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 :-)