BrittanyMakes

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed I was using the hashtag #helpingapatioinneed throughout the weekend while I was helping one of my best friends transform her patio.  The hashtag itself is a bit silly, but in reality it’s a major issue! There are so many patios in need out there and we must do something to help bring these spaces to life!

After having many conversations with family and friends, I’ve come to realize “the patio” is hands down the most frequently neglected space in the home.  I hate to say I agree, but it does make sense that patios are usually neglected.  We opt to beautify our homes, our bedrooms, our kitchens, our living rooms – all the spaces we spend the most time – and it makes sense the patio is the last place we go.  Beautifying our homes can be an exhausting process, therefore it’s totally understandable that once we reach a point of comfort and satisfaction, the “oh we’ll get to it later” argument kicks in, placing the patio on the back burner.

One of my best friends, Annie, experienced this same situation with her patio space.  She was so focused on creating a home inside her walls that her patio and back yard ended up on the back burner.  Annie told me this weekend, after we finished all our work, that this was the first time she actually sat and ate a meal on her patio… and she’s lived in the house for almost 3 years!

Annie got the itch to do something with her patio space after seeing all the work we did on our Home Depot Patio.  I was recruited to help her turn this sad patio from an eyesore into a fun and vibrant space she can share with her family and friends.

Watch out friends, this before and after is going to knock your socks off.  At this point we had only used once resource: PAINT!

OK, and tape, but just look at this transformation!

We primed the entire patio floor, which was originally a colorful mix of different cements and concretes.  Painting it one color completely transformed the space.  We took it a step further by painting a 2′ chevron pattern across the entire floor, which I think turned out a thousand times better than I imagined.  In painting this chevron pattern, we followed the same process I used on our hexagon patio floor from the Home Depot challenge.

Annie has a house (and garage) full of original mid-century furniture which was passed down to her from her grandmother, including this rad patio set.  The chairs and table were in great condition, they only needed a fresh coat of paint to be brought back to life.  First we sanded the table and chairs down with a sanding sponge, then sprayed about 3-4 coats of Valspar’s “brushed rose” spray paint, which is a light coral color.  We sprayed a clear enamel top coat on the chairs and table to help protect from weather, wear and tear.

As I mentioned, Annie has a garage full of amazing mid-century furniture, including these 2 hexagon side tables.  I spotted them neatly tucked under a table in her garage and frantically asked her “what are you planning to do with these?!” She replied, “oh I’m not sure yet.” My reply, “LET’S PAINT THEM GOLD!”

I think I scared her into agreeing with me.

We gave the tables one coat of primer, which we painted on with a brush, then 2-3 coats of Design Master Brilliant Gold spray paint.  I love this paint for it’s soft and warm honey gold tones that reflect perfectly in the outdoor light.

Annie found this tutorial on Pinterest on how to make a garden bench from cinder blocks and 4″x4″ wood posts.  We hacked the idea and made 2 benches out of the materials, and made a cushion from foam and batting, as well as this gorgeous Robert Allen Kiki Pinata fabric from fabric.com.

We also made over 20 pillows (with zippers!) for her home and patio.  All the fabric you see below was also purchased on fabric.com.

And just because this floor rocks my world, here’s one last view.

I hope this transformation encourages you to take a tiny risk and spruce up that patio of yours! If chevron isn’t your thing, try stripes! Seriously, a little bit of paint goes a long way. You’ll be surprised how many people want to come over and party out at your house once you do :)