Look at what we came home with.
A truck full of all sorts of wood.
two small and one tall one (not pictured).
A few weeks ago I found this oil painting of an ocean landscape.
Now when the weather gets too hot, I can sit on my patio with a tall glass of lemonade and envision myself at the ocean.
The painting spoke to me. The frame did not, but I knew it would be a quick and easy fix. I removed the painting, put on my paint mask and sprayed the entire frame, cloth inset and all, a pretty shade of apple green.
Now it looks fresh and fun and will be the perfect addition to my cheap patio art.
My boys teased that it looked like ketchup and mustard, which meant I had accomplished my goal of having it fun and summery. I also chose to decorate the patio so that it connected to the yard and flower garden, with garden accessories galore.
In the spring of this year I stood at the back of my yard staring at my patio. I no longer loved what I saw. The bright colors were fun, but they also created visual clutter. So I chose new goals for my patio. I want it calm, classy, and more of an extension of the inside of my home.
What? You don't think it's cute? Well, it did have that grandpa's cabin look, and it was a bit short, standing less that five feet tall. But it did have character and it definitely had potential!
We added legs and feet using a 4x4 that we'd found in the dumpster, and fence finials from the thrift store at 50 cents each.
I gave it a fresh coat of spray paint, but found the color a little too boring, so I sanded it a bit to prepare it for it's next coat.
I pulled out a mis-tint that had the wow factor. 
The paint was beautiful, but I wanted to add back some of that grandpa's cabin character. Out came the sandpaper and the stain.
Thanks to the addition of the feet, this cutie now stands at 5'8''
and looks like a piece unearthed from an attic. 
After spray painting the lamp with R's metallic brown, I started the shade makeover. I purchased some chocolate brown burlap and a package of seam binding. 
I cut off the old material 
leaving just the plastic liner. 
I laid out the burlap and sprayed the outside of the shade with spray adhesive. I matched up the finished edge of the burlap to the existing seam on the shade. 
Then I rolled the shade on top of the burlap, pressing on the inside of the shade as I rolled.
I trimmed the excess material from the top and bottom of the shade.
I trimmed the opposite end of the fabric, pulled back the finished edge and tucked the raw edge under to make a nice, clean seam.
The lamp transformation is complete. A freshly painted lamp base combined with a newly covered burlap shade. A favorite combination! And a great price! Did you know that the big box red dot store sells burlap shades for twenty dollars? I paid less than ten dollars for the lamp, shade, and makeover materials. 
Linked to Tales From Bloggeritaville and A Soft Place To Land
It went home with them last summer in a car that was filled to the brim with wedding gifts and luggage. The sassy little black and white vase on the top was a cast-off from a friend.
The coffee table was a freeie, and so was the chest I used to define the entry.
It got a coat of black spray paint to fit in with the Swedish store bought furniture.
Fortunately it arrived safely inside a very well packed check-in suitcase. It just needed a new shade to give it a classy up-date.
I got a phone call from my daughter asking me if she should pick them up. Of course I said YES! They're hung on both the living room and dining room windows to add an architectural element to a plain apartment, as well as unify the style of the two rooms.
We saw that tall piece late one night (right corner in above photo) in someone's garbage pile on our way back to the apartment. My daughter stopped the car and I jumped out to pick it up. It's missing a few baskets, but it's still functional for storage. It may get a make-over next time I visit.
The beautiful china cabinet was a twenty-five dollar find on Craig's List. It's missing the glass shelf. They'll get one cut at a glass/window shop. The dining room table was a freebie from their last apartment. 
The top had a light stain, but with some sanding and a couple of coats of dark cherry stain it lost it's farmhouse feel and now looks fresh and hip.
The bar stools were found on CL. They only wanted two but the sellers wanted them sold as a set of four. I'm sure they'll come in handy when they have several dinner guests.
While out on a walk yesterday I noticed a pile of freshly cut boxwood branches lying in the street waiting for the trash. I've always admired 
Am I the only person who thinks that there is something a little exciting about taking another person's trash under the guise of darkness? 
One man's trash
I'm sure that right about now you're wishing you hadn't passed by that old wooden salad bowl last time you were at the thrift store. 
Many of you have admired my chunky candlesticks. Before they held candles they sat for about a hundred years as part of a balustrade on a neighbors' front porch. My neighbors replaced them with the vinyl stuff that doesn't need to be painted. I volunteered to take the old porch parts. They were happy to give them to me. I've made four sets of these candlesticks. A pair for my neighbors as a memento of their old porch, a pair as a Christmas gift, and two pair for me.
and a black pair.
I have six of these sweet things left.
