How do you embarrass your 16 year-old son so badly they want to slide into the foot well of the van? See a free piece of metal furniture on the side of the street and hit the brakes hard 😉 Hahaha!
Anyhow, a few weeks back, the neighbor around the corner was moving out and had set up a pile of free items. One item was this:
It has “S” all over it! How can one pass up a corner shelf unit that is monogrammed?!? 😉
Something just grabbed me about it – one it was tall, and it would hold a lot. Originally my idea was for it to be in a corner in the garden – and it may well end up there eventually. It would hold plant pots perfectly. But, first. I had to do something about the finish. It was in white paint which showed its age – and areas of rust (although the metal was solid). So with this weekend being so hot (low 90’s), I found a bit of shade, put on a face mask, and took to the rust areas with metal brushes (a Wire Scratch Brush
Kirk and I went paint shopping, and when I saw Hammerite Rust Cap in Light Blue, I asked his opinion. He said go for it. It wasn’t cheap spray paint – over $10 a can – but no primer needed, so money saved there. And hey, my roadside project had been “free” at least 😉 Justification is a good thing….
The shelf unit is at least 5 feet high, so it took a lot of paint, nearly 2 cans worth. I did 4 coats total, with proper drying times. Then I let it bake in the heat to cure overnight.
Which then led to this:
Kirk and I have few complaints about our new home. But a huge one is how we have almost no shade on our deck out back. It is only in shade for breakfast and then dinner time and on. The rest of the day it is blazing hot, baking. It occurred to him suddenly why were we not using our commercial pop-up canopy, that I used to use for trade shows? It has sides as well….. So up it went, on an unused corner of the deck and we had a 10 foot square cabana to live in!
Our deck chairs I brought under, with their matching ottomans and table (the Ann-Marie set, found at our local Fred Meyer’s store this year), hung up a few wind chimes for color, set up the boys table and chairs and well, the new (and finished!) shelving unit. Which matches the chair cushions perfectly. Our dining table, chairs & umbrella match as well.
The finished shelving unit:
And the heat is good for even more than painting. The berries are loving it:
Love these tips, I always lose heart at this time of year, as all the colour begins to fade. Definitely need to follow you lawn tips!