Metamorphosis Monday and Thrifty Treasures....A Frontgate Look at Garden Ridge Prices

I missed you! We spent a glorious week at the beach with perfect weather and lots of seafood, but as Dorothy said, "There's no place like home"! Fortunately, I have a place at home that helps me get back in that relaxed beach mode and frame of mind, and I've been dying to show you! I am going to link this to the Metamorphosis Queen, Susan at Between Naps on the Porch and also to Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures . I think it will qualify for both: it certainly was a change and I did it my favorite way--on sale!

Periodically, I receive a Frontgate catalog in the mail. I open, I drool, I toss it in the recycling bin. Frontgate prices make Beloved nervous! Ahh, the catalog may be in the trash, but the memory lingers. I casually mentioned at the end of last summer that I would like to "redo" the deck in black, white and red. We bought the furniture with a hunter green finish and have had a multitude of cushions through the years. It was looking a little tired and worn out. Since we were in the middle of wedding planning (not to mention wedding bills), I never gave it another thought....until I went to Garden Ridge for some wedding supplies! There were the Frontgate look -alike cushions of my dreams and they were marked 25 percent off! Beloved bought them for our anniversary! I think I might have mentioned to him that the traditional gift for the 32nd anniversary was cushions :).

The Saturday one week before the wedding, Beloved showed up with five cans of black spray paint and offered to move the furniture so I could paint it---(I said he was sweet, not handy!). It seems the Home Depot clerk had told him that would be plenty of paint and the job would take no time at all. Frankly, if I didn't love the end result so much I'd turn that salesman in! Twelve hours and about twenty cans more of black spray paint and the job was done.

In retrospect, there was probably an easier way to do it. I have arthritis in my hands and thought for a while I might have to do the job over the course of several days--my trigger finger kept cramping up. Then one of neighbors show up with this little helper and it was a positive life and hand saver! These little gadgets cost under three dollars and are worth every penny!

I recovered the seat cushions for the bistro table with red outdoor fabric that I found on sale half price at Joann's. 3/4 of yard of fabric per cushion and a staple gun made this an easy project.

I repurposed some wicker from a sunroom in a previous house. I painted this chair black and just happened to have been given the perfect red and white polka dot flower pot!

I used the wicker love seat in the breezeway by my back door. I decided to leave it white to separate it from the deck furniture. It's the perfect place to sit and change into my yard shoes or sort the mail.

I think we got pretty close to the Frontgate look I had in mind for a fraction of the cost! You can click on the Met Monday button to visit Susan and see what others have to offer. Visit Rhoda for more Thrifty Treasures at http://southernhospitality-rhoda.blogspot.com/. There really is no place like home :).