My hubby and I are outdoorsy people.  When we get kid free time we like to spend it outside: hiking, camping, walking around downtown, going for long drives down dirt roads, but rarely are we hanging out inside.  The patio (no matter where we lived) has always been where we do our best talking.  We have the most meaningful, funny, silly and serious conversations sitting outside surrounded by mother nature.  It sounds weird to type all that out, but there is something so comforting about being surrounded by grass and leaves and flowers and wind and sun and stars and all of the other non material things that you find outside your house.  With that being said we have been rocking the same patio furniture set since forever.  Now that our family has grown, the kids are getting bigger and we are have way more dinner guests we have outgrown the small round table that has served us so well.  Over the years we have gotten new chairs and various outdoor accessories to spruce it up, but it became all to clear last weekend that we had simply outgrown our table.

So what’s a girl to do…my immediate reaction is to turn to craigslist (oh how i love you craigslist), but the nearest metro to us is a full hour away.  That’s not such a big deal most of the time, but these days with three kids and gas prices sky high, it seems a little silly for a quick craigslist score.  Not to mention most people won’t hold items for you so that you can try to combine trips and conserve gas.  When we first moved out here, I was at a loss.  Craigslist is my go to for pretty much everything.  Need to get rid of stuff fast – put it on craigslist.  Need to score a cheap coffee table or dresser – there are 500 on craigslist.  I was whining explaining this to some of my friends and they told me that there was a knock off craigslist group on facebook.  These sites are apparently everywhere (i bet you have one in your community too) they are generally called _____swap and shop (insert your county/city/township into the blank).

Now I’m not going to lie, these sites are great for finding stuff sometimes, but unlike craigslist they are run by actual people.  These people get to make up their own rules and have a lot of power over what can and can’t be listed, how you list it and even how you sell it!  So be warned, if you are a control freak like me it may takes some getting used to!  So anyway, I hop on there not actually looking for anything in particular, just seeing what’s out there and I spot this BEAUTY of a patio furnityre set.  I staked my claim and ended up scoring it for only $100!

It didn’t come with chair cushions, but I figured we were getting such a deal that we could go pick some up (and this way i could get exactly what I wanted)…i told you, control freak!  We decided to hold off for a day or two on cushions as we already had our newish chairs from our old set and we figured we could make it work no problem.  A couple of hours later it was up and going on my patio!  We ate dinner at it that very night and it was amazing because everyone had their own chair, and no one was crammed and hurting for space!  I went to home depot the next morning though in search of cushions…I’ve been on a project finishing rampage lately!  :)  Turns out, everyone else in my town had the same idea as I did, only they all beat me to it!  I got the only style they had left in the store, but they weren’t too bad and they are reversible so it’s kind of like a two for one!

Aren’t they pretty!!  I also had some gift cards to home depot left from my  birthday and so they ended up being free to me!  I think that makes them even better!  :)  The hubby and have been joking (sort of) about painting the edge of the table and the chairs a fun color, but we’ll see how it goes.  All told I am even more in love with my patio than I was before if that is even possible.  Bring on the bbq’s and summer fun!