Patio Makeover

I had plans for posts last week... and then somehow all my time got sucked up into not feeling well, travel, family, and chaos (and some work in there). So I'm a little behind. And weekends are pretty much out for catching up because I'm out of town pretty much every weekend until March, and even if I can take a computer with me... internet access is iffy.

I really can't complain though, this was my view every morning this weekend:

but here is the patio post that I had planned for last week:

About two years ago, I bought a new mattress for the futon I had (as a couch). And then I decided I needed a real couch :) So I sold the futon frame (but the buyer didn't need the mattress to go with it)

Rather than just dispose of the mattress, I decided to come up with something I could re-purpose it into, but for about a year and a half...it just sat taking up a ton of space at my mother's house. When J moved it, she used it as a bed for a while... but after she moved out, I continued to search for the perfect use (so it would stop taking up studio space!)

Enter Pinterest, and this post.

Photo via Pinterest

I have no skills when it comes to power tools, so building the frame was not really going to be an option... but instead I got this!

Here are a few before photos of the frame (in the box) on the patio. 

It's crazy simple to put together (just open it up!) and then I just popped the mattress on top!

I did get a mattress protector to keep the mattress dry, and I had planned to DIY a weather-proof cover for it, but I found this instead, and it saved me a bit of time (and $$ overall). There is even space under the frame so that I can use the space for outdoor storage.

Here is the finished patio bed (minus pillows... I need to get a few outdoor ones).

The second photo is a pretty accurate view of the cover color (the first one came out kind of washed out, no matter what I tried with the camera :( )

I've already spent one warm afternoon lounging (and napping) out there, with my laptop and Doctor Who!