It's Patio Season

It's officially summertime people, and you know what that means. It's officially patio season. I love having a deck out back, but it is quite under utilized to say the least. The first summer, nothing. The second summer, I got my act together. I cleaned it, stained it, got some furniture, and potted flowers. However, I still don't sit out there much. In the spring time when the weather is nice, there is pollen everywhere. Then post killer pollen season it becomes uncomfortably hot, or it turns into killer mosqutio season and those citronella candles are a JOKE! Can a sista have a cup of coffee without becoming breakfast? Geesh! This summer though I'm determined to use it. Here is what it looked like before.

 I know pretty grim huh. Now here is the after. 

So, how did it happen? Well first I potted new plants. Last year was my first stab at gardening, so I started a little simple. I went for smaller colorful flowers. This year I was feeling adventurous and went with Lilies. 

I really want sunflowers, but never seem to find them. The giant size pots were left by the previous owners. I added ceramic dishes that I spray painted yellow underneath. Then I hosed down the deck and the furniture. The rain was not working with me. So it took me a few days, and lots of shifting furniture from one side to the other. I made quite the mess with the dirt from the plants.

I also took it upon myself to patch up the holes made by the Carpenter Bees, who seem to live in my wood. They're ridiculous. I would patch up holes, only to have the bees poke through the holes again. Little do they know they will not be tolerated any more. I am a lover of all things and creatures, and try to leave most things alone, but they have just jumped up to the list next to mosquitoes. They better beware because I will not hesitate!

Now for the project, because every space needs a little TM.Original touch. I decided to make a table. I got the idea at Home Depot when they came out with wood circles. I am going to make 2 small tables, and put them together. Unfortunately, the circles were no longer in stock at Home Depot so I went to Lowes, and there they were. 

For the design I got the idea from this picture I came across some where. It looks like something I would have gotten from a Pinterest binge of some sort. I liked the design, and have been waiting for an opportunity to use it. This table seemed like a good time. 

I got out my pencil and measured out the design. Then I used painter's tape to mark off the edges for each section. I bought special All-Surface paint. I needed something that not only could work on wood, but more importantly something for outdoors. 

I continued doing one color at a time, letting it dry completely before I moved on to the next. 

I finished every color, pulled up all of the tape, and took a look at my table tops. They were looking quite nice. 

However, I wasn't feeling the beige. It blended in too much with the wood base. Especially being that it was the first and last color.  So, I went back and added green to the back section. Rather than go buy another bottle of all-surface paint, I mixed the blue and yellow together.

While the tops dried I moved on to the bases. I got these from Hobby Lobby. A little more than what I wanted to pay, but it wasn't as easy to find a suitable base as I had assumed it would be. Everything was either the wrong size or really expensive.

 The only problem was that it had handles that extended beyond the top. 

So first thing was to remove those. I broke out my handy dandy Saw Max. Which by the way did I mention that it cuts through metal? Exciting huh? I put on my safety goggles. Safety first! I've never cut metal before so I took precautions.

20 mins later all 4 handles were off. Not as hard as I thought. Sparks were flying around the garage. I wish I could have gotten pictures, but I needed both hands and felt like saw safety was more important than the photo. I don't play around when it comes to power tools and safety. That's how people lose fingers. Once the handles were gone, I spray painted them. I gave both pieces 2 coats of Hi-Gloss Navy Blue. 

I let everything dry a couple of days before putting it all together. To create the tables, I placed the tops face down and added a layer of e6000 glue all the way around the top of the base.

Then I flipped it over and placed it in the center of the base. I probably should have marked the circle first, but I didn't so I just stepped back a couple of times to make sure it was centered on all sides. 

I let it dry for at least 24 hours before moving it. To finish up, I sprayed everything with a spray polyurethane specifically meant for exterior use. After more drying time, I had new patio tables.

and outside

The chairs and seat cushions are from Target. 

The couch I got from Ikea. 

The grill was so graciously given to me by a friend of mine who was moving into an apartment and couldn't take it with her.

I also decided to move my herbs outside. You'll remember I planted some herbs indoors in early Spring. Well, now that it's summer they'll probably thrive better outside. 

So what do you think?  I for one am glad this is done. It will be nice to come out and sit and have morning coffee, Happy Hour beverages with friends, or small impromptu BBQs. I'm even thinking of doing some art out here. Painting on the Patio with Tanaira. You might see it. Stay tuned. Oh, and if anyone has a good mosquito repellant solution I'm ALL ears. Those things attack me instantly. It's like they have a sixth sense. Maybe it's my sweet aroma. That's what I get for smelling like strawberries. LOL

Until then...it's on to the next project