Let me start by telling you that…the patio is done! It’s been done for about a week…but things have been pretty busy around here so I haven’t had the time to sit down and really show it off to you the right way. I even had my very first dinner gathering on it on Sunday. Pretty darn exciting! It’s still missing the lighting, but besides that I’ll call it good. The lighting will just have to wait until I return from a visit home to Indiana next week. But more on that later.
If you have a patio or a deck…or are looking at putting one in you’ve probably noticed that, well, outdoor stuff is pretty pricey. I hate pricey. I like affordable, eclectic and thrifty. If there is one thing that the Allender clan is good at {but let’s be honest, we’re pretty savvy at lots of things} it’s coming up with solutions. We are brainstormers willing and able to see a creative use for a mundane item. So that’s exactly what I did. I got creative and thrifty when furnishing my new ODR {outdoor room, folks.} Today I’m thrilled to show you the first part of of my conversation area…take a look.
Big difference, right? I bought two of those yellow upholstered chairs at the Salvation Army Thrift Shop for $15 each. When I laid my eyes on them, I knew that if I put a weather resistant fabric and some white paint on there…they’d be perfect.
Here’s what I did. Really, it was so easy, I know you can do this. When I got these chairs they smelled super bad. Like mothballs and musty closets. When I proudly showed these gems to my friends in the garage, the first thing they noticed was not the cool lines or the potential. It was the smell.
So my first order of business was ridding them of anything that could capture the odor inside. I tossed the cushion and ripped off the fabric and all the padding underneath. Then I scuffed up the glossy finish on the exposed wood with some sand paper and added two coats of exterior grade paint. {Leftovers from last year’s deck redo.}
Once the paint was dry and all the stuffing was safely in the trash it was time for new cushioning and upholstery. I went down to my ever loyal JoAnn Fabrics. I picked up two yards of outdoor fabric and outdoor cushions. If you are making over a piece of furniture that you plan to keep outside, it is pertinent that you use things made for the open air…fabric, padding, paint, everything.
Now, the way I did the upholstery is a little janky. I put one cushion on the seat {as you can see one a size bigger might have been a better option, but this is still okay because it covers the springs.} The other cushion a put in the back of the chair. I took the staple gun to them to hold them in place. Then it was time for fabric.
I measured the size of the seat and added about 2″ to the whole perimeter. Then I did the same thing for the back of the chair. I whipped out my high-heat glue gun and started attaching it to the chair frame. Starting on the bottom {or back of the seat} I glued it in place, then pulled it tight in the opposite direction. You want it really good and taut. In the places that the seam shows, fold the fabric under to make a “finished” edge. As you go, trim off any excess that gets in your way.
Just to make things easier on myself, I wrapped the fabric all the way over the to of the chair and attached it to the back.
It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it looks {and smells} lots better. And the total cost with all the supplies, came out to about $50 for the two chairs. And while these are weather resistant, I don’t recommend leaving them out in a downpour if you know it’s coming. Taking them in, or covering them with a plastic drop cloth will prolong their life.
Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you my new patio table. That I made. For FREE! Yep, free. Okay, if we are getting picky, it cost $4.59 for nails. Give a girl a break.
Amy
