Outdoor builds – Revisiting our most popular and personal favorites

I think its a common theme for any DIYer with absolutely no experience to run into projects that just turn out SO much better than we expected. That’s been true of me a few times here at Grandma’s house. I generally go into things I’ve never done before on a wing and a prayer just hoping they turn out all right. Outdoor builds for us have been one of my most surprising with how well some of them turned out and many, even years later, we’re still using and appreciating all summer long!

Enjoying the outdoors here in northern Minnesota is an extremely important past time to pretty much anyone who lives here… especially people who live here year around!

We’ve got two decks now with our lower pea gravel deck we completed late last year and can sit nearly fifty people outside!

The two decks give us over 1500 square feet of outdoor comfy living space which we absolutely love. If its not raining (or snowing lol) that is usually where you’ll find me!

I just can’t get enough of the Minnesota outdoors when its nice out and seating is very important to that. So there were many outdoor builds very high on my DIY bucket list as soon as I moved in.

It all started with one serious push one weekend all the way back in 2015 where I built our wrap around bench, end tables, stools and sun loungers. This was a big deal for me as I had done little to no actual “building” besides putting up walls etc. at that point.

Everything but the wrap around bench was VERY straight forward but it was the bench I ended up most proud of. My idea to use a 1×6 as a spacer to bring the back of it out at the bottom turned out to be legitly perfect for a back rest that isn’t too far leaned back or too up right.

The sun loungers remain by far the most used of all of our outdoor builds and both are around our new fire pit now.

I was even granted the amazing compliment of having a gal send me a pic of how she had built two of her own!

Though I would never call myself a carpenter it was definitely those wins that gave me a lot more confidence.

Since then we went on with four more outdoor builds: our buffet, bar top, outdoor table and coffee table too.

Of course not EVERYTHING always goes to plan or holds up for years to come. Though I love our end tables I made back in 2015 it has become impossible to keep the squirrels and chipmunks from digging in them. You can see from the pictures of them that I initially “advertised” them as coolers for drinks.

But, seriously, we’re all of ten steps from our refrigerator on the deck how lazy can we be if we need a six pack on ice at our elbow?

So I used them all of half a dozen times for keeping drinks cold and then promptly turned them into perennial flower planters which was wonderful until the critters started digging them up and killing all of our flowers every year…

Besides that though they weren’t exactly “great” as end tables because there wasn’t a whole lot of surface area to set anything on.

So I will be removing the planter part of those outdoor builds and replacing it with a solid board this spring.

Kind of a bummer because I loved the flowers but it is what it is and I won’t hate not having even more stuff to water out here all summer long.

Though my success has been pretty good with outdoor builds a couple of our most popular outdoor seating posts I admit didn’t hold up well at all.

To be fair this is northern Minnesota and I can’t say I exactly expected old painted furniture to last very long here but the fact that they barely lasted a couple of months before starting to peal was pretty darned bumming.

I even used a very expensive outdoor poly on them too!

The other project actually held up (paint-wise) really well but no one liked sitting in them and the table cloths I used as fabric faded promptly in the sun.

Why did no one like sitting on them?

Well they were outdoor goose hunting chairs that I pulled out of the barn and, as you can see, means you literally SIT on the ground in them.

I loved them but even I didn’t always prefer literally sitting on the ground.

Mostly I think I just loved how adorable and fun they turned out! Another project that absolutely ended up better than I had expected!

We have several more ideas for outdoor builds though I don’t know if we’ll get to them this summer as we’re literally getting married in just a couple of days so we are a bit preoccupied lol.

However, I want to build more custom seating for around our new fire pit and a narrower bench for seating up around our deck table too.

Eventually I’m also very excited to have a full deck tour again here as its been a few years now and there have been many changes not to mention the new lower deck too!

This Month’s DIY Blop Hop: Backyard / Deck / Porch! (Click here for our upcoming themes and more info on how to join us every month!)

Niki from Life as a Leo Wife – DIY Tire Planter Upcycle