Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Outdoor Canopy

I wanted a canopy to provide shade over our love seat on our back deck. Any outdoor canopies we found in stores and on-line were too big for our needs.
I once saw an idea years ago on Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic TV Show, Rachel had taken some of her sheets and she used grommets to attach the four corners of the sheets to four poles, then she stood the poles up in buckets of pebbles. This idea was very innovative but I envisioned something more semi-permanent, something that we wouldn't have to take down and put up each time we wanted to make use of it. I wanted something that we could put together and forget about unless I wanted to change the decor, or the canopy needed washing.

This was one of my inspiration pictures:
(Canopy Outdoor Lounger from Top Furniture Brands)







And this was another inspiration picture:
(Siesta Day Bed With Canopy available from Frontgate)








And still another inspiration picture:
(Daybed with canopy from Pottery Barn)








This is more what my husband had in mind when I told him what I wanted:
(Travelers Mosquito Net from Nicamaka)




Once he got on board, this is what we got (a happy medium between what I envisioned and what my dear husband envisioned):










My husband used PVC piping for the frame:
(He wasn't sure how well the PVC frame would stand up to the wind, so he only made the frame the size of a twin mattress, which was fine with me as I only wanted it to cover the love seat. I use a twin size sheet set, the fitted sheet is the canopy cover, the flat sheet I use behind the love seat, and I use sheer fabric shower curtains on the sides and the front.)








He cemented the four posts of the frame into planters:





Then he bought rattan shades, cut them to size, and used a hot glue gun to attach to the four posts:



Then we used river rocks in the planters to hide the ugly cement, and I bought some silk plants and used a hot glue gun to attach them to the bottom of the poles for the planters:









It's definitely not a high-end daybed from Frontgate but it serves it's purpose, and I love it (and most family and friends thought it was store-bought).
And I like this idea because changing the canopy decor is as easy as buying a new set of sheets!

This project is a few years old and the rattan on the poles probably needs to be replaced and the planters could use a coat of paint, but I like things very shabby looking anyway, so I'm just going to leave them as is for awhile.

Are there any do-it-yourself projects that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about them!

13 comments:

  1. What a great DIY! Giggling at your vision vs. your husband's vision! I have a list of DIYs...now to find the time! Ha!

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  2. I think my idea looks much nicer!

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  3. As long as Ray's idea DOESN'T include the chick in the net! He has a much prettier chick anyway!
    I've always loved the idea of a canopy on anything, so this is very appealing.

    ur sekrit admirur

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  4. Oh, I didn't even notice the girl there.

    I do agree though that my chick is prettier.

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  5. Well Eileen I had no idea you had another blog! How do you find the time? I loved your cabana/canopy. I noticed it right away on your other post! I think it is beautiful and you can tell Ray I said so.

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  6. Fabulous idea! And it makes for a snuggly get away to read a book and have a large ice-tea at your finger-tips! I just may have to copy your idea!

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  7. Wow you are a lucky lady having a husband that can do such things.

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  8. Diana, I just thought I'd try to separate out 'home project' type posts from my regular posts, but that's hard too because my personal blog is my life and if I'm doing a project I blog about it!
    I think I'll just try to do like I did with this canopy post, if anyone is interested they can go here, or if they're interested in this type of thing they can follow this blog too. I think for some people this type of thing can be very boring.

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  9. Love your canopy idea! Very creative and it looks really pretty.
    ~Michelle

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  10. Got me worried there when you showed what your husband's vision of the canopy when i think we all have a good idea what yours was like! Hey, i think it turned out really beautifully!

    ~Silver
    Reflections/
    One Day at a Time

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  11. I’ve been checking out this blog it’s been really helpful.
    Semi Permanent Make Up

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  12. Hi Eileen

    Great to meet you ...... thanx for stopping by at my blog.
    I think that love canopy turned out beautifully!!! Well Done!

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