Extreme Makeover: Patio Edition

This is our sad, sad patio. Isn't it pitiful?




Let's try a different angle....


Nope, no help at all.

We have talked about doing something back here for the last few years. Wooden deck, pavers, stone work....I just didn't have a vision and it wasn't really in the budget, so we did nothing.



Until this year.

Our first choice was stonework, but it was a little over our budget, so we decided to do concrete instead.


Here it is in the 'during' stage.



And after we added plants and fabric shade panels to the arbor.








Oh yeah, I can definitely relax out here now!

To see how others are beautifying their surroundings, go check out the blog party at The Inspired Room.

Paint it is!

So, I have been a busy little bee over the last several weeks, preparing the house to host a baby shower for my friend Leslie. Nothing like the motivation of 20+ women coming over to get projects done around the house! :o)

So, last post I showed you this mirror and asked if I should paint it or not.


Thanks so much to everyone's advice! I went with painting it black and left some brown peeking through.

First I taped off the mirror part,


and then I took a candle and rubbed it all along the edges, in the creases and on the details. Next, I spray painted it black and once the paint was dry, I took a towel and rubbed the edges to reveal the brown. The wax from the candle works as a resist for the paint. It worked great!

Here's a close up of the top detail:


Another close up:


And now the big reveal!


Remember the before?


And the after:



I am thrilled with how it turned out! Thanks again, ladies, for your advice!