Dog Hair and Potato Peelings Chic

Back in February we had laid this little patio from which to watch our new baby chicks this summer.  Remember?

Well, James appreciates cheap projects and whereas this project could have been done with elegant flagstone, James would have probably left me!

          1 wife + 1,000 garden projects + expensive materials = 1 divorced gardeness

Besides, my garden aesthetic is old time country, and my grandmothers would have been using inexpensive materials.  My mom calls this kind of "on the cheap" decorating "Dog Hair and Potato Peelings Chic".

All this to say we used inexpensive twelve inch square concrete pavers with a few smaller pavers thrown in for kicks.  I planned on painting or staining the large concrete squares to get rid of their clean, gray look, but then ran across a cheap staining method on Pinterest.  I decided to give it a try.

Step 1:  Remove all the rusty yard furniture that needs a paint job from your patio and wet down the cement pavers.

Step 2:  Sprinkle Ironite onto the pavers.  That's right, iron + water + oxygen = rust!  I already had some Ironite that I use on one of my sasanquas that struggles from time to time, bless its heart.  You can buy Ironite in the garden center.

Step 3: Gently sprinkle again with water. Wait for 24 -48 hours. I expected a big change after this step and was disappointed.

There was some rust, but not much.  There were, however, several dark gray spots and light, white areas of color change. This did make a difference in the final result. I left the Ironite on the pavers for the next step. 

Step 4: Coffee! I brewed a whole package of coffee, added extra water, and left it to soak in a plastic bucket overnight.  Then I painted each paver with the liquid and smeared on some of the grounds as well. Coffee acts as a natural stain.

Here's the whole patio covered in coffee.  I left it overnight. 

 Meanwhile.....

A gussied up patio wasn't worth the effort without doing something to the old, rusty furniture.  We bought it all at flea markets for under $10 each piece, but they needed serious help!  Thank goodness for the rotary sander!!  James reminded me that when you are removing old paint that may contain lead, you should always wear a mask.

We had also found this old bench years ago and I loved it, but the weather had taken its toll.  

 The wood was so rotten, it was falling apart.

Before throwing it away, I used the pieces as templates for a new bench.

Before I painted it, I beat all the freshly cut edges and corners of the wood with a hammer to give it a used feel. Then I painted the bench green.  Next I stained the bench with brown stain.  After letting the stain dry, I wiped on a coat of white paint, making sure lots of the green paint showed through. Finally, I did a little sanding on areas of the bench that would have gotten the most wear through the years. This technique added some "age" to the new bench.

With the patio furniture ready, it was time to clean up the pavers and see the result.  

I think it was worth the effort.  I put an untreated paver on top for comparison. The pavers at least had the "new knocked off ".  Also, if I ever decide to make the pavers darker, it will only require more coffee!

An old, painted window screen completed the project.

So many people have told me that just sittin' around watching your chickens is part of the fun of raising them.  Now we have a place to sit and enjoy this lazy pastime; an new, inexpensive  "dog hair and potato peelings chic" patio!!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

Oh, give me the country! where grass is green;
      Where the roses bloom with satiny sheen;
      Where the modest violet lifts up its head,
      As on it the warmth of the sun is shed:
Give me the country! where all is serene;
      Where the air is pure and fragrant and clean,
      And noise of the city is far away;
      Where gaiety thrives through each night and day.
God made the country, so lovely and fair!,
      Its wide open spaces for all to share;
      Where joy and contentment each one may find
      If he, earnestly, seeks for peace of mind.
~Gertrude Tooley Buckingham, 

"Give Me The Country!" (1940s)