The Great (Outdoors) Cushion Search

Getting pallets to create an outdoor sectional was easy and free. A local farmer posts an ad on Craigslist every time he has some to be picked up, about once a week. The tricky part was deciding what to do for cushions. If you've looked into it, than you know that outdoor foam is super expensive. I would have spent over $300 for two bottom cushions the size I needed, and still needed to come up with covering.

Thus began an OCD CL search, along with research into how other people handled the outdoor cushion on a budget dilemma. (I know...first world problems.) Daily I looked for foam mattresses or mattress covers, twin mattresses, futons. Anything I could possibly convert for my uses. 

I was excited to find a Beddinge futon for $35 just up the street from me. At 55" x 79", it was near perfect. I told the seller I'd pay full price for just the mattress and he agreed. I thought maybe I'd cut the mattress in half and use it for my bottom cushions, figuring out the backs later, or perhaps forgoing them.

Of course, this plan didn't stop me for searching for another Beddinge; how much cooler would it be to have two futons for lazing around on outside? I lucked into somebody giving one away for FREE. He even loaded it in my car and everything. I <3 craigslist.="" nbsp="" p="">

Both came with covers, so that's another item off the list. They don't match, one is a gray/black cotton cover with a quilted look to it (pictured below, right). The other is a charcoal gray tweed-look fabric. I'm pretty sure we can make it look intentional though and make use of both.

Now, to figure out how to water proof them...

When Life Gives You Snow, Make New Furniture

Once upon a time, we had a patio canopy that looked like this: 

We entertained there often, it got a lot of use. However, the canvas roof was just as hard to take on and off as you might imagine. So, two winters in a row, we rationalized leaving it on. Until the day came that it looked this:

Kind of defeats the whole purpose of living in Virginia. Oh, and in case you're wondering what happend to the glass table underneath of it...

We went round and round on how to best replace our patio set-up. Build a pergola from scratch? Find another canopy? It crossed our minds to get a "conversational set," but the price tag scared us off. Plus, the table base and chairs had survived, so it seemed silly to spend $1,000+ when we could surely work with what was left.

Eventually, we decided to go the low budget--I mean upcycle--route. Presenting....drum roll....the table made from leftover pantry doors and a strip of wood from our old deck (it rests on base from old table):

To fill the door knob holes, I just used votive holders left over from our wedding.  **Note, I may be a border line hoarder. But stuff just keeps coming in handy, so it seems justified thus far.** 

The hinge is an experiment; if we like how it looks, we may make it so one side can fold up when we have a smaller group. The deck strip was added from necessity, it was needed for width, but it became our favorite part of the whole design. Adds some contrast and depth. 

I added a coat of paint to the doors and stained the raw edge of the wood. A few coats of poly will go on this week. It took my husband about 30 minutes to put together, and I've spent about the same amount of time with painting so far. 

It's already passed the "Cook Out and Cards Against Humanity" test: 

For seating, we are doing a hybrid of a DIY pallet sectional and some of the chairs from the old table. It's not blog-ready yet, but I'll post once it is. Anybody else furnishing their outdoor space? Any secrets for doing it on a budget?