The Backyard Remodel–on the cheap

by SkinnyRunner on February 29, 2012

While I was in Phoenix one of my mom and my more ambitious goals (ok, our only goal besides enjoying girl time) was to spruce up the barren backyard, specifically the patio area.

This is what the area looked like before:

My parents bought the teak table and chairs last year at a consignment store and we moved them out of the way to measure for an outdoor which is why everything’s so jankily positioned in the pictures.

We shopped around at a few stores before deciding on a rug at Home Depot for only $118.

And then we stained/oiled the teak wood. This took a long time: we coated everything twice and then had to rub it off which took more work than the painting part.

But this was such an affordable fix – the furniture looked brand new after we finished.

We also bought 4 outdoor pillows to match the rug at Home Depot.

We bought one tiki torch from Walmart just to see how it looked, and I think we should get a few more to place around the spa. They were only $3 each and look so tropical.

We saw this little cart table at HomeGoods for $50 and waffled back and forth about buying it, but now we’re both glad we did. It needs some decoration on it, but I thought my Diet Coke and phone made a great stand-in.

And that plant hanger on the ground – $2 at a garage sale.

And the finished for now product:

My mom and Marlie found the silk planted tree at a local consignment store and bought it for a steal of a deal. All it needed was a little cleaning.

The centerpiece was bought at a garage sale for only $1. Again, it needed some elbow grease but that’s it. It has 6 votive candle holders in it so we need to get a few of those. And the candle in the center is actually batter operated and it turns on by itself for 4 hours each night.

This is the upper BBQ area of the backyard that also needs some help. We bought this outdoor rug from the garage sale for $15! I think a high bar table and 2 chairs would look cute here.

We bought these solar powered lights that are going to be hung outside, but we put them in the house when we left:

The bigger one is from Target and the two smaller ones are from Costco. They were half the price, but they aren’t bright and don’t stay on for as long either.

So that’s what we did in our week. My mom would still like to add a few more decorative things, maybe a big clock for the patio wall or a picture or something.

What was the last decorative thing you bought? Are you redoing any specific rooms? Do you or your spouse/partner decorate?

My husband decorates in our house and he is forever buying some new and exchanging it or selling something on ebay and buying something else. I could live with the same décor forever, but he loves changing things up, and I generally give him free range until I get mad and blow up about all the new crap.

Tagged as: decorating, home, phoenix, remodel, shopping

Skinny Runner

{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }

Angela @ Happy Fit Mama February 29, 2012 at 5:11 pm

Love the rug and table. They look great all put together! We are redoing what was my workout room into a play room for the kids. I hate to see my room moved to the basement but it’ll be great to have a room designated for nothing but toys. Although I’m sure they’ll find their way to other rooms, too!

The Backyard Remodel–on the cheap

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