From Drab to Fab Outdoor Dining Area

About ten years ago (for our tenth wedding anniversary) Worker Bee and I bought a wood outdoor dining set.  It was Martha Stewart from K-Mart and it fit our budget.  I loved how it looked on our patio we built by laying bricks in sand.  (Now building that patio will have to be a story I save for another day.)  But after a few years it began to look a little shabby.  So shabby in fact that the legs broke off the table.  Time for a new table, but we didn't need chairs.  About that same time we went to a Panera Bread for dinner one night and ate out on their patio.  I noticed they had wood chairs with a black mesh table.  "Buzz," I thought.  "Buzz, buzz, buzz.....we could keep our chairs and buy one of those mesh tables."  Worker Bee agreed and we found a great table at Target.   By this time I had also bought four outdoor wicker chairs that we then kept on the patio and there wasn't room for our table and chairs anymore.  So we needed to find a cozy little spot to enjoy lunches and dinners outside.

Whew - long winded introduction to the Drab to Fab!

(Still not FAB in this picture!)

So our chairs were really looking kind of sad now.  The wasps had decided that they loved to get wood to build nests from them and they were really dingy and gray - but not that pretty gray of cedar or teak.  Do you remember when I painted the bench and logs we used for our Kitchen Garden? (If not, check it out here.)  So I got to buzzin'......wouldn't those chairs and bench look great painted black with our black table?

I used the same cheap paint I used on the kitchen garden and watered it down so it was 50% water and 50% paint.  

Well I think they look FABULOUS (if I do say so myself)!

I found some great pillows at Pottery Barn to brighten it up.

The glass lanterns are from my local consignment store.

We just love this little spot under one of our Japanese maples.  Our next door neighbors are always chatting over the fence to us too. (Or better yet - they're handing over pie or homemade candy or other treats - great neighbors!)

Someday I would like to add a little fountain and maybe something on the ground.  We've thought about a pea gravel area or maybe getting one of those huge outdoor "just hose it down" rugs to put under the table but we're still up in the air about it.  What do you think we should do?  (We've even talked about another brick in sand patio, but we are a bit older now and I'm not 100% sure we could do it on our own - not that we're that old but Worker Bee hurt his back this spring and he isn't 100% yet - and frankly I'm not swinging a pick ax to get it done. Aren't run-on sentences fun?)

Today I'll be joining the party at

at Between Naps on the Porch

and

 at House in the Roses.

Well thank you so much for taking the time to pop in!  Your visits are always such a treat.

Tonight we will be enjoying barbecued tri-tip, caesar salad, and some garlic French bread with my mom, Baby Bee's BFF, and our cozy little family.  Hmmm....maybe some coffee ice cream with dark chocolate shavings for dessert.

Maybe one day we can all get together for a delightful lunch in my little dining area - but I'm afraid it can only be 5 of you at a time.   Who wants to come?

P.S.  Wow!  Just found out Cottage Instincts has brought back

so I'll be hanging out over there too!

Hope you can check out all these fabulous parties!