I mentioned a few weeks ago when I shared all about our new windows that we were getting ready to replace our back patio. Like pretty much everything else with the house, the patio is in really rough shape. We have so many plans for the backyard, but before we can start on any of them, or the mountain of landscaping we have to do, the patio needs to be the first thing we change before moving forward. Even though we've repainted the house, installed a new roof, soffit, gutters and windows, we still have so much to do... as you can see! Replacing our back patio is the first step to really being able to start working on the back of the house. Here's what our existing patio ...
Tagged with: patio
New Outdoor Patio Furniture
Our outdoor patio was needing a little bit of a refresh. The hard winter months had left it feeling sad, depressed and ready for a tiny makeover, which I was happy to give, considering our patio is one of the first things you can see when you walk through our home... specifically because the back wall of our house is filled with large doors. For a few months there, we didn't have the prettiest set up out there. I had pushed everything to one corner to make it easier for snow shoveling, and it just sat there looking depressed. That wasn't anything a little makeover couldn't fix though... You may remember the outdoor furniture that I transformed last summer, it was such a big makeover, but ...
How To Make A Log Planter
Hi friends! I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday! I was recently asked to be an eHow contributor, and I am so happy and excited to share my first project with them on their website. Head on over to eHow to see how to make a log planter, which is the perfect way to give function to, and use, those random stumps that are laying around your yard. It's a completely customizable project, which I love, and it can be made with whatever shape, size, type of stump you can use, or gather up! I also think they would look amazing in a grouping with different sizes and heights of stumps. :) I hope you enjoy it! See you over there! :) ...
Rustic Wood Pumpkin Stand
Add the perfect touch of fall character to your front porch with this easy and beautiful rustic wood pumpkin stand. It's a versatile piece that can go from front porch decor, to part of a serving station at your next fall party! I am so excited to share my latest DIY project. I love, love, love versatile pieces that can multi-task and go wherever I need them. Today's project is one of them. This pumpkin stand is perfect on so many levels. The size is great, it's easy to customize, and it is a multi-tasking boss! Want it on the front step for flowers? Check. Need to use it on your serving table to hold cups or utensils? Done. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. ...
Outdoor Coffee Table Makeover
Our patio furniture makeover continues to be one of my very favorite things I've ever painted. And that's saying something since I basically live with a paint brush in my hand. When I found our set on Craigslist, I knew the coffee table would need a bit of reworking. I didn't love the current set up, and I thought it really dated the furniture set. But, I also knew the coffee table had great bones, so a makeover would be easy. I was right. Really, this was a simple little update. Here's what we started with... After I removed everything but the bottom frame, here's what was left... Because there was a great indent on the frame, we decided to fill it with a piece of ...
How To Prep Cushions for Outdoors
Cushions are expensive. Like, whoa!, really expensive. When I was searching for a patio set, I knew a chunk of money would need to be spent on cushions. Then, our dishwasher went out, and any money I had for cushions and a patio set went with it. But when I found our set on Craiglist, I knew I could make it work. Have you seen the before pictures?? Yikes. After I got the set home, I was motivated to get the furniture repainted and reupholstered, so I started looking around at outdoor fabric. Yikes, and double yikes. The fabric alone was half the cost of a brand new patio set. I was so torn with what to do. Then, I remembered the potential of drop cloths. But, instead of buying ...
DIY Wall Serving Station
Outdoor entertaining is among us! I know I can't be the only one seeking the outdoors in their free time. And especially since we now have an outdoor furniture set. I am in heaven. :) Today, I am so happy to share another idea for your outdoor space, a DIY wall serving station. Outdoor entertaining spaces can be limited sometimes, so this serving station is a perfect solution to those small space problems. I haven't gotten around to hanging ours on the wall yet... We would have to drill into our stucco exterior, so I'm still deciding where I want to hang it. In the meantime, it makes a super cute serving station on our coffee table! Here's how I made it: First, I started ...
Outdoor Patio Furniture Makeover
Oh. Man. I am so excited to share one of my biggest furniture makeover's to date! Early this spring, I decided it was time to put to use, and really use, our back patio. Until a about a month ago, we had a huge, lovely patio with random miscellaneous furniture. And some of it wanted to blow away when the wind hit. I was tired of chasing chairs across our farm fields. And as soon as I made up my mind to finally buy a new patio set, our dishwasher decided to skip out. Needless to say, I wanted a dishwasher more than patio furniture. So, just like that, my furniture budget was gone. My determination and desire for a patio set, however, was still there. What's a girl to do? About a week ...
Stump Side Table
Is today really Wednesday? These past few weeks have completely flown by, and suddenly it's June! What the what? I have been working my booty off with the online shop. There is so much that I never even thought about doing, but as I kept making progress, things kept popping up, one by one. In the mean time, I've joined a group of amazing ladies for our Celebration of Summer! I've been so excited to spend some time outside, so I knew exactly what I wanted to share for the summer series, a stump side table. If you've been following along for awhile, you may remember my first project with stumps, my split stump side table. I think it's safe to say, I like stumps. Plus, they're ...
Bird House Makeover
I love hearing the birds chirp. It's such a happy sound! And since we don't have very big trees, I love it when they do decide to stop by and sing a tune for the house. That's exactly why I was so excited to have a cute little bird house to give a makeover. I want them to feel welcome, and to sing away, so it was perfect timing. I love it when that happens. Here's what the house looked like before... Not bad at all, but it needed a little makeover. Plus, easy projects like this add that perfect touch of character and are my very favorite. They're the type of thing you notice in a full room. And walking up to the house with this little cutie hanging in the tree is ...
DIY Paver Planter
Ready to make your own planter for the patio? I'm sharing the full step by step tutorial for my DIY Paver Planter. I'm in full "spruce up the yard and back patio" mode. No joke. Other than putting out a few pots and flowers every year, our back patio doesn't get much attention. Since we built the house, I've been saying I'm going to give it a little TLC. I just know it would be a place we'd love to hang out and relax, but that would mean we'd need more than a few random pieces of furniture! So, I've devised a plan to get our back patio into shape. And one of the first things I wanted to get done in time for planting flowers, is our DIY Paver Planter.... I am giddy with ...
DIY Rolling Firewood Cart
I've been dreaming about spending a bit more time outside during the evenings. Enjoying the crisp fall evenings with a cup of hot apple cider, a cozy blanket and a warm fire sounds just about perfect. So perfect in fact, that I even got Anthony on board to help with a new project that would make that perfect fall evening even better, a DIY Rolling Firewood Cart... I'm already so excited about using it, I could smile all day long! :-D Here's how we made it, with help from 3M DIY : Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows us to make a small commission from your purchase, but your purchase price stays the same. Thank you for ...
Park Bench Makeover
Today is all about a really cute park bench that found its way from the fixer upper, to our home. Anthony and I spend a lot of time in our detached garage/ shop working on projects for the house/ farm and blog, but the thing is, we never really had a place to sit and take a breather. To enjoy life. To wait for paint/ stain/ or glue to dry. And the garage itself doesn't have room inside (ahem, we have quite the tool collection....), so I took advantage of a sweet little spot right outside the door. :-D Now, we have a pretty little place to enjoy, laugh, and dream up new projects! Lucky us! And as for that bench, here's what it looked like before... It was rough. The ...
How To Make Patio Doors Look More Expensive
A few months back, our front door handle broke and we couldn't get in or out of our front door. Then, a few weeks later, our living room patio door knob broke too. #frustrated I felt like the door knob curse had set in. There for a while, every time I went to Home Depot, I was buying a new door knob. And even though I wanted to be frustrated about spending money to replace doors knobs that only lasted 3 years, I went with it and decided to jazz up our patio doors in the living room with a new matching pair of handles. So today, it's all about how to make patio doors look more expensive & custom. I've always liked the look of both doors having a handle, but it really wasn't ...
Fruit Crate Herb Garden
There's just something magical about summer time... from nights spent around the fire pit roasting marshmallows, to all the fresh food and awesome activities, summer is easily one of my favorite times of the year. And even though summer means a really busy time for us farmers, we all love the warm weather and family gatherings, especially when they involve the fire pit... We love those peaceful country nights! And because summer is such a fun season {and a reason to celebrate}, I'm joining an awesome group of bloggers in a summer celebration! Happy days! And since I absolutely love everything about herbs, I thought it would be fun to share a very easy fruit crate herb garden... Here's ...
Outdoor Concrete Pots
Learn how to make your own outdoor concrete pots. I'm sharing my full, step by step tutorial. Well, we've had a few days without the wind. I'm not sure how I've survived! I mean, we can actually walk outside without being blown away. I might have had one or two good hair days... And now that I've said that, I'm sure it will have to make its appearance. Let's just pretend I didn't say anything... I've been so anxious to start adding flowers and pots and outdoor pretties, that I couldn't help myself from making a new pair of outdoor concrete pots. Concrete is a bit more in depth to work with and it can definitely be a labor of love, but the finished results are totally worth ...
Fold Up Potting Bench
Remember that big shed transformation that we finished in August? Well, I'm back to share one more thing that we added to it... A fold up (or down) potting bench! I've wanted a potting bench for sooo long. In the past, I've lugged all my pots, potting soil and plants to the front of the house and potted them on our front porch. Then once I was finished, I'd drag all the supplies back to the shed. Efficient, right? Definitely NOT! That's happily in my past, because now I have this: I'm pretty sure love isn't a strong enough word for how I feel about it. And it's nothing if not efficient. I can have it up: Or down: I. KNOW! Here's how we made it: First we ...
Concrete Pumpkins
It's felt like fall lately... the temps have dropped and the days are getting shorter. You know what that means, right? It's pumpkin season! Today I'm sharing a project I originally shared over at Fox Hollow Cottage. Exciting news!! I'm a new monthly contributor (pinch me, please!) and I couldn't wait to share my latest pumpkin project: Concrete Pumpkins! I love texture and these pumpkins don't disappoint! They also bring such a lovely contrast against regular pumpkins. Here's how to make them: You'll need: -Portland Quikcrete -Sphagnum Peat Moss -Perlite -Water -Plastic Pumpkin -Cooking Spray -Plastic Wrap --------- Start by mixing equal ...
Concrete Pots
I like things that are a bit different and unexpected. Concrete pots happen to fall under both of those categories. I've been looking to add a few plants here and there throughout the house, but I wanted something that was a bit different to the traditional house plant. Succulents and concrete pots were the perfect solution. I love them! And they're easy to make! Here's how to make them! You will need: - Portland Quikrete - Perlite - Sphagnum Peat Moss - Water - Cooking Spray - Plastic Containers - Mixing Bucket & Paint Stir Stick First, start by mixing equal amounts of portland quikrete, perlite and peat moss. Mix as much as you want, as long ...
Fence Picket Outdoor Table Top
I have a confession, and it's kind of funny.... We have a lovely patio area... but no patio table. Ha! When we built our home we added a big patio off the back. One that overlooks incredible mountain and farm views. It's lovely out there, especially when we're entirely surrounded by corn. But until a few weeks ago, it sat empty. Well, not entirely. We do have a grill and two chaise lounges that I swiped off the side of road pre-blogging. (Anthony should have known then...) But other than that, it was empty. And what's a patio without a patio table? It's like macaroni without cheese. It's just wrong. Luckily, a while back I scored a round metal patio table for free. It was ...
Style Board Series: Master Patio
I can honestly say that the master patio style board has been one of the funnest to create thus far. I've had a difficult time choosing a couple of the items, just because there are so many awesome things to pick from. Luckily, our patio is quite large and because of that I am able to divide it into two different sections, if you will. On the side of the master bedroom I am planning on expanding the stamped concrete with stone pavers. As an added bonus to the property that we bought, the previous owner left behind a ton of stone pavers, which threw me for a loop in the beginning. I had no clue how we could reuse them, but I was adamant that we keep them. I have found a new place for several ...
