DIY Day!

Today was an incredibly busy day for me! I was in what my mother calls a "Suzy Homemaker" mode. I had a to-do list a mile long.  It wasn't really things that NEEDED to be done, but rather things that I wanted to get done.  I called it my "big girl" to-do list, as it really pertained more to making the patio/outdoor living space look exactly like I wanted. If I'm going to have an outdoor "living space" (sounds so much fancier than "patio" right?!), I want it to be a space I am going to enjoy!  I mean, is that so crazy?! So, today (for whatever reason), I decided it was the day.  I went to Lowe's and picked out garden supplies (more on that in a minute); went to Home Depot and got some outdoor spray paint; and went to Target and got some outdoor lighting and rubber gloves.

SO, first thing I wanted to do was plant a pot of flowers.  Just one, yes.  There isn't a lot of room on my patio, so I decided on one.  My philosophy is that you can always add more, but it is more difficult to take away.  I got enough potting soil (or what the Lowe's employee recommended I get) for my one pot, got a "decorative pot" (kind of an essential), flowers, gardening gloves, and a lantern stake.  I staked the lantern pole into the ground first, and (obviously) put the lantern on the hook!  Next, I planted my creeping jenny, begonias, and coleus into the pot! Adorable! LOVE how it turned out!

See my adorable plant pot and lantern on the right?

Now, if you notice the table is a hideous shade of rusted cream.  Yeah - can't have that.  So I made a trip to Home Depot and got this amazing 2x UltraCover spray paint in Espresso.  Now, this table was so nasty, so I went after it with a large amount of 409, rubber gloves, and PILES of paper towels.  I should have taken a before and after picture, but the rusted cream color was already too much to handle. I couldn't take a close up of the mildewed, rusted cream color - gross.  This spray paint (pictured at right) is amazing.  It took me ONE can to paint four coats on the table.  After the table was scrubbed down and cleaned up, I laid it upside down.  I did 2 coats (waiting 20 minutes in between) on the table.  I waited 30 minutes before waiting to flip it right-side-up.  I then did another 2 coats on the table, with it sitting right side up, waiting 20 minutes between coats. I waited about 30-40 minutes before I even attempted to move the table back to the patio.  (Side Note: Rust-Oleum brand lid is actually very true to the actual color of the paint once it dries. I got my patio chairs from Home Depot, so I took 2 colors that I thought would work well with the chairs I already had and compared the spray paint lids with the actual chairs I purchased! Would HIGHLY recommend if you are OCD like me and want things to match as closely as possible! It's worth the little extra time to make things look spectacular!)  Proof is in the picture!

I don't think I could have matched this any more perfectly!

My final pit stop was at Target was for rubber gloves (used to spray paint the table. Yes, I'm a priss - can't have paint on my fingers) and a solar-powered strand of lights (How awesome is that?!). So I strung them up along the fence.  They are even connected to their own little solar panel, which is on a stake to place in the ground.  I love them! I had already surrounded the patio with little lanterns, placed a lantern on the lantern stake, and then these little solar-powered lights on the fence just added the perfect touch! Check it all out before and after it got dark!

Day time! So cute!

Night Time: So romantic!

I hope that my DIY day has inspired you to have one of your own! Thanks for stopping by!