Outdoor Spring Cleaning on a Budget
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Spring is in the air, which ignites an instinctive urge to spruce up our personal spaces. After a year of being sequestered, those creaky floor planks, loose kitchen knobs and dusty chandeliers are more than a lingering nuisance. They’ve become the persistent evil to haunt our sacred walls. Okay, maybe that’s a bit much.
In any case, we can shake off the hibernation blues and escape the never-ending honey-do lists by taking our spring cleaning outdoors. Reinvigorating our dwellings does not have to break the bank. In fact, I’ll share 3 creative and inexpensive ways to make the great outdoors more inviting.
REPURPOSE WHAT YOU ALREADY OWN
An unfortunate foundation leak cost us the money set aside to replace 330 linear feet of ugly chain-link fencing. That means my family is forced to look at the eyesore which begirds our backyard for another summer and our outdoor remodelling budget lost most of its fluff. In response, I had to be innovative with purchases.
I am the queen of recycling unused materials. My latest projects resulted from our basement seepage. Since the waterproofing contractor had to dig a trench beneath the deck spanning the entire length of our house, my husband and I needed to clear the clutter left by the previous owners. This spring cleaning gifted me with lots of “free” wood.
Using my circular saw, I cut a couple of identical 6x6 posts in half for the table legs. I affixed them to a frame cut from two 2x4s left over from constructing our banquette. Then, I screwed an old desktop to the top of the base. The 2” pre-cut cord/cable/wire hole serves as a perfect patio umbrella insert. To finish, I purchased 16 (used 12) 8”x8” morrocan tiles from Lowes at $0.50 each. The white tiles and grout were also recovered from the previous owners’ stash. Lowes sells the quart of mastic for about $8 and Amazon sells 10 ft. of black ¾” Instatrim for $15, though I purchased 100 ft. for $50 to use for this table and another project. I’ll finish painting the base using the exterior-grade black paint confiscated from our workroom. Lastly, I’ll seal it with leftover polyurethane.
The massive 66”x30”x16.5” patio table weighs at least 150lbs. and cost me $66 plus about 2 hours construction time. In the end, I built a sturdy table that will keep our umbrella from blowing over in high winds for a price that’s not too precious to put our feet upon it.
OPT FOR FUN & FUNCTION
If you have a little more coin to invest and space to utilize, you can make an outdoor haven. This six-foot fire pit cost less than $100 to construct. I built it last fall to burn the barrage of tree debris, which constantly litters our yard. We spent more time hanging fireside than we’ve spent in the three years we’ve owned our backyard. We had only two places to sit, so I bought six inexpensive chairs from Ikea ($40/each) and spray painted them bright blues and a fun green to match our hammock. I intended to replace the chairs with something more aesthetically pleasing this spring and donate the Ikea seating to Purple Heart Donations (our favorite wounded veteran charity).
Instead, we fell head-over-heels for our large, cozy plastic furniture. I’ll admit that the chairs are tacky, but that’s part of their charm. Include the tree trunk side tables (from a dead tree we had chopped down) and solar lights ($120 from Amazon) strung to four u-posts ($5/each) and we’ve got ourselves a gaudy sleep-away camp scene for less than $500. At some point, I will upgrade the entire kitschy corner of our lot. For now, though, we are enjoying every moment of decent weather making memories.
SHOP EARLY BIRD DEALS
Last year I nearly bought a patio dinette on clearance for $1200, except that it was wicker and I truly despise wicker furniture. I am so glad I waited.
I happened upon this handsome patio dinette for only $700 in Home Depot. I scooped the 11ft umbrella from HD online for under $100 and the stand from Amazon for about $30. The set comes with cushions, not yet attached due to rain.
Getting a jump on my patio purchase this year afforded me more options at surprisingly better deals than “clearance” fall prices. I saved hundreds of dollars and was also able to score a metal convertible 3-person lounger from Lowes for $450 (with military discount).
Because we have a rather large deck, I created three living zones (using our existing bistro set) in addition to a spa area and grilling zone. All of the upgrades cost only $100 more than I would have shelled out for a single dinette last year.
If you have infinite funds to upgrade your outdoor living, congratulations. If not, never fear. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to make an outdoor space relaxing and inviting. Simply placing candles or uplifting greenery in sitting areas can instantly boost your mood. The point is to use a little creativity and available resources to make your great outdoors summer-ready.
