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If you’re in the middle of a dreadful winter right now (hello northern hemisphere), you might be focusing on projects you can do around the house to keep it warm and cozy. If you’ve been daydreaming about an outdoor project you can enjoy when you’re bored, count on this cozy patio redo by Ndandu Khavhadi, the blogger behind it. just a mom with a drillin your inspiration.
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In South Africa, where Ndandu and her family live, it is customary to meet for regular family feasts. Braai — essentially a big barbecue dinner. But Ndandu wasn’t satisfied with the outdoor hosting space.
“The space was drab and the floors and windows were badly damaged,” says Ndandu. In addition, his dining table was his old pine farmhouse table from the 1990s, which already had a broken leg. Ndandu says this is less than ideal, as summer in South Africa is a great time to spend late afternoons and evenings outside with the family.
So Ndandu took steps to make the backyard area the perfect gathering place. The floor first. “Thousands of estimates were given for materials to recoat the floor,” he says. “It was money we didn’t want to spend, so I started over and developed my own method.”
First, Ndandu repaired the cracks and holes with a mixture of cement and sand, then used the same mixture to close the grout lines on the tiles. Once it was dry, she gave the entire place a thorough clean, applied two coats of the DIY mix, and sealed everything up.
Next Ndandu worked on the windows. As she puts it, she touched up the parts that “almost fell apart”, sanded, primed and painted with black enamel paint, the bold colors popping on the walls and Ndandu added a creamy neutral to her tone. repainted with
Finally, it’s time to focus on the most important part of this area: the dining table. Rather than completely replace the old one, Ndandu cut off the beveled edges of the table top for a more modern look. Then I added a corner piece using scrap wood to hide the old legs. This gives the appearance of heavy beams. (This is a great trick to rent if you want to change your table but no permanent change is for sale. New benches made of reclaimed wood provide a space for many people to gather and create costs very little to
Finishing touches include a pendant light DIY-made by Ndandu using jute twine molded around a balloon, and wall art made with Masonite and acrylic paint. The total cost of this rework came to about US$200.
It wasn’t an easy project, but it was a real labor of love and Ndandu fully embraced the process. “Every step of this project had some setbacks, but I was very happy to find a solution or a loophole,” she says.
“We have to see what this place looks like at night with the lights on,” says Ndandu. I look forward to the memories we create here.”
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