Spiffed Up Wicker Set

Do you want to know how I acquired the wicker set?  One day a couple of weeks ago I looked out my front window, and right there across the street were these two beautiful wicker chairs.  I knew these chairs, because they sat out on the patio of my neighbors back yard.  I loved them.  When I saw them at the curb I was shocked.  I went over to the front door, rang the bell, and when my friend came to the door, I asked her if I may have the chairs?  She said OF COURSE!!!  Take them!!!!  I carried them one by one to my back yard, almost skipping, I was so excited!  I had no sooner gotten inside the door when the phone rang.  It was my friend and neighbor Sue.  She said, " Would you also like to have the matching settee"  I ran straight back over with my wagon and brought it home.  She said they had gotten a new set of furniture and thought this old tired stuff had about had it.  I said, just you wait until I get it all spiffed up.  You will want it back!!!
I wasn't going to show it yet.  I had a set of old cushions that I put on it.  I will be shopping for new fabric to recover the cushions soon.  Have you priced the cost of patio cushions lately?  Wow, have they gone up!!!  I decided the old set I had will do just fine, especially after I get it recovered.

I used 10 cans of paint.  I still need more to get better coverage on the underneath side.  I think if I bought 50 cans, I could have used them all.  The wicker just seemed to soak it right up.  But it sure looks nice and pretty now.

In addition to looking for some pretty fabric to recover the cushions you see on the furniture now, I am in search of a wicker side table and a coffee table.  And then, when I know what the fabric looks like, an outdoor rug for underneath it all.   We spend an awful lot of time outside on this patio.  It has a solid cover, so the furniture stays well protected.  You can see the shade that is pulled down behind the chair. We get the afternoon sun so it can be very hot out here too.  We have another shade on the other side of the patio too.

We often have our coffee and breakfast here in the warm months.  And it is a good place to watch the activity in the pool.  There is a bathroom right off this patio which gets an awful lot of use.  I am standing in the doorway of the bathroom to take this picture of the length of the patio.

There is Geeps over there sitting in the new wicker, reading a book.  You can't miss him in that orange!!!
Oh, and that one piece of furniture in my previous post, the one that was yellow.....that isn't part of this set.  That is actually a piece I have had for about 15 or more years, and last summer I painted it bright yellow and put it by the pool in the summer.  So I just gave it a freshening coat of paint, and put it by the pool again.  I collect vintage sheets, and I had purchased these two remnants a while ago.  I had no idea what I would use them for.  But now I do.

They will be used to recover the cushion for this wicker piece.  It is the perfect bright orange and yellow.

Switching subjects now.  I have been wanting to get a clothesline.  I  had a retractable line that I used for many years.  I finally tossed it when I took down the fence by the outer patio.  I have been looking at different types of permanent lines to install, but I really didn't want it up all the time.  I wanted to be able to remove it when we had company or a party.  So I went in search of another retractable line today.  I went to Walmart because they had it on their web page.  But they didn't have it in the store.  So I went over to the hardware department and found something I thought would work great.  I bought two pulleys and a 100 foot length of line.   Greg installed the pulleys for me on the outside edge of the yard, behind the pool.  He put one pulley on the tall palm tree.

And one on an avocado tree directly across the yard.

We saw this type of line all over Italy.  They were strung across the streets from one home to another.    The pulley system works so great.  You can stand in one place, peg out a shirt, pull the pully sending it down the line enough to make room for the next item of clothing.  And taking it down, just as easy!

I like to wear an apron with large pockets for holding pins when I do this.  I also love this apron for  collecting eggs from the coop, or bringing in fresh veggies from the garden.

I can hardly wait to have my sheets line drying in the wind.  They are so crisp and clean smelling dried on the line.

I need a new clothespin bag too.
When I was putting the clothes out on the line, my daughter Erika said, "Wow, you and Dad have really gone green in the last couple of years!!" 
What are you up to this weekend?
XO  Kris