Backyard refresh

This spring, I decided that it was time to give our backyard a bit of a refresh. It was looking pretty boring and bland!

I didn’t want to spend a lot of money (well, hubby didn’t want me to spend a lot of money!) and I couldn’t do much about the plants or torn up grass. With three or four dogs playing in the backyard all the time, flowers will be stepped on and the grassless spots just won’t grow back. So I worked with what I had and fixed up what I could.

My colour inspiration came from this stained glass window that I made years ago at a workshhop given by Out of Ruins.

I used paint to breathe new life into things that I already had – planters, candlesticks, a lantern, and a small table. I actually loved the colour of the green table, but the finish had become worn and dull after lots of summers outside.

I used the same Krylon Gloss Purple spray paint on one of the candlesticks that I used on my $7.00 lamp. I got a lot of use out of that can! The other two candlesticks are painted with Valspar Deep Sea Diving and Tropical Oasis.

Thanks to my friend Janet for telling me about the glass floats at HomeSense :-) They’re a nice addition to the planters. And I couldn’t resist the cute glass frog :-) I used some shades of turquoise from PARA Paints on the big planters.

While I was at HomeSense, I saw the turquoise candlesticks and just had to have them :-) And hubby found citronella candles at Home Depot that fit the large candlesticks perfectly. I don’t know if citronella really keeps the mosquitoes away,  but is smells nice :-)

Our old wood Adirondack chairs had definitely seen better days. They were worn and weathered, and the dogs like to chew the arms. I found these plastic Adirondack chairs at Lowes for $16.00 each. They’re the perfect shade of green, and apparently not as tasty as wood ;-)

And of course, there was the patio table that I showed you back in May that’s been waiting to be finished…

I painted the metal on the table Sherwin Williams Oceanside. I used Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze to paint the umbrella base. The tiles on the top are from Lowes. I really want a turquoise umbrella, but we have a brown one that came with the table when we bought it that’s never been used. So frugal wins out – for now! ;-)

I’d love to dress up the chairs and loungers with cushions and add an outdoor mat, but sometimes practicality has to come first. And I know that a cushion wouldn’t last more then 5 seconds before becoming a chew toy! So the backyard “after” isn’t all that fancy, but it’s colourful and as dog-friendly as I can make it, and an improvement over bland and boring, I think :-)

   

Lofty celebrations: The Reveal! (A PARA Paints Blog Crew project)

In yesterday’s blog post, I told you the “Before” story of our loft makeover. And today is the “After” – a day I’ve been looking forward to for almost twelve years! Who says I don’t have any patience? ;-)

So the story left off with Charles the orange sectional and some blue colour chips. And what colour did I decide on? The loft is primarily a home theater, so I wanted to go dark on the walls. I decided on PARA Paints Rainy Skies. The trim is Climb The Mast.

 

I have to admit, I had an “OH MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!” moment when the painter (a friend of ours)started rolling on the first coat. But as the old colour disappeared under Rainy Skies, I loved the transformation more and more. The dark blue went onto the walls and right up onto the vaulted ceiling – which you might think would make the room feel small, but the dark ceiling actually makes it feel like there’s no ceiling at all – it’s like you’re looking up at the night sky.

Click here to read the railing saga, complete with a fire at the paint shop!

When the painting was done, it was time to have some decorating fun! Which was a bit of a challenge, because I really couldn’t condone going out and buying new stuff when we already have so much stuff in our house. The only things I bought are the cushions and orange throw and a piece of art. And we bought a few pieces of furniture at Ikea to hold the media components. Otherwise, everything in the loft came from somewhere else in the house.

I slightly modified my plan to create a reading nook with a chaise:

And opted for a leather arm chair, cow print foot stool, and small side table. I prefer to buy original art, but the colours in this piece were perfect and for $15 at HomeSense, it was too good a deal to pass up :-)

I put my telescope in the opposite nook.

This little seating area in the corner has two more leather arm chairs, an orange ceramic drum stool (originally bought for the back patio), and a floor lamp. I couldn’t resist buying the orange bicycle cushion :-) A triptych I bought years ago from my friend & artist Matt LeBlanc will go on the wall above the chairs.

When we bought the sectional for our family room a couple of years ago, we needed to put the sofa somewhere. Of course, it ended up in our loft, the home for wayward furniture :-)

My $7.00 lamp on a craftsman desk that I bought on sale at Pier 1ages ago and never had a real use for – till now :-)

Originally, the colour scheme was going to be navy blue, orange, and purple. But I really liked the bright green on the floral cushion, and decided to add more bright green. This green & black plaid throw that I bought last summer in PEI at MacAusland’s Woolen Mills is the perfect addition :-) And it keeps me warm when I’m watching a movie!

A couple of years ago, I convinced hubby to make a metal & wood table like the Brickmaker’s tables at Restoration Hardware that are way out of my price range. My original plan was to use scraps of wood that we already had for the top, but then we found a beautiful piece of live edge spalted maple at KJP Select Hardwoods that I loved. It wasn’t quite wide enough for the metal base that hubby already made, so he added a strip of a dark African hardwood down the middle.

A few years ago, I bought four chairs and a pedestal table from Kijiji. We refinished the table and refinished & reupholstered the chairs, and now they have a new home in the loft as a games table.

Click here to read about the chair makeover and click here to read about the table makeover

Of course, you can’t have a home theater without a big-screen TV, right? Well, hubby grabbed the motto go big or go home and ran with it – he bought a projector and used Screen Goo to paint a HUGE 12’ wide screen on the wall. To hold all the components, we bought three tables at Ikea – a LACK TV bench and two LACK coffee tables – and lined them up together. The bench in the middle was shorter than the coffee tables, so hubby added pieces of oak to the bench legs to make it the same height.

Projector off:

Projector on:

With a dark colour on the walls and ceiling, you really get an experience similar to watching a movie in a theater (especially at night when there’s no sunlight in the room).

She approves ;-) (Sorry the picture is crooked, but it was too funny not to use it :-) )

It took 12 years, but our loft has finally been transformed from a big empty unfinished space into a room that’s perfect for watching  movies and sports and entertaining friends. Who wants to come over on Saturday night for a game of Rock Band? ;-)

Thank you PARA Paints and Bonds Decor for providing the paint :-)

Coincidentally, Rachel at Hue recently wrote this blog post about why it’s best to paint a media room a dark colour. Rachel, I couldn’t agree more! :-)

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