New Furniture For The Garden Patio & A Surprise For The Front Yard Garden

Welcome to the 911th Metamorphosis Monday! I can barely move today. lol I’ve spent the last several days putting furniture together and apparently using muscles that aren’t often used. As I share what I’ve been up to over the past week, please keep in mind that this patio reveal is very much a work in progress. I’ll explain more as we go along, but please don’t be too critical of the weeds that you’ll see. I’m still working on those in between everything else I have going on in the front and back gardens.

This is the outdoor furniture arrangement that I’ve settled on for now. It kinda reminds me of how I have the furniture arranged on the screened porch in Georgia. There’s a spot for dining along with an area for just sitting and relaxing nearby. I may add a large cantilever umbrella behind the seating area for those times when I want to be outside, but the sun is intense.

 

A bit hard to see at this angle, but the market umbrella is quite long, 13 feet long to be exact. I almost went with a 15-ft umbrella, but I felt that could overwhelm the patio. This umbrella fully covers this rectangular table.

 

Here’s a better photo of the umbrella from the site where I purchased it. (Umbrella is available in several colors here: 13-ft Umbrella, Great for Rectangular Patio Tables. 15-ft umbrellas are available in multiple colors here: 15-ft Umbrellas.)

 

I do love the blue color; it’s so pretty against the green of the trees! Love this table/chairs, too! It’s HDPE (like Polywood) but with a wood-grain finish design. It’s much more affordable than Polywood, and the seats won’t sag like some other HDPE chair seats are known to do. You’ll find this outdoor dining set available in several colors here: Outdoor Dining Set, Similar to Polywood.)

 

I forgot to take a photo of the cushions I have in the chairs, but this is the pattern/design. I could have gone with a navy blue umbrella, but I wanted a more lively color for this patio area.

 

I gave a lot of thought to what color scheme I wanted to go with here on the patio. It has taken me a few years to realize that my favorite colors for the flowers in my garden are various shades of purple/lavender, pink—again in various shades, yellow, and white. I especially love mixing in some white; after dark, white creates a beautiful moonlit garden to enjoy. Love that! The reason I went with a lot of blue for the furniture is that I felt it would complement the flowers that I hope to add all around this circular patio. (FYI: The pavers on the patio and on the driveway are being cleaned, resanded, and sealed toward the end of July. Hopefully, the weeding and planting will all be done by then.)

 

This is the seating group that I chose for this side of the patio. I was really hoping that the umbrella I ordered would complement the cushions that came with this furniture, and thankfully, it does! Yay, for that!

 

The chairs swivel beautifully. They also move forward and backward in a gliding/rocking motion. They are incredibly comfortable. (Seating Group with Fire Pit is available here: Seating Group with Fire Pit.)

 

The fire pit in the center makes a great coffee table when it’s not in use as a fire pit.

 

It came with a glass windscreen that my oldest grandson helped me put together last night. (It wasn’t put together when I took these photos earlier in the day.)

 

Here’s how the fire pit looks with the cover in place.

 

And here’s how it looks minus the cover. I need to purchase a standard propane tank for it today. Update: Did that today.

 

This is the windscreen that fits around the firebox area. I’ll store it away until we decide to turn on the fire pit for a S’mores party. lol

 

A Splurge: I came across this planter and loved its design! There were multiple signs in the garden area saying that all planters were 50% off—or so I thought.

 

There must have been some mice writing on the signs because when I got to the counter to check out, the clerk informed me that the signs were misleading and that the sale was actually: Buy one, get a second planter 50% off. Argh. Apparently, I wasn’t the only customer who had gotten fooled that day. I couldn’t leave it behind—loved it too much, so I splurged and bought it anyway. I filled it with a plant that the tag identified as Angelonia. Right now, it’s positioned near the steps that lead to the lower garden. I hope it will continue to bloom like this all summer. (Planter is available here: Mosaic Planter in Blue and White.) Please ignore the weeds, working on those this week once I can move my body again. Ha!

 

The gentleman who cuts my grass is coming out on Wednesday to help me remove some more of the Catmint that’s all around the patio. I’ve already dug out two massive plants this week, in addition to putting all this furniture together. My arms and leg muscles are exhausted and in recovery mode. I’ve purchased four throw pillows for the chairs in the seating group. The chairs are nice and deep for leaning back, but I thought the throw pillows would be nice for us shorter folks. They will coordinate beautifully with the cushions around the table since they are of the same fabric/pattern.

 

As mentioned, I ordered the throw pillows in the same design as the chair cushions around the table. I ordered them in two sizes: 16 x 16 inches and 20 x 20 inches. I wasn’t sure which size would work best, so that’s why I ordered both. Looking forward to sharing how those look in the seating area once they arrive. (Throw cushions are available here: 16-Inch Throw Pillows AND here: 20-Inch Throw Pillows.)

 

Where am I going to store all those cushions? I ordered this shed last night for the garage. I’ll store the cushions on the left side and use the right side for gardening tools. I would still love a storybook-style, wood-constructed garden shed one day for the garden, but since I want to store the cushions inside the garage where I know they’ll be safe, I’ll be using this shed for tool storage, as well. I’ll share how it looks once it arrives and I put it together. Can’t wait to get that done! (Storage Shed is available here: Storage Cabinet for Gardening Cushions, Gardening Tools, and Pool Accessories.)

 

On Wednesday, when my gardener is here, I may ask for his help in digging a hole for the 8-foot post I purchased for this beauty—that is, if I haven’t already dug it myself. Using post-hole diggers, I dug all the holes for the three birdhouses I have in the front yard in Georgia, so I may get the hole dug in the next day or two. My hands/arms still ache from all the furniture I’ve put together, so I may wait until tomorrow to try digging the hole. I think it will be beautiful in the front yard! (Dovecote is available here: Dovecote Bird House.)

 

Again, this garden makeover is all very much a work in progress! I’ll share updates as I add pillows to the seating area, get the storage shed built (once it arrives), have the dovecote in place, and add perennials (and maybe some annuals) around the patio. Slowly getting there! Looking forward to the wonderful Before and Afters linked below for this week’s Metamorphosis Monday!

 

Metamorphosis Monday: Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. Please link up your Before and After projects, like DIY projects, room makeovers, craft projects, and even recipes. Please do not link up Table Settings; save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursday. If you are participating in Met Monday, link your post to the party using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on the name of your post, then copy and paste the address (that shows in the address bar at the top of your blog) into the “URL” box for InLinkz when prompted.