The first thing that I did was to look around to see what I already had that could be moved or re-purposed. This is a technique that I use for decorating indoors as well.
I find that when something is in the same place for an extended period of time, no matter how beautiful it is and how much I like it, that eventually I no longer 'see' it. I get used to it and it no longer catches my eye and brings me the same pleasure that it originally did.
As a result, I tend to move things around from time to time. I will take a piece of artwork from one room and hang it in another. I will move a vase from a shelf to the coffee table. It is amazing how little changes like that can freshen up a look, without your having to add anything new at all. It just 'seems' new as the eye rediscovers it.
One of the first things that I came across was a set of old window frames that the previous owner had left in the side yard. Rusted and with peeling paint they had just the look that I adore. So, up on the fence in the corner behind the barbecue, they went.
A week later I would find the ceramic sun face that I felt completed the look. The seller was asking $3, I offered $1 and he agreed to that price.
The double shepherd's hook to the right was a yard sale find from last year. I paid $5 for it.
Since we had moved into our home almost nine years ago, an old milk can topped with a rustic wooden bird house had sat by our entry door. Becoming overgrown with the English ivy that graces the front of the house, it was to the point that I rarely noticed it anymore. It was time to move it, and to a place where I could enjoy it for longer than just the few moments it would take to enter the house.
You won't be surprised to know that they were both past garage sale finds.
I had also had this wooden post angel by the front door, next to the milk can. I brought her to the patio area as well. She now sits in a barrel planter along the fence, nestled among ferns, phlox and bee balm.
I have a green wrought iron bistro chair that has sat to the rear and side of the former pond area for years. It has made a great stand for a basket of annuals. This year I decided I wanted something different there, something that would be more complimentary to my 'new' galvanized wash tub planter.
I had an old wooden step stool that has sat in the basement for quite some time. Originally it did duty as a side table, but it was no longer used for that purpose and was just a decorative piece. I thought it would work well as a plant stand. I think it looks great in that spot with the bright wave petunia set on top.
It's difficult to see in the above photo, but I bought the black, concrete squirrel, one of two I purchased (the other is white and sits on the stump next to my container pond) at a community wide sale in a nearby town a couple of Saturdays ago. Here is a close up. Weathered like the step stool, I think it seems to belong there.
This wooden shutter with the star cut out was a $1 yard sale find a few years ago. It was in a seldom used part of the garden. It is now displayed against the divider fence between the patio area and the rest of the yard.
Here is a glimpse of it from behind the spiderwort.
Without spending a single dime (not counting the sun face and squirrel) I now had some interesting pieces in place. Just by moving a few things around I am once again able to enjoy them in a way that I haven't for quite a while.
Sometimes that's all that it takes. Next time, try taking a look at what you already own to see if you can relocate or re-purpose it. It's not just thrifty, it can give you a new appreciation for existing items.
Nifty, thrifty and (over) fifty,
Cathy
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