Anyone have any idea where those chairs are from? That's exactly what I've been looking for...

ditto on the chairs....amazing!

How much difference can colors make to a place!

Bhavna

The chairs are similar to the Holmsund:
http://www.kwa.se/product.asp?rr_id=41&module_instance=1&action=question_show&id=11&category_id=1&category=Steel%20Furniture&navid=8&lank=stalrorsmobler

So, who's going to Sweden to pick out new chairs?

A nice transformation, but a bit misleading. The 'before' picture and the 'after' picture have very different white balances. Look at the unchanged parts of the picture to see (e.g., the deck railing, the white wall, and the lampshades inside the window, the trees in the distance). The 'before' is much more blue (washing out the photo), while the 'after' looks to me as if it was developed with an opposite bias toward red.

Colour bias or no, obviously they made some inviting changes to the place.

More strange to me though is how there is mysteriously a brand new tree, but maybe that was included in the text or this was much, much later than the before.

woodleyparkzoo - I think the tree appears because the photos are taken from different angles. If you look at the large deck post in the background, there are four smaller posts that are visible to the right. In the second picture, howerer, I believe there would be eight visible if it weren't for the new plant on the table.

i would love to drink my morning cup of coffee here...so peaceful...

I have always hated that plastic furniture!

The chairs are very typical Swedish patio chairs. My grandparents had a set when I was small. It's probably one of those things that seem so ordinary that Swedes never think to export it.

The tree is in both pictures, but the change of angle and season makes the difference. In the before photo, it's fall or winter, and all the leaves on that tree are dead brown.

The whole thing could be photoshopped too. And that's OK. I used to do a lot of playing with people's pictures to give them a better idea on what COULD be done. I'm not very good, certainly not at a stage where I could make it look like the furniture wasn't oddly mis-sized or floating in space.

Whether or not it was actually done, it doesn't matter. What matters are the ideas!

For instance, the idea of adding a bit of color to the window with paint. Just a touch. And that does NOT mean that you have to add that color to your entire home, cottage, apartment, right?

Probably never thought about that before. But even though the HOME is one consistent color, we change various areas within the home to suit our tastes, adding in paint. So why not do it on the outside?

That back patio, deck, balcony can have a little (or a lot) of extra color that is not present on the rest of the house. People are adding in outdoor rugs, outdoor art. The outdoor furniture is now more akin to indoor furniture with "real" lamps that can withstand the weather. Outdoor rooms with the sky as a ceiling.

And the case of the appearing/disappearing tree? That's a GREAT example of how deciduous trees can be used to block heat, light, view during hot summer. While allowing the low winter sun to provide passive heating, light.

When I come to this site, I often get overwhelmed. Because many times, just one image has challenges, solutions, and ideas to use and think about.