First weekend outside - new furniture and a side of pineapple under the trees

This weekend we had excellent weather and we put it to good use, getting outside and working on getting the patio back together after all the work was finished. I will post links to all the previous posts of our patio make-over at the bottom of this post so you can see all the steps it took to get to this point.

First lets take a quick look at how it looked when we moved in in 2009



And then fast forward to last Friday, when the painting touch-ups were completed.

Oh and a change of plan: We were originally going to turn the patio cover into a solid cover. After months of hours and hours of researching and getting a few quotes, talking to 300 people about it, and looking into several different options ranging for the diamond solution of $7000+ or a bronze solution of $2500, we have decided to put that on hold for now. Or maybe forever for this house.

Here are the after pictures:



And from the other side...



When we saw how great the weather was going to be this weekend, we could not wait to get into setting the patio back up so we could start using this area again.



Our lounge furniture got a good hosing off and some vigorous scrubbing. We got this set when it went on sale at Target 3 years ago. It still holds up really well.

The cushions are another story though. They came with the set and already the second year the fabric that holds the batting and foam together started disintegrating. Here we have just removed the covers to give them a trip to the washer - our treat.



Not pretty. We removed all the loose fabric and put it in a bag.



Then we gave the slip covers a good washing and a quick drying and put them back on.



While we were doing this work, I could not help but think about when people advocate for slip covered furniture and say that "Oh you can just throw the covers in the washer if it get's dirty". Yes you can "just" do that, but let me tell you: that is a lot of work. And I dread it every time. Not so much the washing of them. It's the getting the covers off and then back on again that I find really time consuming and cumbersome. Because the covers are really tight they are difficult to get off and on.

If you love your slip covered couch, great. I just know I would not have time for the upkeep. I do agree, though, that a white slip covered sofa looks fantastic in pictures  



Next up, we took a look at our grill cover. We only got it last year, but it did not hold up at all as you can see. We got a new one and we are crossing our fingers this will hold up better to the Californian sun.

A quick look at our old "patio dining chairs". They are actually our dining chairs that we bought at Potterybarn around 2002. I remember we got them for $79 a chair. After we upgraded to some more comfortable chairs in 2007, we put these outside and used as patio chairs. Something they were clearly not meant for.



After a good 10+ years, we were ready to get some real patio dining chairs.  I really wanted some black chairs and when I saw that IKEA came out with this new line this year, we jumped on it.


Ängsö chairs and an Ängsö bench

And got six chairs and a bench. We have put them together over the past week or two  and here is the patio with all the furniture back in place.



This is the "bare bones" patio look. I will use the coming weeks to jazz it all up. We have lights to hang, rugs to buy and a couple of projects such as sanding and re-oiling the dining table. Getting pillows. You know... all the fun stuff. But I could not leave you hanging without a little sneak peek

After some great weather this Sunday and with all the work behind us, we fired up the barbeque.



We made bananas with bacon and grilled some pineapple slices. Mmmmm



And then we sat and enjoyed an evening in our back yard. Something I am sure we will do plenty more of in the coming months!




Here are all of our Patio Progress - outdoor living series:
Living room remodel - the windows
Power washing the deck and patio
Progress on the deck off the master - hand rail installed
Our Patio progress: paint, sprinklers, flower bed, and new concrete - the work
Our Patio progress: paint, sprinklers, flower bed, and new concrete - the progress
Our Patio progress: Columns make-over and a couple of bandits caught snooping

How was your weekend? Did you have outdoor weather or is it still indoor weather in your area? Did you work on any fun projects?