There were grand plans to strip, sand, and paint the porch in the spring…but then spring turned to summer and “strip, sand, paint the porch” turned into “let’s buy cheap furniture at Goodwill and spray paint it yellow.”
Story of my life.
The swing was from the people who used to live here but it was past due for a coat of paint too, and as with most things in life, when in doubt, I go for red. The three chairs came from Goodwill, marked three for $15. How was I to pass on that?
I forgot to take a full on before photo, so you’ll have to trust me when I tell you they were not cute.
Great lines, very Miami Golden Girls in the 80’s, but the wood was glossy red-brown and cushions were this nubbly barf colored beige-cream office chair type of fabric. No thank you. I could have made my own cushions, but H&M carries seat cushions*, including these ones in a most bodacious hexagon pattern for under $10. I was keeping this on teh cheap, but I figured by the time I spent money on fabric, stuffing and zippers, it would have crossed way more than $30 for three. So this was a good call.
*I don’t see the hexagon seat cushions I bought from H&M online, but they have some equally cute striped ones worth a looksee.
I just love the look of brightly colored painted wicker, rattan, and bamboo. I think we are all so used to seeing it painted white, it’s fun to see it presented as something unexpected, especially when paired with a modern looking fabric.
The pillow on the porch swing is from Ikea. Not intended for outdoors but for $5 I can risk it and/or run it through a washing machine at teh end of the season. The green rug/mat/runner thing was also under $10 and from Ikea. It’s nice, but in retrospect I sorta wish I had sprung for one of these larger $20 indoor/outdoor mats from World Market. Sometimes a little more cash-cash makes a lot more boom-boom.
The plants I picked out here are all suitable as houseplants as well. They’ll soak up as much outside time as they can but will move indoors by October. Then assuming I don’t kill them, will move outside again come next spring. You see what I did there?
Speaking of houseplants….Note those big purple hanging plants on the left. They are called Wandering Jews and you’ll see them for sale late summer every year. If you see one, and you have been looking for an impressive-yet-low-maintenance house plant, get one. As someone who has a history of killing houseplants, these are my absolute favorite. I cannot praise them enough. Not just because they are this gorgeous eggplant purple striped with grey-green-silver fronts, but because they grow and grow, even indoors in low light, and, get this: you are not supposed to water them until they look limp. A plant that TELLS ME when to water it? Hello! They tend to get sort of leggy, so you just snip off 10” or so and put the snippet in a vase of water and it’ll grow roots underwater and eventually you can replant somewhere else. Or not. I keep a vase of these leggy snippets on a bookshelf year round and it’s a great touch of botanical in the room without any cost or upkeep. I’ll swap the water out every month or two, but that’s it. Really, it is great plant. If you see one around this time of year I suggest you grab one. Feel free to make it a boho macramé hanger too. It’ll like that a lot.
So, let’s tally this off…
3 chairs: $15
3 cans of yellow and red spray paint: $14.97
1 floor mat: $9.95
4 cushions: $35
4 plants: $25
TOTAL: $99.92
Not too shabby!
Author : auntpeaches.com
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