When Abe and I first walked stepped onto the property which we now call home, we instantly became to devoted and just knew it was meant to be ours. The house was nearly 100 years old, the floor plan was terribly awkward and the windows were undesirably masked in bars. But it was easy to see past all of the cosmetic imperfections as it had great bones, was located in one of the most charming neighborhoods in the Bay Area and boasted an unusually large and glorious backyard. Fast forward four years and we’re happily living in our renovated labor of love. I say labor of love because it’s still a work in progress – there are certain rooms that aren’t fully decorated and we have yet to finish landscaping. But taking on these projects, and traveling long distances in search of materials, furniture and decor, is one of the most gratifying joys of being a homeowner. Since we’re blessed with summer-like weather through October here in Northern California, creating an outdoor bedroom has always been a dream of mine. I recently teamed up with Toyota and tested out their newly designed Prius, which like our home, was once perceived as being quirky but now with its newly redesigned state of the art safety and hybrid technology, it has become one of the most popular cars in California. I loaded up my new ride with vintage European treasures from the ever so inspiring Elsie Green and turned a little outdoor corner into a tropical, French-Moroccan oasis. If you lay on the bamboo bed with your eyes closed, you can almost, just almost, hear ocean waves crashing. The imagination is a powerful thing . . .

(photography by Andrea Posadas for HonestlyWTF, video by Ina Maria, styling by Bianca Sotelo and Erica Coffman, all furniture and home decor is from Elsie Green)

This post is brought to you by the fully redesigned Toyota Prius.