Thursday, August 26, 2010

Upcycled Patio Furniture

You might remember me hinting about my next project involving these planters:


I got them from work not to long ago, there were about 8 all together. Our office was going to donate them to Goodwill but asked first if anyone wanted them. At first I declined because A) I don't need new planters and B) the only thing I could think to do with them was make some sort of fish pond. But then someone said- "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if you turned them over and made a table and chairs out of them?" And I thought "Yes!" That is one of the great things about working with creative people, you never know what kind of ideas they will come up with.



So I took 3 of them home and went to work gathering my materials:

Planters: 1 large for table 2 small for stools. I got mine for free but you might be able find some at an used office supply store, Habitat ReStore or thrift store.
Plywood for stool cushions and for base of table (I was lucky enough to have an extra piece lying around)
Jigsaw, staple gun, and sander
Spray Paint
Fabric and batting for stool tops



I began by tracing the large and small planters to make templates for the stool cushions and the base of the table.



Then I cut my templates out with the jigsaw,


Then sanded any rough edges.



Once I had all my template cut I started making the stool cushions. I wrapped batting around the plywood and stapled around one half of it, leaving one half open.



I stuffed pillow stuffing inside the opening to give the cushion a little more softness, then stapled the rest closed.



Next I stapled the fabric. I staped four edges to center it then folded the corners in. I gathered the leftover and stapled that underneath as well, it's basically like wrapping a present.



Finished Cushions!



The large planter came with a base with wheels. I wanted to reuse it since the planter (soon to be table!) is pretty heavy. The wheeled base is smaller than the opening on the top and since I'm flippin the planter over and using the bottom as my table top; I used the third plywood template I cut to make the base fit on to the new bottom of my table. 


I used Gorilla Glue to attach the base to the plywood. I wasn't how well it would work glueing metal to wood, but it worked great!



Finally I spray painted the planters an off white color, the shiny metal wasn't doing it for me. Plus it was blinding in the sunlight.



I didn't permantly attach the cushions or base. I thought I would be able to use the stools as storage and take the cushions inside when it rains.


Oops! Gracie trying to get in on the action. When I'm not using the furntiure I can stack the stools inside the table and store them in the shed when I don't need them.




So for only about $20 (If you have to by planters, plywood, and batting your cost might be closer to $50- still a steal!) I have some modern lounge-y patio furniture!


I can't wait to try it out for Labor Day Weekend!

Linking up to:

thecsiproject.com.png




55 comments:

Unknown said...

Wonderful Idea, thanks for sharing at Somewhat Simple- Linky Party

KimMalk said...

You are such a smarty, those look great. Thanks for linking.

Bonnie@Creative Decorating said...

How cute and what a clever idea!! Just in time for Labor Day!

liz @ bon temps beignet said...

Rachelle I saw your kitchen on DIY Show Off! Awesome job!

Thanks for stopping by my blog : D

~your newest follower

Lisa said...

These are so cute! What a creative idea to reuse something that was going to get thrown out! Love the fabric too!

Life in Rehab said...

Awesome job! Those really turned out great, and that fabric is just luscious.

Unknown said...

A cute little bistro set! Love it!

Amy said...

Really creative! My kids would love the wheeled table. I can imagine them riding on it :)

Allison Shops said...

Very creative idea - I like the fabric you selected.

I wanted to let you know about Atticmag's new linky party - Giveaway Friday! It's a convenient place for bloggers to link their giveaways each week. We've kicked it off with a fantastic giveaway of our own. Five lucky winners will win material to do a backsplash in their homes. Hope to see you there!

Allison
Atticmag

Anonymous said...

Love this idea!! Great tutorial!! Thanks for sharing!

Carry Grace said...

Talk about thinking outside of the box. These look great. Nice fabric choice.

Alida L. said...

These are brilliant!

Debbiedoos said...

How do you come up with this stuff? Seriously it is wonderful! Love the fabric too. Thanks for joining in this weekend. Debbie

Linda@Coastal Charm said...

Cute Cute idea...love that fabric!!!

Blessings,
Linda

Nita Stacy said...

Very Clever! What a great idea.

Preppy Pink Crocodile said...

Talk about thinking outside the box!! Great job- love it!

Elizabeth said...

So creative!! YOu have an eye for things! They're really beautiful, I would be proud to have them on my deck. :)

Unknown said...

how smart and what a great transformation! That fabric just makes the set! Partying with you at Tatertots and Jello!

alice said...

What a fab upcycle! So smart with keeping ithem flexible for storage.
smiles, alice

sheri said...

This turned out really cute. Love the fabric choice too. I would never have come up with that.

Megan Gunyan said...

Very cute! Love the fabric. Way to 'upcycle'!

Kaysi @ Keeping it Simple said...

that is so fun and creative!

Rustown Mom said...

This is amazing! I never would have thought of such a thing and these are so cute and functional (:

Shelby said...

I absolutely LOVE this! And I LOVE that fabric!

So super cute!

Mad in Crafts said...

Yippee for multi-purpose repurposing! Thanks for linking up to the Mad Skills party!

Suzanne@Meridian Road said...

How cool is that?? Your table and chairs look so good!

I think it was a good call to paint.

Sarah@Dolls And Daydreams said...

Oh i love them! What a fab idea! Well done :)

Nikki said...

LOVE em!! Thanks so much for linking up to gettin' crafty on hump day!

Mally said...

WOW! This is so cute. Great idea. So cleaver. I like that the table has wheels.

Rhiannon said...

they look great!! nice fabric too!

Ginger said...

Cool idea! Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!

Bernadette Merikle said...

Cool think outside the box

Bernadette
www.b3homedesigns.blogspot.com

Its So Very Cheri said...

That is an AWESOME project. I want the extra ones.

I went out to the garage to get an old cooler for a project I wanted to do and my husband said he had just taken it to Goodwill, and if I wanted it I would have to go up and buy it back. Maybe I can find one for Free.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Cheri

the cape on the corner said...

love those! they look so mod, and that fabric is great!

Meredith @ Welcome to Heardmont said...

What a great idea! I love how they turned out. Good call on the spray paint. The chrome might have been ok in some settings, but that off-white looks really nice on your porch.

Laurie from Laurie Jones Home said...

I have never seen anything like this! It turned out great!!

Unknown said...

So clever! I loved how they turned out!
{Rebekah}

Beth said...

These are so cool, I wish I had space on the patio to put some.

Heidi said...

what a neat idea!! so cute & modern!

Maryann @ Domestically-Speaking said...

Brilliant!!! Way to think outside-of-the-box! I'm putting your patio furniture in the PoPP Spotlight on Saturday.

Ginger said...

You have featured at SSB! Please check out your feature at the link below and feel free to snag my featured button for your blog!

http://superstinkyboys.blogspot.com/2010/09/mad-skills-monday-link-party-24.html

Come visit again soon! xoxo
Ginger
SSB

Roeshel said...

You are such a creative genius! Great job! I love it! ;)

Roeshel

Unknown said...

These are very creative and cute. I love that you can fit them into one another for storage.

Hugs,
Jami

Unknown said...

This is a great idea! I have a large ceramic planter that my son was going to make a cushion top so that they could store video games and extras in the base and have a gaming seat. Great minds think alike - I can share your tutorial with him and see how your turned out. Thanks

Susan Graham said...

Hi, hope all is well wit hyou. Looking forward to you updating your adorable blog soon.

robin said...

nice blog !
this is fabulous and extensive collection of Sun umbrella cushions with some of the most colorful and unique fabrics...as i like this patio furniture .

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

great idea! love the way these came out.
thanks for linking up to my catch-as-catch-can party!
gail

bestar furniture online said...

I have been checking out a few of your article stories and I must say pretty clever stuff. I will definitely bookmark your blog. Thank you very much.

Brandi said...

Wow, what a neat idea! I love the fabric you chose for the seats!

Unknown said...

That is an amazing transformation!

c.w.frosting said...

So creative! I never would have thought to use a planter for furniture! And great paint + fabric combo. Following from Homemaker on a Dime.

-caroline @ c.w.frosting

Steph @ Birdhouse said...

That is super clever and cute! And your dog looks like my dog, right down to the purple collar.

Holly said...

Great idea! Looks good!

Handy Man, Crafty Woman said...

What a fun idea! The finished product was definitely worth the effort! Thank you for linking to Handy Man, Crafty Woman Wicked Awesome Wednesday!

Patio Furniture said...

awesome, im really amazed about what you did... a resourceful and creative one,... What a lovely Patio Furniture Set.. Great job.. i wish i can replicate it.. lol