PROJECT #1Room30Days: Patio Makeover

Hey everyone! If you have been following along you may have noticed I have shared a couple of outdoor project for you. For the month of June I kicked off my second round of PROJECT #1Room30Days! #1Room30Days is a program that challenges participants to give a space a makeover in 30 days. For the month of June I chose my patio.

Catch up on my patio makeover for the project check out the following links. 

Patio Inspiration | Vertical Garden | Wicker Furniture Makeover

Also you can view the evolution of my patio: HERE.

When we first moved here I worked on the patio a bit but it was pretty boring. I had these chairs from my previous place and I bought a little table to match the cushions. We also removed some bushes and laid down mulch and I had these two little potted plants. 

Over time, it got pretty neglected and ended up looking like this... I have no excuse really, other than my plants died and I don't spend alot of time on the patio

Pretty bad I know! We made some small updates such as painting the front door and changing the handles last summer.  The door was green (hence the blog name) but I wanted something bolder so we went with a red; Red Pepper by Behr.

If you need any idea about how tall this door is, the mister is 6'2 and on a step on the ladder and still much shorter than the door (hence the blog name again). I loved the way the color popped with our stone. Outside of this we hadn't done much with the patio. After month of fixing up here is the patio now:

One thing I really love about my patio is the natural stone. It's provides a beautiful backdrop. As much as I love the stone, I also found this to be a challenge with what colors to use so that it wouldn't be too matchy but also so that the colors wouldn't clash. I opted to go neutral with pops of red.

Although I was keeping my decor neutral I still wanted to bring in color. I did this by adding lots of plants. I think the green plants makes the space feel more alive and cozy. I brought in plants that would help with mosquitoes such as Citronella and Lavender. I also added Hostas and placed some ground cover plants into little pots. Lastly, I added a touch of flowers.

I created a DIY Vertical Garden using my daughter's old crib frame. We don't have a lot of space in our front yard for a garden so a vertical garden was the best solution. You can find out more about this vertical garden by clicking the link below "DIY Vertical Garden"

Another thing I did was to move my bar cart that I was using for coffee outside. It has now turned into a plant cart for the summer. I added a varity of different plants. Over the past month I've switched the plants in and out, some have died and been replaced..like my Lavender for instance..... lol!

Also, I gave these plant pots a bit of a update using spray paint. They were done on a whim with my little helper.

I also gave my existing furniture an update by spray painting them gray. Patio furniture can be really expensive and I honestly loved my set, so doing a DIY update was a no-brainer for me. You can find out more about the update by clicking the "Wicker Furniture Makeover" link below.

Some of the other items added to the space was a basket I found on clearance at Bealls, string outdoor lights from Target and Bargain Hunt, and a rug from The Home Depot.

I had quite a hard time with keeping the lights up. They have fallen and bulbs have broken a couple of times. I love the ambiance though, so I'm going to keep working at finding ways to keep these things hung... that may even be a post later.

...and there we have it, my patio, that I completed in 30 days! We absolutely love the space and love sitting out and relaxing on the patio!

Catch up on my patio makeover for the project check out the following links:
Patio Inspiration | Vertical Garden | Wicker Furniture Makeover
Also you can view the evolution of my patio: HERE

I have to give a HUUUUGE shoutout to the other participants in this program! These ladies rocked it, I'm so amazed at the level of talent in this program. Check it out by browsing the Hashtag #1Room30Days on Instagram!

Wicker Furniture + Spray Paint

I am hard at work trying to turn my deck into a lovely space. I have been browsing for furniture, and wow, is patio furniture expensive or what!?

I have a two chair set from Big Lots that was gifted to me 5 years ago. I still love the chairs for the most part. I love how big and comfy they are and also they seem to fit perfectly. What I didn't like is the color. They are brown and just didn't match well with my patio. I have made some updates to the cushions previously but I felt I needed a bigger change.

Here is the chairs after the cushion and new pillow update.

You can check out more about that process HERE

For this second update, I updated my chairs using Rustoleum Spray Paint in Slate. Two cans were enough for both chairs. I was able to get my mother to help me with this makeover. Check out my tips at the end of the post.

And just like that, they were complete! We did two coats on each chair. With the wicker it is important to make sure you are getting into all the nooks and crannies. Once I brought the chairs onto the patio I found some spots I missed. I pulled out my plastic and covered those spots.

We have really been enjoyed our spot with the changes we have made so far. We like to lounge out here alot!

Here's some tips for you:
1. Make sure to thoroughly clean your chairs
2. Spray paint in a well lit area, you want to be able to see if your coverage is even
3. Do a couple of light coats. It's better to do light coats than a big heavy coat. The finish looks way better!

So what do you think?

Turning a Crib into a Vertical Garden

Today I wanted to shared how I turned my daughter's old crib into a vertical garden. I have been long looking for a way to add flowers near or around my patio. We have a water drainage issue so planting them in the ground is not a good option. I had been researching online for some alternative ideas and ran across the vertical garden idea.

It seemed simple enough to do so I planned to head to The Home Depot to get the supplies...and that's where my daughter's crib comes in. I have also been in the process of purging my house of unneeded items. My daughters crib was on the way to the dumpster when I realized it looked like it would be a perfect fit for a vertical garden....and this my friends is how all this came about. 

If you have a old crib laying around give this a try.

Supplies:

Crib Frame

Shower Curtain Hooks

Spray Paint

Metal Pails

Nails

Hammer

Soil + Plants

Here is a before pic I have of the crib frame. Please excuse the porch as I am currently working on fixing that up for the #1Room30Days Project. You can read more about that HERE.

I found my pails and shower curtain hooks at Target. The pails were $1 a piece and the hooks were on clearance for $5. We poked holes in the bottom of the cans to help with drainage.

My daughter was my little helper as usual on this. I had her fill the pail about 1/3 full of soil and then add her flowers. We repeated this step for every pail. I love doing little projects where she can be involved. Kids today spend so much time with technology and TV and I think it's good to get her exposed to doing other things.

We finished and tested our idea out before we began spray painting. You can see the shower curtain hooks that we used. I love the design of them and they are pretty sturdy.

Lastly we spray painted. I chose white because I thought it popped well with the bricks.

What do you think of this project? It was super easy to complete!

PROJECT: #1Room30Days Kickoff: Patio Makeover

I'm back again with another 30 day project! This will be the last one for a while! I am working on my front patio. When I was house shopping I always wanted a house with a large front patio that I could put chairs on and make super cozy.

...truth is, is that I love to people watch. I'm like the old lady in the neighborhood that watches all the cars go by and knows everyone's schedule. No Shame! lol

I spent this week pulling together some inspiration. I actually have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to my inspiration that you can check out HERE!

Here is my favorite!

I want these lights so bad too!

I also want to be able to enjoy my area, so I have to make sure my area is mosquito free. I live near a lake so the mosquitoes are REAL! I'll be using some of these ideas here!

(Click the pictures for the original sources)

Stay tuned for all my updates!

DIY: The Easy Way to Update Outdoor Furniture

I am on a mission to get the outdoor area fixed up. After being here two and a half years I think it's time.

Today I worked on the outdoor patio furniture. We've actually had this furniture for about 4 1/2 years. It's so comfy and I love it. But after years of rain and wear and tear the cushions have become dingy and dirty. I tried washing and scrubbing but it didn't get out the stains.

I looked into purchasing some cushions. I was looking at about $40.00 for new cushions for two chairs. So I thought to spray paint them....and at only $3.67 you can't go wrong with this option!

Sidebar: I spray paint everything and this project is the first one where I've had a hard time getting the spray paint right. If you plan on doing this, use several thin coats to try to get the paint even

So anyway, here is the chair before

You can actually see the water stain on the fabric. It was pretty plain too.

Here it is afterwards



And there you have it, a simple update. I bought some pillows to add some color to the chairs.

Spray Paint: Navajo White. Pillows: At Home (Formerly Garden Ridge). Chair: Big Lots

So what do you think? Have you ever used spray paint on fabric??