My Bohemian Balcony Makeover

I wanted to give the family a hangout space, watch the sunset and give my husband a nice little nook to write. Get tutorial here

We turned the patio on the left to an oasis

I wanted to give my family a space to hang out, watch the sunset and give my husband a nice little nook to write. Get tutorial here

I began by building a mini deck

After framing up the extra area, I began to lay the 4x1 timber on top and secured them to the table/frames. Get tutorial here

Stain and style

I used a mixture of 2 different stains. Then, I drew out a stencil of a stylized Lotus and simply stippled it on. Get tutorial here

Here's the finished look

I coated the deck with 3 coats of polyurethane to make it sufficiently waterproof. Get tutorial here

Next: I made a fold-up table

I used left over block board and painted it turquoise. For the legs I used 2x1 timbers. Get tutorial here

Function and art

I stenciled the Sanskrit symbol "AUM" within the frame and fashioned a 'stopper' to hold the table up when it's folded. Get tutorial here

Time to beautify

I used cabinet doors left from a friends bathroom reno plus some recycled wood and voila... Get tutorial here

Then another one!

This planter was made out of recycled wood and cake tins I bought from Daiso (our 5 dollar shop). Get tutorial here

AFTER

And it all came together beautifully! Get tutorial here

PATIO EDITION: THE PATIO MAKEOVER

4 years after moving into our home we finally did something with our covered patio. Get tutorial here

BEFORE

We cleaned everything out and hung up a couple of hammock chairs. Get tutorial here

We dded a clever countertop

My hubby had the idea to make a bar counter with inset bottle caps. Get tutorial here

AFTER

Once the bright patio furniture arrived our colorful oasis was complete! Get tutorial here

BEFORE

We moved into our house in March of 2015 and we could not WAIT to start this transformation! Get tutorial here

This is what we had to work with

There was a giant dog pen and a 3 foot river rock moat bordering the entire perimeter. Get tutorial here

All clear!

Once all the rock was gone, we saved up for a month or two and bought some sod to fill in the gaps. Get tutorial here

Then: The slab

We were able to have the slab constructed and poured by one of our neighbors! Turns out he's not too shabby! Get tutorial here

The rest is history!

I'm in awe. It's so hard to believe that this is OUR HOME! This little oasis takes my breath away. Get tutorial here

BEFORE

With a little imagination, I knew this table and chairs could work with just a little DIY help! Get tutorial here

A new table top

We were sure to make the frame slightly larger than table to be able to slide table top right on. Get tutorial here

Sand, stain, seal

Once the table was complete, we used the hole saw to cut a hole in the center for an umbrella. Get tutorial here

AFTER

We added an adorable striped umbrella to complete the look! Get tutorial here

BEFORE

My sister loves flagstone but that wasn't in her budget so I gave her the next best thing - faux flagstone! Get tutorial here

First: Power wash

You don't realize how dirty something is until you've power washed it. Get tutorial here

Then: Deep clean

After the patio dried, I used Fast Prep by Valspar to deep clean and etch the surface of the patio. Get tutorial here

Time to make our faux flagstone

I used Concrete Walk Maker as my stencil. You can find this in the concrete aisle of Lowe's or Home Depot. Get tutorial here

Here goes!

I laid the Walk Maker flat onto the patio then began to paint inside each of the blocks using 5 different colors. Get tutorial here

The process

The colors I used were: Coffee Bean, Pebble, Ivory, Brown Boots, and Leather Brown. Get tutorial here

Then: Seal

Once all of the stenciling was complete, I sealed the concrete with Valspar Protective Sealer and let it dry for 12 hours. Get tutorial here

AFTER!

My sister loves her new patio and can't wait to spend her summer nights outside. Get tutorial here

BEFORE

The space jetted out into the lawn, and was covered in weeds and ivy and had a small tree in the middle. Get tutorial here

Just a few simple changes

We rounded out the space, laid down some weed cover, and recyclable mulch. Get tutorial here

We added a layer of white stones, the DONE!

It didn't take much to create this beautiful conversation space! Get tutorial here