

Till next time friends, stay safe and follow your joy. God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Lake Life, God is Good, Garden, Swing for Two, Texas Flowers, Texas Garden, Lifestyle Blog

Royalview Landscape Makeover, Dramatic Before and After Photo Reveal: Backyard Areas

I asked Willie, after all of the landscaping was complete, which area he believed had the most dramatic transformation. His reply was the front lawn. I do agree that the transformation is definitely dramatically different, but… my thoughts are that the backyard areas were definitely transformed the most.

Here are the before and after photos. You can decide which you choose as well. You can see our front lawn transformation before and after photos here.

Upon our very first visit to Royalview, we were encountered with a make-shift outdoor kitchen, and a very large stump from a downed tree, right in the middle of the yard.

We did not let this thwart our enthusiasm for this home. There was much potential to be unlocked here.

So, from a right side angle before picture, you can see the kitchen and the stump right behind it, in the yard.

Before photo of Royalview's backyard.  acrossthelake.blog
Before photo of Royalview's back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

In the after photo, the kitchen is gone, the stump is gone, and a beautiful tiered garden can now be seen from behind the pillar of the covered back patio upon approach.

After photo of Royalview's back yard garden.  acrossthelake.blog

This stump was the before lawn decor. And even though it was quite the sight, I could envision a beautiful tiered garden here that flowed naturally with the land’s own organic lines.

Before photo of Royalview's back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

And here it is now. I still cannot believe that it actually exists, outside my imagination. The Eagle A. Improvements team brought it to life just as I had envisioned.

Royalview's backyard 3 tiered garden.  acrossthelake.blog
Royalview's tiered backyard garden.  acrossthelake.blog

I was able to choose the plants that were to go into this garden, as well as the front gardens, and I also gave Eagle A. artistic freedom to add others that they thought would work well.

Everything is so pretty. I couldn’t be happier with the results. And bonus! We now have Texas Bluebonnets blooming in the back garden. That was one of Eagle A.’s surprises for us.

Bluebonnets are blooming in Royalview's backyard garden.  acrossthelake.blog

For the far right side of our backyard area, there wasn’t really anything but grass, and water would stand in that back corner area of the house. We had a generator and a propane tank installed, and then Eagle A. custom poured steps for the maintenance of this equipment so that mud would no longer be tracked back and forth on our patio and sidewalks.

Before:

Before photo of Royalview's backyard.  acrossthelake.blog

After:

After photo of Royalview's backyard.  acrossthelake.blog

We, and others, can now easily access this area and no more tracking in dirt and mud. That’s a big Yay! And a huge win! And so cute, Willie wrote our names in the cement.

Next, is the other side of the patio, going toward our back gate. This before photo is how it appeared when we first saw the house.

Before photo of Royalview's back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

After the Eagle A. team finished their beautification, it is now clean, simplistic beauty. The grassy areas are all newly laid sod. Eagle A. also installed irrigation for the backyard grass and garden.

Royalview's After Photo:  Backyard  acrossthelake.blog

In the gravel area, there are built in drains, and this line follows the drain line.

Here is a before picture of the drain line area:

Before photo French Drains
acrossthelake.blog

Eagle A. made sure that all drains were clean and flowing. And the whole area is so much neater.

Look closely at the after picture and you can see one of the little hidden sprinkler heads. These rise up when the water comes on.

After photo:  Drain line in back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

On the other side of the gate, across from the grassy area, is a small little nook between our garage and house. This area houses the outdoor a/c condenser.

Before, there were stacks of landscaping bricks piled up against the outside of the garage.

Before photo.  AC area in backyard.  acrossthelake.blog

Now, everything is cleaned/cleared out, and white gravel has been installed.

After photo:  AC area in back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

So much better! And thankfully Eagle A. was able to use those landscaping bricks in our backyard tiered garden. So fabulous!

I think you can probably see why I thought the backyard makeover was so dramatic. There was a lot to clean up, make useful, and beautify.

It’s so much more peaceful out here now. We’re looking forward to getting our patio all decked out so we can sit back here and enjoy.

3 tiered backyard garden on a hillside.  acrossthelake.blog

We’ve put out a few solar lights already, so it’s really pretty after dark.

3 tiered backyard garden on hillside lit up at night.  acrossthelake.blog

Willie and I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the progress of our property being renovated and given new life. It’s been quite a fun journey for us.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

acrossthelake.blog

Landscape Design, Home and Garden Renovation, Before and After Photos, Houston, Conroe, Texas, Best Landscape Company Eagle A. Improvements, in Collaboration with HOU-TEX Outdoor Services

Royalview Landscape Makeover, Dramatic Before and After Photo Reveal: Front Lawn

The transformation is complete!

Willie and I are very happy, very pleased, ecstatic, all the above, with the results of our completed landscape makeover. So, if you’re all ready… Drum roll please… Sit back and enjoy these very dramatic before and after photos detailing our front lawn makeover.

I’ll begin with our front door entryway. This has to be my favorite. Although, every area is my favorite, there’s just nothing like the view from our front door.

Before photo:  View from our front door.  acrossthelake.blog
Before: View from our Front Door

This view already had me in awe. Being able to open my front door and see the lake across the street was very exciting and unbelievable to me on our first visit to our new home.

This is now the view from our front door:

After photo:  View from our front door.  acrossthelake.blog
After: View from our Front Door

And, it’s very functional as well as beautiful. I was not able to walk up to, or down from, our front porch. This was also the case with visitors and mail/delivery people. Our mailman made the comment to us that we just made his life a lot easier. No more traipsing through the ditch and climbing a hill to get to us. Awesome!

Next is the Southern front corner of our front yard. We are on a corner lot, so this area is seen the most by passerby’s and this area also has a great view of the lake. We can see the lake from our front porch, as well as from our yard in areas between our neighbor’s houses, and this is one of the areas, so we decided this would make a great place for a garden and seating area with a swing.

These photos also show the transformation of our front facade.

Before:

Before Photo:  Front Porch to South Lawn View and Front Facade.  acrossthelake.blog
Before: Front Porch to South Lawn View and Front Facade

After:

After photo front porch to South lawn and front facade.
acrossthelake.blog
After Photo Front Porch to South Lawn and Front Facade

A closer look at the front South Lawn garden from the road:

After photo:  South Lawn Garden Area.  acrossthelake.blog
After: South Lawn Garden Area

A closer look at the bridge:

After photo:  South Lawn Bridge.  acrossthelake.blog
After: Front South Lawn Garden Bridge

Where there once was nothing but brush, we can now stroll across the bridge and enjoy a beautiful garden as well as a lovely view of the lake. A nice place to enjoy an ice cream bar or ice tea, and a friendly chat.

Next, let’s stroll on over to the Northern corner of our front lawn, and visit our second garden with seating area:

Before:

Before Photo:  View from our porch to our front North Lawn area.
acrossthelake.blog
Before: View from Front Porch to our North Lawn Area

After:

After photo of our North front lawn from our front porch.
acrossthelake.blog
After: View of our North Front Lawn area from our Front Porch

That is really quite the difference, isn’t it? We can now simply walk down our front steps and across a path to sit and enjoy another garden and beautiful lake view.

I’d also like to share a before photo of Keren of Eagle A. Improvements, in collaboration with Albert of HOU_TEX Outdoor Services, from when they first came out and took a look around to gather ideas, and then an after photo of their very beautiful work after completion.

Before Photo:  Albert and Keren visiting our property for the first time.  acrossthelake.blog
Before Photo: Albert and Keren Visiting our Property For the First Time

After:

After photo of our front yard from our driveway.
acrossthelake.blog
After Photo View of Landscape Transformation

Here are more after photos of Royalview from a road view:

Royalview after landscaping makeover.  
acrossthelake.blog
Royalview after Landscape Makeover
Royalview after landscape makeover.  acrossthelake.blog
Royalview after Landscape Makeover
Royalview after landscape makeover.  acrossthelake.blog
Royalview After Landscape Makeover

Willie and I are both looking forward to seeing everything in full bloom soon. Spring, and pollen, are in the air for sure. It’s so nice having butterflies and bumblebees stopping by to visit all the lovely flowers.

Next post will be the before and after photo reveal of our back yard, so stay tuned.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy!

Johanna and Willie

acrossthelake.blog

Before and After Landscape Photo Reveal, Landscape Design, Houston, Conroe, TX, Landscape Makeover, Renovation, Garden Bridge, Beautiful Gardens, Lifestyle Blog, Home and Garden

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