May 08 2012

Outdoor Pot Refresh


With the weather heating up my thoughts have turned (as they do every year at this time) towards fixing up our backyard. Every year we try to do a few things to make it more inviting and we’ve come a long way since the state it was in when we moved in:



One of the main problems is that the back of our house is flat with a lot of unattractive but functional elements – a/c condenser, electrical panel, dryer vent, water shut off valve, etc. My plan all along has been to push out the back bedroom to create a master suite which, in addition to creating a great inside space, would address many of the issues with our backyard and allow us to move some of the unsightly elements. Because of this plan, I have also been hesitant to spend much money on the yard because I want to save money for the bigger project and don’t want to do anything that would then get torn up or redone when we do the addition. Make sense? At the same time, I have yearned for an outdoor living space in addition to the outdoor dining table and chairs we’ve had. So, this year we are planning to extend the patio (using the old brick we dug up from the bizarre circle shown above) and hopefully add an arbor for some shade. The patio work is supposed to start tomorrow – hurray! In the meantime, I decided to fix up our fiberglass pots which had taken a beating over the years. Enter Rustoleum! 
Before: 


And after:



Now all they need are some plants!