The Loggia

We have a space that is next to our terrace at the back of the house; it is covered by a large arched structure built in 1923, we call this the loggia. For a long time this was where we had the ping pong table, which was heavily used by us 5 children. But those days are past us now, and the ping pong table is long gone. I used to want a nice outdoor lounge set here, but now we use it as a true multi-purpose space, for dinners, lunches and parties of various sizes. Good thing we have a large family and there is always something going on. This is where we had the Puppy Party as seen in Romantic Homes April 2010. I recently used the loggia again for my nephew Corino's high school graduation dinner:

Here is the scene at night; when it's your family, no one cares if they are sitting on mismatched chairs, though I would like to find a reasonable set of gold salon chairs:

A month earlier, I had a two dinner for two of my nieces, back to back on subsequent nights, with paper lanterns strung from above; I hid that dangling electrical cord before the dinner; here is the wide view:
I'd love to have a party sometime with all of the guests receiving a small party favor basket, in a mix of the same colors as the lanterns; you can see just one little mango Cap Ferrat there on the right. The view from the opposite end, as I was setting the 18 ft table & chairs:
And in the evening light; it was perfect, and the girls were so happy:
the lanterns made the space glow....
This weekend, I wanted to re-do the space for a smaller group. I had the extreme luxury of preparing a dinner for 4, versus my usual large gatherings. I brought two rocker/swivel chairs down from the bedroom and covered them in linen sheets; I moved a bunch of ferns and potted jasmine and herbs around to fill in the area:
then added the tiger stripe silk velvet cushions taken from the living room; and made a trip to Ikea, where I got the coffee table for $19:
the hurricanes came from Yvette's garage sale down the street, as did the paper lanterns I showed you from the girls' parties; it was one of the best "garage" sales ever; she only has fab stuff and her home will also be in Romantic Homes soon; I can't wait to see what Jacqueline the Editor will do with the layout!
I got the armless chaise from Ikea, and it will go up in the bedroom when summer is over. I have Joni from Cote de Texas to thank for the chaise idea; Joni informed us that they had finally produced an armless chaise (don't we all follow Joni...but if you missed it see her post HERE); I've loved the chaise for a long time, hated the arm; here it is without arm and without a slip cover; $250; I covered it in the vintage linen sheets a dear friend sent me, with my AD mono (I am thrilled to have them!); the whisper light mohair throw is from Paris via Cargo & Company; it's very soft and I love to use it:
I filled the hurricanes with French lavender, and set out sweet peas from the Saturday market; a lovely mix of scents....
We had a great dinner, one new dear friend and one old dear friend. They know who they are and I love you both.

I stayed home from the market today to make breakfast for Pop and the puppies; bacon, eggs, and homemade hash browns. Dad was so happy. We had a family reprise later of a BBQ dinner; hope everyone had a fabulous Fathers Day....