A Little Outdoor Cutie

Last year I did a makeover on my back patio. My goal was to have it be fun, summery and a bit retro. I painted my collection of vintage metal chairs and other accessories in the colors of red and yellow. 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.
One way that I chose to accomplish the home to patio connection was to incorporate another furniture piece. I decided that a china hutch would be the perfect choice. It could provide storage for cushions during the winter, and beauty and a bit of privacy during the summer. I began my search. The hutch had to be a bit on the smaller side. I didn't want it to overwhelm the patio. It had to have character. It had to be free of glass (who wants to continually clean?). And, most of all, it had to be cheap!

After looking through several thrift stores with nothing to be found, I started my search on our local on-line classifieds. I found this hand-made cutie for twenty-five dollars. 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.

I love it!

Linked to Southern Hospitality and Metamorphosis Monday.