There were grand plans to strip, sand, and paint the porch in the spring…but then spring turned to summer and “strip, sand, paint the porch” turned into “let’s buy cheap furniture at Goodwill and spray paint it yellow.”
Story of my life.
The swing was from the people who used to live here but it was past due for a coat of paint too, and as with most things in life, when in doubt, I go for red. The three chairs came from Goodwill, marked three for $15. How was I to pass on that? 
I forgot to take a full on before photo, so you’ll have to trust me when I tell you they were not cute.
Great lines, very Miami Golden Girls in the 80’s, but the wood was glossy red-brown and cushions were this nubbly barf colored beige-cream office chair type of fabric. No thank you. I could have made my own cushions, but H&M carries seat cushions*, including these ones in a most bodacious hexagon pattern for under $10. I was keeping this on teh cheap, but I figured by the time I spent money on fabric, stuffing and zippers, it would have crossed way more than $30 for three. So this was a good call.
*I don’t see the hexagon seat cushions I bought from H&M online, but they have some equally cute striped ones worth a looksee.
I just love the look of brightly colored painted wicker, rattan, and bamboo. I think we are all so used to seeing it painted white, it’s fun to see it presented as something unexpected, especially when paired with a modern looking fabric.
The pillow on the porch swing is from Ikea. Not intended for outdoors but for $5 I can risk it and/or run it through a washing machine at teh end of the season. The green rug/mat/runner thing was also under $10 and from Ikea. It’s nice, but in retrospect I sorta wish I had sprung for one of these larger $20 indoor/outdoor mats from World Market. Sometimes a little more cash-cash makes a lot more boom-boom.
The plants I picked out here are all suitable as houseplants as well. They’ll soak up as much outside time as they can but will move indoors by October. Then assuming I don’t kill them, will move outside again come next spring. You see what I did there?
Speaking of houseplants….Note those big purple hanging plants on the left. They are called Wandering Jews and you’ll see them for sale late summer every year. If you see one, and you have been looking for an impressive-yet-low-maintenance house plant, get one. As someone who has a history of killing houseplants, these are my absolute favorite. I cannot praise them enough. Not just because they are this gorgeous eggplant purple striped with grey-green-silver fronts, but because they grow and grow, even indoors in low light, and, get this: you are not supposed to water them until they look limp. A plant that TELLS ME when to water it? Hello! They tend to get sort of leggy, so you just snip off 10” or so and put the snippet in a vase of water and it’ll grow roots underwater and eventually you can replant somewhere else. Or not. I keep a vase of these leggy snippets on a bookshelf year round and it’s a great touch of botanical in the room without any cost or upkeep. I’ll swap the water out every month or two, but that’s it. Really, it is great plant. If you see one around this time of year I suggest you grab one. Feel free to make it a boho macramé hanger too. It’ll like that a lot.
So, let’s tally this off…
3 chairs: $15
3 cans of yellow and red spray paint: $14.97
1 floor mat: $9.95
4 cushions: $35
4 plants: $25
TOTAL: $99.92
Not too shabby!
It looks great! I have no idea why, but for some reason I thought you lived in a swanky flat in a big city. Clearly, I am no good at paying attention. The chairs look awesome in yellow- much better than the original bamboo xxx
Evanston is just north of the border to Chicago. College town. Move here a couple years ago from downtown, but never swanky, ahaha!
I wish I could find stuff like that at Thrift stores! Here each chair would sell for $40.
Yeah — The Salvation Army stores around here sell furniture for around that bracket (literally, I have seen Ikea “Lack” tables for $20 when they sell NEW at Ikea for $10!). I guess it depend what you pay for square footage. But for some reason around here, Goodwill is always great at keeping things cheap. Love them!
You need a table so you can utilize those emerald green glasses you got in the last blog post. (See? I pay attention.) I found my wandering jews got infested with aphids which then ran rampant through other plants. I wound up having to toss almost everything when nothing I did killed the aphids. I even trapped lady bugs who love aphids, but they couldn’t get the problem under control. This is bodacious. I imagine you sitting on the porch making mental notes of the people who drive by your house. Ooooh, you’ll need a martini glass and a kaftan.
Lucky for me, I am well stocked on Martinis AND kaftans.
Turned out really nice, you are lucky to have such great thrift stores in your area. I’m going to keep my eye out for a wandering jews plant, easy to keep alive and cat safe (I looked it up) sign me up!
Yeah. It’s almost like a succulent, so cats don’t chew on it much anyway, but glad to know it’s safe!
Gin & caftan party at Peaches’ !
Expect your invitation any day. You’re bringing the gin.
Thank heavens for Krylon spray paint! The world is a more beautiful place because of Krylon. You really outdid yourself on this, and just in time for late summer…and that yellow will sashay right into fall until it gets too cold to sit outside. $100 porch makeover earns a gold star this week!
Thanks, Deb! Yellow all season, I say 🙂
Story of my life too! Except you can swap your porch for hanging globe lights in my backyard. Sometimes I just want to veg on the couch!
love it!
Love those chairs! I could sit on your porch for many summer evenings. Thanks for sharing!
Great find with the chairs.