gazebo Archives - DIY Show Off ™ - DIY Decorating and Home Improvement BlogDIY Show Off ™

The grape arbor gazebo has been a work in progress for years. DIY takes patience sometimes, my friends. Especially when you’re working as time and money allow. I can’t tell you how GOOD it feels to have it complete!

Let’s start at the beginning. When we purchased our home, we loved the grape arbor’s size and maturity.

See those poles? Very, very rustic and home to some critters even…hello!

As much as I love rustic and as cute as it looks in the picture below, it felt like a tetanus shot just waiting to happen not to mention, 6’2″ Mr. DIY had to duck to walk beneath it.

So the rebuilding process took place. Most of the roots to the vines are on the one side. We sort of ‘peeled’ those back one section at a time while a gazebo was installed in the center and more study wooden frame was built on each side.

Mr. DIY and family {thanks, Butch!} built up the new wood structure around the old rusty iron skeleton, lifting and shifting the grapes in the process before removing the old iron poles.

Rebuilding can be stressful but the grapes survived! Maybe they were even a little grapeful (haha!) for the home makeover.

Beautiful! But then all that gorgeous-ness didn’t go with the overgrown messy underneath.

And that’s where this summer’s DIY project of installing a recycled brick patio and path came into play.

See the recycled brick patio and walkway tutorial for more details about the transformation and steps Mr. DIY took to install it with his own two hands. Great job, honey! xoxo

Once he finished the brick patio and walkways, it was time for some landscaping. I didn’t know where to start. I was so overwhelmed with the size, the work that it would involve. Plants intimidate me. So, the decision was made to hire professionals for weed clean up, planting, edging and mulching.

The view from our kitchen French doors:

Worth every penny.

Wow! It was a treat to watch what a team of 5-6 landscaping professionals with the right tools can accomplish in 3 hours. Yes. I said ‘three hours’. This would have taken me months of backbreaking labor. My back hurts just thinking about it.

Now I feel like I can maintain this area, plant more, decorate. And just enjoy every square inch.

Isn’t it pretty? So romantic. So quiet and peaceful.

I’ve been window-shopping for furniture and ideas but will likely wait until spring. I’ve had the sheer drapes for years but this year, they look the best they ever have.

And scary… {ghost tutorial}

haha!

The back yard before…

The back yard now…

Grape arbor now.

I can’t wait for the plants to fill in. I’ll be adding a few here and there this week too. Maybe something that will come up in the spring.

Now when you visit, we have a place to talk and catch up. Weather permitting.

Do you have a special outdoor area at your home?

The Grape Arbor Transformation in Progress.

I fixed up the bistro set I scored for $15 at a yard sale. It’s painted to match our existing patio furniture for extra seating under the grape arbor.

The cushions we have are brown for the most part except for the swing which has sage/tan and gold stripes so I felt limited by that. 🙁 But, I was able to find a fabric that looks good with everything!

It’s called Magic Carpet (walnut) by Waverly.

I wanted round extra-poofy cushions for the chairs. Goal achieved and then some. Oops! It’s cushion overkill. But, it is what it is. No pattern and my first attempt at round, 3D cushions with piping. Not too bad but definitely Poofy. Tall. Unique. 🙂

First, here was the grape arbor when we bought the house. Quite a rustic eyesore but potential beauty in those old vines regardless and a 50 foot mostly shaded area not to mention tons of grapes!

Before Pictures – Here is what it looked like the day we closed on the house.

Yikes!

Here’s a close up. “Hello Chippy!”

Even at it’s ugliest, it was a beautiful space for my brother’s small wedding in 2008.

And a great space for shaded seating for my sister’s baby shower last year.

Mr. DIY (and talented stepdad, Butch) built up the new wood structure around the old rusty iron skeleton, lifting and shifting the grapes in the process before removing the old iron poles. It’s about 7’x7’x50′ (except for the gazebo area). The grapes survived the stress!

Here are the after pictures with the new bistro set and sheers.

I sewed ribbon to sheers that I got here (very cheap + no fading from being outside for two summers) to tie to the grape arbor to disguise the imperfections…I mean create a romantic atmosphere.

Too windy for candles in the candelier but we do have white lights at night that follow the lines of the gazebo.

And the grape arbor now ‘in progress’

Still a little work with the pavers or flagstone path underneath. It’ll look so much better after staining the wood structure, but what do you think so far? Care to join me for a glass of wine and relaxing under the rotunda? Perhaps with Keanu Reeves from a Walk in the Clouds? 🙂

And some new pillow covers for the existing patio furniture (and the swing fabric that I had to consider with the new fabric).