Our $75 Deck Makeover

This deck makeover is actually from last summer. I realized I never blogged about it and since it's that time of year where everyone's sprucing up their outdoor living areas, I thought now would be the perfect time to share!

Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take a "before" picture. If you imagine a beat up old white resin table, with four equally beat up old mismatched white resin chairs, you'll get the general idea. We'd lived with that less-than-inspiring set for several years (a hand-me-down from my dad) and while I was thankful that we had *something* to sit on outdoors, I was very ready for a change!

My husband had just built a new fence around the back and side of the yard (the other areas already had a wooden fence) which was something we'd wanted to do for several years and had finally saved the money to complete. It made our yard look so much better that I just couldn't stand the sight of that old patio set any more! However, a brand new patio set was most definitely not in our budget. I *knew* I could find us a set within out budget, I just wasn't sure how or when I'd pull it off.

One Saturday while I was out on my weekly yard sale rounds, I stopped by a church rummage sale that was being held out in their parking lot. I arrived fairly late in the morning (after 11 a.m.) and had a good look around, purchasing a few small items. I was just about to leave the sale, when out of the corner of my eye I caught something that looked like the glass top of a patio table leaning against the parking lot fence. It was tucked well away from the main part of the sale, so I don't think many people would have noticed it. Lucky for me, because for $50 it became my new patio set! After a quick wash down with a bucket of hot soapy water, it looked nearly new. I've seen very similar sets on sale around here for $500 to $600 bucks, so I was totally thrilled with this bargain purchase (my younger son still tells everyone who comes in our backyard that his mom bought the patio set for 50 bucks, lol!) I would really like a patio umbrella to finish it off, so I'm keeping my eyes open for a great deal on one this year.

To complete our deck makeover, my husband built the three large planter boxes out of free wooden skids (also known as pallets). There are a couple of places in our area where people dump these, free for the taking. They are generally made of hardwood and are an excellent source of free wood for small building projects. He painted them with white paint we had hanging around from another project, so the planter boxes didn't cost a thing to build. The smaller tables in between the large boxes were built out of an old plant stand we had hanging around. The two pots on top of small tables we dug out of the basement. We spent the remaining $25 on soil for the large planters and an assortment of herbs for the pots, to create visually pleasing and pleasantly scented edible arrangements. The large planter boxes were used to grow cherry tomato plants.

I still smile every time I walk onto our deck, knowing that we created exactly what we wanted while staying within our modest budget!

If you have a great outdoor makeover to share, please tell me about it in the comments.