Summer Dreamin'

This year I'm hoping to do something with my balcony to make it a little more useable when the hot weather rolls around - it is in direct sun with no awning or roof. I'm not crazy about the idea of a market umbrella - I love them in theory, I just don't think it is the right solution for my space. We're not allowed to attach anything to the building exterior so any type of retractable awning is out. I've had a framework in my head that I think I can build and attach a homemade awning to, so I'm hoping to do something custom, which I think will be pretty easy and relatively inexpensive. More on that later, but this evening I spent some time perusing fabrics and paint colors hoping to come up with a color palette.

The siding is James Hardie Boothbay Blue, similar to the solid blue swatch and the trim and balcony are similar to the solid tan swatch.

I am really loving the idea of adding some marine blue and kelly green to the rather dull colonial colors I have to work with and have found two fabrics I love that incorporate the blue. The one on the left is Sunbrella's Matouk Regatta ($20/yard) and the one on the right is Solarium's Imogen Pacific ($10.95/yard). Ideally I'd like to find a stripe that mixes the blue and the green but haven't come up with anything yet.

A few other fabrics I considered were P. Kaufmann's OD Slick in Navy and Palm, which I still might add for accent pillows:

and Waverly's New Twist Aquamarine, which I think is a little too modern for me, but pretty nonetheless:

I also briefly considered yellow or purple for accent colors in place of the green, but after viewing fabric swatches I think green is the way to go for me. I also may throw in a bit of an orangey-coral for fun - we'll see.

I'm linking up to Centsational Girl's Home May'd Outdoor Link Party. Hop on over and check out all of the great outdoor ideas.