TIme for a Spruce Up!

I'm not usually one for home decor or craft sewing for that matter - all those straight lines and numerous zippers drive me batty with tedium. Yet, a few weeks ago it was time to succumb to the straight lines and give my outdoor area a little spruce up. 

The area you see in these photos used to be our laundry. Our house was built around 1960 and is typical of the style that followed Queenslanders. From the inside, it looks very similar to a Queenslander, with it's casement windows, tall ceilings and wooden floorboards, yet it has a brick veneer. Typical of this era, the laundry was placed outdoors. 

Last year when we renovated, we moved the laundry to the far end of the patio and partially enclosed it. This opened up the space and gave us room for a small outdoor area out the back, just off the kitchen. Can you spot the white chalky stuff on the brick  - I think that might be 55 years of soap scum & bleach. It is not keen on budging! (and I am not keen on scrubbing, so it will stay).

We already owned all of the furniture shown in the photos. The dark wooden set has lived on our pool deck for years and the bamboo set was a freeby from a deceased estate. The white screen (which is yet to be hung on the wall it leans against) was originally in our house when we bought it and was used to separate the dining area from the lounge room. We removed this to open up the house a little more.

I recovered most of the cushions shown in the photos. I left the fading blue/grey covers shown on the dark wood furniture as the fabric was still in good-enough condition. All the orange/turquoise/checkerboard stuff is my work. I purchased all the fabric from Fab Outdoor Fabrics. This stuff is super expensive, yet is made to last. I live in a pretty harsh climate - smack bang in the middle of the tropics. If you don't buy the good stuff, it will grow mouldy overnight, get covered with black dots and start to disintegrate. 

A touch of fun - Over the summer break,  my younger sister and I taught ourselves how to do a little macrame. I knotted three pot holders that are hanging in my spruced-up outdoor area. I can't see myself becoming a die-hard macrame-ist, but it was fun for a little while. Three pot holders is definitely enough.

The view above is part of what we see from my spruced-up outdoor area. It's the wet-season in the tropics at the moment and everything is GREEN and THRIVING...even the weeds.