More Outdoor Mini-Makeovers

Maybe I'm alone in my thinking, but lately I've been feeling that you don't have to spend a lot of money or have a huge-gigantic-enormous transformation to makeover a space and take it from blah to "aaah."

We're a long way from "aaah" here at the T house, but I did spend some time in the back yard this weekend, just in time to link up to the return of Kimba's DIY Day and a new party over at Craft-O-Maniac.

There's a particularly blah spot just to the left of our deck.

If you have a spot at our patio table, you have a stunning view of our fancy chain link fence, a rocky patch, and a random bit of black tarp that the old trashy ghetto neighbors left nailed to our side of their fence. T's stick pile provides a nice ambiance as well. (We live in a neighborhood with tons of large old trees, and stray branches after big storms are a given. I'll give him a pass.)

I decided to do a little something with the rocky patch, so I picked up two plastic lawn chairs at Wal-Mart for something like $10 apiece. I liked that they had a bit of "woven" texture on the backs, and I also liked the color. They're not new adirondacks, but they'll do.

I looked everywhere (thrift shops, yard sales, WM, Target, Joann Fabric) for something small and metal and cheap to use as a side table, but no luck. I ended up splurging and buying a hot little white plastic table from Target's summer clearance aisle for $7. Stuck a little lantern from Target's Dollar Spot on top just to fill up space and detract from the stick pile, honestly. Is it working?

I figured the fire pit would be more suited to the rocks as opposed to the flammable deck. A nice spot to make S'Mores or to sit by the fire when the weather grows cool.

The patio table was feeling a little blah too.

I used some of my birthday money to buy the set from Lowe's in the Spring, but the all-black look was getting old. I snatched the last 4 cushions in this pattern from Target the other day:

Wal-Mart had some neat tiki torches for $6 each. This one still has the plastic on it, but you get the idea:

A strip of burlap and some "fluff" round out our picnic table.

Finally, our poor, battered back door needed a little pick-me-up, so I made this wreath:

This post is getting way too long, so I'll share how I made it another day. It involves pizza, so it must be good.

So...nothing earth shattering, but it made things a bit more homey in the back yard.

If you have Progress to share on a project (whether it's decorating, crafting, or a personal venture), I hope you'll think about linking it up to the next Show Me the Progress party!