Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Freshening up the back patio

 
 
   Freshening up a deck, patio or porch doesn't have to break the bank. You can plant flowers or plants you transplant from the wild in yard sale planters, up-cycled cans or even cooking pots which looks really cool on the front porch. You just need to think outside of the box. You do need to add holes on the bottom of pots or cans you use to plant plants in so water can leak out and you do not get root rot. I have even seen people plant wild flowers in old shoes or boots and it is precious. Below are a few things I did in a afternoon to spruce things up and used things I already have. Hope it inspires you to look around you and do the same. I would love to see some of your projects. 
 

I have lemon grass which is very fragrant growing in the yard. I transplanted a bit in a planter I found at a yard sale for $3 and placed river rocks on top to help hold the moisture in during these hot summer months. This now sits on my back patio.
 
Again I planted  some hearty lemon grass that  I transplanted from the yard into a #10 can and placed it on a bench my husband made from old wood we found in the upper level of our barn. The can will weather in time and it will rust a bit and  will look old which I will love even better.
 
I found these flowers on clearance for a whopping fifty cents at "Wal-Mart" and planted them also in a #10 can and again placed river rocks from the driveway on top to hold in moisture. 
 
I placed my flowers on a old grain sack I have and placed a few indoor decorations around them on my table outdoors on my patio for a Summer supper outside tonight.
 

In the corner of my deck I placed a chair that was outside of the house when we bought it. I painted it with some left over white paint I had in the basement to freshen it up. It took me about four hours one afternoon to sand it all down and paint it with two coats of paint.  I sat a little bench I found at a yard sale for a $1 beside it to sit a drink on and I painted my third #10 can with left over paint from our bedroom and again planted my hearty lemon grass in it. I think it looks pretty inviting for my husband to sit with a huge glass of iced tea when he gets home from work.   
   Remember don't throw things away before first asking yourself how you can re purpose it and use it later. You never know how creative you can be.

Happy decorating
Love, Kimberley

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