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...

PIP, Patio in Progress

One of these days, I'll remember to take before pictures. In this case, it would have shown an uneven pit of clay, dirt and rotting leaves languishing next to our hot tub. So picture that as the starting point. With the help of my very motivated MIL, we've taken some big steps towards my vision for that mud pit:

This is post raking, covering with weed barrier and filling with 30 bags (150 cubic feet) of paver base. We went extra thick with it so it could also level the ground w/o the need for digging. As you can see, there's some work to go--more pavers needed and then we'll fill in between with pea gravel. The now firepit will receive a coat of hammered copper paint and find new life as a garden/focal point. The bar at the end will remain a bar, of course. :) Here's a closer look:

Looking forward to wrapping this up, as it's my one big yard project for the season. Ok, that and the stone fire circle, but that's already checked off the list: 

It's like we get to camp in our own backyard, except instead of crawling into a tent when we leave the fire, we curl up in pillow-top, king size goodness. With no bugs.