Kat (00:01)
Hey Tiffany.

Tiffany (00:02)
Hey Kat

Kat (00:05)
okay. So we talked about this last week, but I'm just gonna read my intro here 'cause I thought it was kinda clever.

Tiffany (00:11)
Yes, do.

Kat (00:13)
Sure, it's the hottest summer on record, and air quality has been absolutely unbreathable due to wildfires. But spending time in your outdays outdoor space is something you're probably still interested in, and now is

Tiffany (00:25)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (00:25)
the time to make things nice before the g weather gets livable.

Tiffany (00:28)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (00:30)
So with patio costing a pretty okay, let's try this again. With patio

Tiffany (00:34)
haha

Kat (00:35)
furniture costing a pretty penny, how can

Tiffany (00:38)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (00:39)
you upgrade your outdoor space without breaking the bank? Welcome to Greening Up my Act

Well, I ran that one over with a fork. Like

Tiffany (01:05)
You

Kat (01:06)
I'm like, I'm gonna read it, it's clever. And then I was like, I missed every other word. I even forgot to say what I meant to say, which was enter upcycling. So, yeah, enter upcycling.

Tiffany (01:20)
my god, it's late, folks.

Kat (01:21)
Some weeks you got

it and some weeks yeah, some weeks you're tired. this is gonna be a touchy feely episode, but before

Tiffany (01:26)
I love it.

Kat (01:27)
we dive in, Tiffany, will you please tell the new listeners, the old listeners, the fans, the unsure, who are we?

Tiffany (01:38)
Lots of unsure people. Yeah, we are people with marketing backgrounds and I also am marketer turned native landscape designer, newly. Thank you. you. And who just like care about this planet and

We are nervous and worried, but we also are really tired of being guilt tripped every five seconds about like, my God, you use plastic wrap. How dare you.

Kat (02:11)
Mm-hmm.

Tiffany (02:15)
yeah,

We actually have done.

I did the math and I was like, we've done over 200 hours of research because we have 100 plus episodes and we definitely research an hour per episode at least. I'm like, dude, yeah,

Kat (02:26)
At least an hour per episode, yeah. Sometimes four, sometimes sometimes two weeks, yeah.

But I think, you know, that's

kind of what we're trying to be here and help you be that too and alleviate some of your guilt. I I somebody said to me the other day, you're such a hypocrite about green living, and I'm like, wow, you haven't actually listened to the show. Like, my thing is

Tiffany (02:43)
Somebody said that?

Kat (02:45)
Yeah, I was a family member of don't worry about it. But y I was like

Tiffany (02:49)
Okay.

Kat (02:51)
you actually

Tiffany (02:50)
Jeez.

Kat (02:51)
don't know what we're talking about. Because it's not that like I don't tell anyone else how to live

Tiffany (02:56)
Right.

Kat (02:57)
ever. And I don't judge, you know, it's like what I'm trying to do is figure out the stuff that makes sense and

Tiffany (03:03)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (03:04)
yeah, sort through the consumerist nonsense that we're all fed. I'm not

Tiffany (03:09)
Yes.

Kat (03:10)
trying to be like, well it's it's your fault for running your air conditioner that we, you know, are you know

Tiffany (03:18)
Yeah, like how dare you have a truck. Right.

Kat (03:20)
You driving a gas fueled car is the reason

that the world is in it. It's like, no, that's not it. Like, it's

Tiffany (03:26)
Yeah.

Kat (03:27)
definitely businesses, but

Tiffany (03:29)
Yeah.

Kat (03:30)
it's it's not our individual faults. But, you know, what can I do on a personal level to try

Tiffany (03:34)
Yeah.

Kat (03:35)
and lower my impact where I can and be

Tiffany (03:40)
Yeah.

Kat (03:40)
aware of it, you know, and that's just it. It's just the awareness of how much we

Tiffany (03:44)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (03:44)
just let

marketing tell us to do these things so that

Tiffany (03:51)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (03:52)
companies can overproduce clothing or, you know, ship us useless stuff that we don't need. Yeah. right. So

Tiffany (03:57)
Yup. Organic, organic leggings. Yeah. When you have five pairs of leggings. Yeah. And I just

love the reminder that like most episodes we're like, just don't, don't buy it. Don't buy shit. okay. Okay. That's fine. That's great.

Kat (04:10)
Don't buy anything. Yeah. I mean I definitely I definitely

I had finally for the first time in like three years now that I have like a steady paycheck, I like bought new underwear, you know.

Tiffany (04:18)
Mm-hmm. Yay!

Kat (04:21)
But it was like I do that once, you

know.

Tiffany (04:25)
Yeah.

And if you're, yeah, this is, yeah, we're not saying don't buy anything. Obviously that's dumb. Yeah.

Kat (04:29)
Right. Just just take a step back. What do you need? Yeah.

Tiffany (04:34)
Yeah. Like I bought, cause something's just make you feel really good.

Kat (04:38)
Yes.

Tiffany (04:39)
I just got a new watch. It was actually like a birthday present, but it's for many purposes, including my probable ADHD. So it's like, I will wear it every day and I will hopefully wear it for like years and years and years. So it's like, it's okay. It's okay to buy shit.

Kat (04:51)
Yeah, that's yeah. If we're

not ascetics. We're not monks.

Tiffany (04:56)
Yeah.

Kat (04:57)
Yeah. We'd like yeah, buy a new book, you know. If you can buy a used book or go to the library, do that. But that that's also not like

Tiffany (05:05)
Cool. Sometimes

you need it like in a couple of days and you got to get something done for school or something like, yeah. Yeah. I got an airport book the other day. It was

Kat (05:08)
Yeah. Sometimes you're at the airport for six hours and you just Yeah.

Tiffany (05:15)
great.

Kat (05:15)
Yeah. Sometimes you just have to. And and no judgment if it if it brings you a little dopamine in our current climate, I get it too.

Tiffany (05:24)
A little joy,

Kat (05:26)
Anyway, my sources tonight are gonna be light compared to yours. We're saying this is kind

Tiffany (05:30)
Good.

Kat (05:31)
of a touchy feely episode, but a woman named Emily Henderson, her blog, HGTV had DIY outdoor furniture and decor pieces

Tiffany (05:41)
Hmm.

Kat (05:42)
like listicle.

And then patio living had repurposed old furniture for patio makeover, which was kinda touch and go. But

Tiffany (05:48)
Okay.

Kat (05:52)
so what are we talking about tonight? And that's upcycled outdoor space on a budget.

Tiffany (05:57)
Nice.

Kat (05:58)
What I really wanted to start out with was I don't think we talk about this enough is like what makes an outdoor space comfortable.

Tiffany (06:06)
Ugh, I love this. Yeah.

Kat (06:08)
So the first thing I did was I turned to designers to figure out

Tiffany (06:11)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (06:12)
what makes what what should you think about when you're making an outdoor space? and most of these designers are trying to sell you something. So I

Tiffany (06:19)
Of course, but...

Kat (06:20)
had I had to wade through quite a bit of quote unquote content that was basically just ads for target in disguise, you know?

Tiffany (06:24)
Mm-hmm.

Love it.

Kat (06:27)
But

these are some tips I distilled from what I saw. So first and foremost is obviously I I we come back to this a lot. Intention, right? Planning. So number one, consider how much space you have. if you have just a little outdoor patio, you are not gonna build a pergola and a deck and a you know, like

Tiffany (06:51)
Yeah.

Kat (06:53)
measure things.

Tiffany (06:54)
Yeah.

Kat (06:55)
'cause I Lord knows I have like, that'll fit there and then it's like, That does not fit there. I definitely bought outdoor rugs for my front patio 'cause it was like chipped paint on cement.

Tiffany (07:05)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (07:06)
And I bought I bought these outdoor rugs and they did not fit on my front patio. So

Tiffany (07:11)
Yeah, if you knew

the number of times, I've learned my lesson at this point. I don't remember what the last thing was, but it's like, God, why didn't I measure? Yeah.

Kat (07:19)
Just measure, yes. Measure your outdoor space. Then

consider what you want to use the space for, right? Is this an outdoor eating area? Is this a place where you're gonna entertain friends? Is this a chit

Tiffany (07:33)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (07:34)
chatting area? Is this a place to watch the sunset? Is this

Tiffany (07:37)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (07:38)
a quiet haven for you to enjoy your coffee in the morning or read a book? Or you know think about that. And you don't it it can be multipurpose, but just

Consider, like, okay, because that will drive what you do next.

Tiffany (07:54)
Yeah.

Kat (07:54)
So the third thing I said was think seating. Most outdoor spaces, you're gonna want seating.

this may be the most important aspect of your outdoor space for it to be comfortable for you as a human being if you're going to spend long amounts of time there. So seating and tabletops based on what you're going to use the space for, that's why step number two is so important.

You you're probably gonna want cushioned, comfortable, conducive to connection. Do you see that alliteration I just threw in there?

Tiffany (08:21)
I loved

it.

Kat (08:24)
You know, seats

Tiffany (08:25)
was like a quadruple.

Kat (08:26)
seats with backs are best for dining and chit chat. But

Tiffany (08:30)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (08:30)
if you're gonna be like just having cocktail hour watching the sunset, you could have high top tables where people just stand around and there's like a beverage bucket underneath, you know?

Tiffany (08:39)
Right.

Kat (08:40)
If it's just if if you want people to sit and chat and spend a long time, you know, you might want a fire pit. If you just have a little patio where you wanna step outside when the w weather's nice for ten minutes and people shall stand around with a cocktail glass or a maybe plastic

Cocktail glass, you don't break glass on your patio. But

Tiffany (08:57)
Mm.

Kat (08:58)
yeah, just just consider that, you know. What how do you want people to sit and what's comfortable for sitting?

Tiffany (09:05)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (09:07)
Now, this next one is something d I forget, and it's important. It's set out a distinctive space.

Tiffany (09:15)
Hmm.

Kat (09:16)
the designers were saying, like, make walls, and that

Tiffany (09:19)
yeah.

Kat (09:20)
is to

Designate

the area that is for seating. this doesn't necessarily mean build a fence, right? Or make a little literal wall, but you might want privacy, right?

Tiffany (09:33)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (09:34)
you definitely want a sense of place for your outer area. Define where it starts and ends. usually that's a rectangle for human beings or a circle, you know, but define a

Tiffany (09:44)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (09:45)
space. That could be how you outline your seating.

It could be, you know, a rug that defines the space. So that, you know, this rectangle is our outdoor seating area here where we center the fire pit and where we center each other. Maybe don't put a fire pit on a rug, but

Tiffany (09:59)
Yeah.

Kat (10:01)
but you can do this by hanging curtains, putting up screens,

Tiffany (10:07)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (10:08)
or even just using planters to kind of create little nooks.

Tiffany (10:10)
Yeah.

Kat (10:12)
Even just putting a rug under a table can really make it feel like more of a defined space. So

Tiffany (10:18)
Yeah,

we did that on our deck and I'm amazed how much nicer it looks with just like a dumb outdoor rug

Kat (10:23)
Yes. Yeah, we like

we got free Facebook marketplace or buy nothing group rugs and just y you know, just having a rug and a space really ties the room together, but it can tie your outdoor space together too.

Tiffany (10:35)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Kat (10:37)
Then I said maximize what you're working with. And this is another consideration. I probably should put this higher on the list. But but beyond the size of the space, what do you have? A view?

Tiffany (10:46)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (10:47)
Do you have so don't put

Curtains in front of a view, right? Set your furniture up to take advantage of the best breezes or the best sunlight, depending on where you live. So it's something we talked about in Albuquerque. Like in the winter, we want a south-facing patio. You

Tiffany (11:01)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (11:02)
know, why aren't there more south facing patios? But if you are in Texas, y a south face south facing s patio, you're gonna need shade. And

Tiffany (11:10)
Yeah.

Kat (11:11)
you're gonna want breezes. So, align your defined space with that. If if it's

Tiffany (11:17)
Yeah.

Kat (11:17)
a view

don't put the planters in front of the view, right?

Tiffany (11:20)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (11:21)
and then I said consider your weather.

Tiffany (11:24)
Right.

Kat (11:24)
that's the same idea. Shade and breezes are super important in Texas. But if you live in a cooler climate, you're gonna want to think about ways to cozy things up.

consider how your DIY or upcycled wares are going to fare in full sun, rain, snow,

Tiffany (11:38)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (11:39)
freezes, etc. Are you going to need a space to store your cushions or bring them inside when you're not using them, for

Tiffany (11:45)
Right.

Kat (11:45)
instance? So

Keep that in mind.

Tiffany (11:48)
Yeah, I was going to say that's my big problem on my deck is sun and lack of shade. I think

Kat (11:56)
Yes.

Tiffany (11:57)
I've talked about this and I realized we did it slightly wrong. So we ended up putting up a, gazebo

I wish we had moved it. We put it toward the house. I wish we had moved it.

away from the house because that direction has way more wind. It's not, it's

Kat (12:15)
Yeah. So that's

Tiffany (12:16)
actually the worst spot for a deck. Like this dumb dumb who owned her house before us She should not have put a deck there. But

Kat (12:23)
Yeah.

Tiffany (12:24)
now that it's there, it's there. but yeah, I was sitting the other, on the other side and I was like, my God, the breeze is so much better over here.

Kat (12:30)
Right, and that keeps away mosquitoes and that keeps away I

just it's nice to have a breeze.

Tiffany (12:35)
Yes.

Kat (12:35)
Yeah. if you can. And again, this is a consideration, right? I and it might be, you know, our friend has a rooftop deck in her apartment in Philly and she needs to maximize sunlight. So move the couch against the wall that has the sunlight, right?

Tiffany (12:50)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (12:51)
And then put up an umbrella in the summer when it's too hot. But

Tiffany (12:54)
Yeah.

Kat (12:55)
you know, in March that's where you wanna be is getting all the sun that you can. So

Tiffany (12:59)
Yeah.

Kat (13:00)
Just arr arrange your furniture where you can. You can't necessarily choose where your deck is built.

Tiffany (13:05)
right.

Kat (13:07)
Okay, my next thing was consider the critters. So

Tiffany (13:10)
Mmm.

Kat (13:11)
Texas, you know, obviously we have mosquitoes. So breezes are good.

Tiffany (13:14)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (13:15)
plants that discourage blood sucking and encourage, you know, butterflies and other things.

So my next point was use plants as much as you can.

Tiffany (13:26)
Mm.

Kat (13:27)
So

we talked a lot about potted plants and on d on balconies and things. They're great. Window if you can do, you know, window boxes, if you can do you know, just they really liven up a space, but you can also

maximize.

Tiffany (13:40)
yeah.

Kat (13:42)
Pollinators, again, discourage mosquitoes. You know, they don't like

Tiffany (13:45)
Do you know what

plants mosquitoes are repelled by?

Kat (13:49)
Marigolds, citronella, rosemary, lavender, any of the smelly herbs, although

Tiffany (13:51)
okay. Okay. Interesting. That makes sense.

Kat (13:56)
generally you have to rub those on your skin for it to really have an effect.

Tiffany (13:59)
Yeah, okay.

Kat (14:00)
But it is nice to have those smells around. They do they can

Tiffany (14:03)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (14:05)
discourage mosquitoes in a sense I don't in our neighborhood they'll come after you no matter what, but you know you can use pots to outline your space.

Tiffany (14:14)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (14:14)
You can even build

benches with pots in them so that people are sitting next to flowers and things, you know?

Tiffany (14:20)
Yeah, I love that.

Kat (14:22)
yeah. just put some greenery in there. It'll it'll it'll cool your patio off. It'll make things feel nicer.

Tiffany (14:28)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (14:29)
and you can also add color with the pots that you use and things too. And then my last tip was don't overdo it.

Tiffany (14:36)
Mmm.

Kat (14:36)
So there is, you know, maximalism when it comes to plants and things can be great, but

Less can also be more. You don't need four couches and fifteen pillows and seven you know, like have one hanging statement hammock, you know, and then a couple of stools or, you know

Don't try to outfit your space with too much stuff because

Tiffany (15:06)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (15:07)
it'll become cluttered and uncomfortable.

Tiffany (15:09)
Yeah.

Kat (15:10)
and patios are hard to keep clean.

Tiffany (15:12)
Yes.

Tell me about it. You should see mine currently. My deck. It's... Yeah, mine's leaves and sand. I'm just like, this sucks.

Kat (15:16)
ours is just dog hair and leaves. Yeah. Yeah.

And and like a a lot of the furniture that I have I've put a lot of outdoor furniture or indoor furniture outside without treating at first. And that was stupid. and

Tiffany (15:31)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (15:32)
those things ha are weathering and falling apart. So

Tiffany (15:35)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (15:37)
they serve their purpose, but it's like I should have something I don't know. I I keep trying to c and I'll get into that. well let's go

Let's have a break. Okay, we're gonna have a break

Tiffany (15:46)
Okay, perfect.

Kat (15:47)
and we're gonna talk about our experiences. Okay.

Tiffany (15:49)
Okay, perfect.

Kat (15:51)
Cool.

Welcome back. So what I didn't talk about in the last section that I think is kind of important is to know your budget.

Tiffany (16:13)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (16:14)
Like I said, I I didn't go looking I I just know from looking at patio furniture that stuff that's gonna last is gonna run into the thousands of dollars on new.

Tiffany (16:25)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (16:27)
and the stuff you can get for like kinda cheap on Amazon is not necessarily great. It's gonna fade fast, it's gonna wear out, it's gonna, you know.

Tiffany (16:32)
Yeah. Or

IKEA. Yeah, it's going to fall apart.

Kat (16:35)
Yeah.

The kind of cheap online places. The the best furniture my family had was some pieces of iron patio furniture that my grandmother got in the sixties.

Tiffany (16:47)
Mm-hmm. That's what I was gonna say.

Kat (16:49)
Yeah. And if you can find that awesome. But

Tiffany (16:53)
Yeah.

Kat (16:53)
but keep your budget in mind. You know, if you buy something new and cheap, you are probably going to have to replace it in two two to three years. So

Tiffany (17:01)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (17:02)
z you know

It might if you must buy new, it might be worth it to shell out real dollars as an investment piece if you're gonna be someplace for a long time. But, you know, I I won't judge anyone for for getting

Less less expensive furniture. But I will say the best idea you can do is check Craigslist free, the Facebook marketplace,

Tiffany (17:26)
Yes.

Kat (17:27)
and your buy nothing group. People give away patio furniture all the time, especially in the fall,

Tiffany (17:33)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (17:33)
or in the spring when they're upgrading. So it like even just driving around the rich neighborhood or like student areas, like where this yes, yes, yes.

Tiffany (17:43)
Oh God, college lets out?

Kat (17:47)
There's so much

Tiffany (17:47)
Yeah.

Kat (17:47)
stu the my desk in college I just pulled in off the street because somebody like they had to clear out their apartment and they didn't have time and they just left it in the, you know, near the dumpster

Tiffany (17:57)
Yeah.

Kat (17:57)
and it was fine, you know. I

Tiffany (17:59)
Yeah.

Kat (18:00)
don't recommend getting mattresses or things or couches necessarily, but

Tiffany (18:03)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (18:04)
our I had some older like mesh outdoor chairs that my ex husband got before we met, so they're

at least ten, fifteen years old and they are breaking now and those are impossible to fix. but one of them broke and we're like, we don't have enough seats out here in our on our back patio but then the women across the street who were college students like left a whole bunch of furniture. We just like grabbed the chairs and you know so

Tiffany (18:33)
that's awesome.

Kat (18:33)
we have two new chairs. Now we did have to scrub them down.

Tiffany (18:36)
Yeah.

Kat (18:37)
and we're probably gonna have to paint them. But

Tiffany (18:39)
Yeah.

Kat (18:40)
it's it's you yeah.

Tiffany (18:42)
I will say looking

for Adirondack chairs for free is impossible to find. Even the

Kat (18:46)
Yes. No, people don't give them away.

Tiffany (18:50)
cheap ones, yeah. I ended up paying, I think I told you this, it was like last summer.

Kat (18:54)
Yes, we've talked about this.

Tiffany (18:56)
Yeah, I think for like 90 bucks total, I got

Kat (18:58)
Mm-hmm.

Tiffany (18:59)
two chairs and some paint and a lot of elbow grease. But they're still holding

Kat (19:01)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Tiffany (19:05)
up.

Kat (19:06)
Yeah. I'm I tried doing like the plastic anaeronic chest. When when I moved in there were two here. They broke real quick.

Tiffany (19:12)
Mm-hmm.

Some of them are solid,

Kat (19:16)
Yeah, these are like the plastic ones that are still expensive at the store and

Tiffany (19:19)
And I know, it's crazy.

Kat (19:20)
they just broke. And I don't I did not I was not comfortable sitting in them. Like they're too hard for me to get up from 'cause you're your knees are up and you're ba you're like, Yeah. But they look nice.

Tiffany (19:25)
Yeah. No, I know. It's an ordeal. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Kat (19:33)
so yeah, you that's another thing. So if you're handy, which I am not, you can like I was saying, it's a good idea to take the time

If you are upcycling an indoor piece of furniture, get the outdoor paint and paint it.

I have

Tiffany (19:53)
Hmm. yeah, I didn't ever think about that.

Kat (19:56)
I got like a of solid wood baby changing table 'cause

Tiffany (20:02)
Okay.

Kat (20:02)
it would fit my outdoor under my window outside and it like for it's supposed to be like a plant potting 'cause it has the flat surface where you would change a baby and stuff.

Tiffany (20:11)
huh.

Kat (20:12)
it's supposed to be an indoor thing, the shelves are all cracked and so

Tiffany (20:15)
Right.

Kat (20:16)
w we need to replace that. But if I had just taken a little bit of time and, you know, covered those shelves with some kind of outdoor paint or outdoor treatment, i

Tiffany (20:26)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (20:27)
it would be in much better condition, you know.

Tiffany (20:30)
But

my god, that can be such a pain in the ass, because you have to like sand off the original, probably, or at sand it down. And then paint it. Well, prime it, and then paint. And I was just like, ugh. Yeah.

Kat (20:35)
Yeah. Yeah. And that is I am not handy. Yeah. So yeah, I am not handy that way. And so

that's why I have rotting indoor furniture outside.

Tiffany (20:47)
You're not the only one.

Kat (20:48)
Yes.

and you know, it's not shabby chic, it's just shabby.

Tiffany (20:52)
You know, I think we judge ourselves more than other people ever judge us.

Kat (20:54)
Yeah, but I

I am not happy with how my my back patio looks. The other thing is like I do have a lot of furniture that I've collected from Craigslist. Like I think I bought my back patio table when I moved here nine years ago, basically, for our patio

Tiffany (21:12)
Okay.

Kat (21:13)
there. And and it came with the chairs. And that has held up great. But it also came with glass side tables. And then

Tiffany (21:19)
Mmm.

Kat (21:20)
we bought a little couch to sit on our

So our our patio has a like when you walk out the back door, it has this deck area where our table is and where all the seating around. And then it has this little couch and we have a chimenea there. So we bought the couch, but that came with a table, you know. And

Tiffany (21:36)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (21:36)
so we have all these like extraneous tables that I just need to give away.

Tiffany (21:40)
Mm-hmm. Here, don't be afraid to separate a set.

Kat (21:44)
yeah. And again, less is more.

Like it's nice to have those tables, but they kind of get in the way. You know, I always like, people

Tiffany (21:49)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (21:49)
want to put their cocktail glasses on here. You know who sits on the couch? Ada sits on the couch. Nobody ever sits on that couch. So, you know, nobody needs a to put their cocktail glass anywhere. It's just crowding

Tiffany (22:00)
Yeah.

Kat (22:01)
things up. and one of the other ones is holding a plant, which is great, but it doesn't need to be a glass table to hold a plant, you know?

Tiffany (22:05)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, totally.

Kat (22:10)
and those get so dirty. Glass gets so dirty. So, you know, consider

Tiffany (22:11)
huh. Yeah.

Kat (22:14)
that.

some things that are meant for the outdoors are also meant for people who have a staff cleaning things every day. So

Tiffany (22:21)
Yes, exactly.

You know what I have furniture wise that I'm so happy with and I never want to get rid of it is what you said a cast iron table and cast iron chairs and yeah.

Kat (22:29)
Yes. Yes. That's yes. That's our

the our sofa is cast iron and the table that it came with is is cast but the cushions are like you know, they've

Tiffany (22:40)
Yeah.

Kat (22:40)
got cigarette burns in and they had you know, they're just out in the elements. It's not covered there, so

Tiffany (22:46)
Yeah.

So I refuse to buy cushions because I think they're comfortable enough. I do actually think they're comfortable enough and I don't want to deal with cushions. We have two out front. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Kat (22:53)
No cushions are that's the thing. I'm just letting them rot. I just let them rot. Yeah.

Tiffany (22:57)
We have two out front that I like brand every winter and that is enough for me. They're two little cushions and I'm just like, that's enough.

Kat (23:05)
I have two rocking chairs that I bought out front and those and I b are like red cushions and they have faded. And they're and nobody sits out front. Nobody sits out front.

Tiffany (23:12)
Mm-hmm. Mm. Mm-hmm.

Kat (23:16)
So 'cause it's just sun scorching you, you know.

Tiffany (23:19)
yeah. Yep.

Kat (23:20)
it looks nice, but I used to sit out there with Emmett actually in the wintertime. I and my dogs don't like to sit on the front porch. Like Archie gets so afraid.

Tiffany (23:28)
Okay. Whatever happened with the bird?

I meant to ask. The cardinal? The baby cardinal? Okay.

Kat (23:33)
We I haven't heard from it again. I think it's I think it died.

Tiffany (23:36)
All right.

Kat (23:36)
Gent bombed. I know the other two died, so we were giving that third one a chance. Yeah. Well but it'd be like maybe

Tiffany (23:40)
Cut that. Never mind.

Kat (23:43)
next year we'll know to like build a fence around it or something. I don't know if

Tiffany (23:45)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Kat (23:47)
the pigeon the or the dove that was nesting I don't know if she ever hatched anything and I I haven't seen any groundlings and Ada hasn't been like that's Ada would bark at them. You know, that's how we would

Tiffany (23:58)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (23:58)
know. So and I haven't seen any dead baby birds, but I don't know.

Tiffany (24:01)
Okay.

Okay, well.

Kat (24:03)
Birds,

I'm sorry our tree is so dangerous, but anyway, another idea is to use trash from local businesses. So we talked last week about pallets.

Tiffany (24:15)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (24:15)
That HGTV link I have in there has a whole thing about how to build no, it was the patio living one. Had a which some of their ideas. They're like paint paint antique chairs and use them as

And I was like,

Tiffany (24:32)
You

Kat (24:34)
You monster, like these are nice like Louis XV chairs.

Okay, if it's falling apart, fine, but like no, you don't take like a nice dinner set and paint it turquoise and put a planter on it, you monster. They do. I know.

Tiffany (24:50)
Some people do. Okay.

Kat (24:53)
But they also had this whole thing about how to make a couch out of pallets.

Tiffany (24:57)
Interesting.

Kat (24:58)
Which, by the way, will deteriorate. That wood will deteriorate in the sun and stuff. But it's seating, you know.

Tiffany (25:02)
Right.

Yeah, I just saw something kind of cool, which I also don't think will last, but it looked kind of cool. Somebody made a staircase and it actually looked pretty solid out of pallets. It was a very Instagramable thing, so I don't think it was real, but.

Kat (25:16)
Yeah. That's what this this had like a Yes. Yeah.

This that's what I was wondering with that patio living one. Or I think maybe the HGTV link had a they have they have DIY they have a list of these DIY things and videos on how to do it.

Tiffany (25:32)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (25:32)
And I was like, okay, if you have the power tools and the space to build a bench, you know Yeah.

Tiffany (25:37)
and the willpower, yeah.

Kat (25:39)
But you can just do the college thing where you have cinder blocks and put planks

Tiffany (25:43)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (25:44)
of wood.

Tiffany (25:45)
Right.

Kat (25:45)
And then bring out cushions and you could sit there. I mean, make sure you sand it down so you don't get like, you know, splinters. But you can do that. You can have and you can make

Tiffany (25:53)
Yeah, totally.

Kat (25:54)
it look nice. Put some plant potted plants, you know. Yeah.

Tiffany (25:56)
paint all of it if you feel like it.

Kat (25:59)
I mean and especially if if you're not gonna be in a place long, you know, like

Tiffany (26:03)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (26:04)
I r for a long time I moved at least every two years. This is the longest

Tiffany (26:06)
Right.

Kat (26:07)
I have lived in a house since I was in high school. So

Tiffany (26:09)
Yeah.

Kat (26:12)
like

Yeah, have stuff you can take apart easily and and give way to neighbors. So

Tiffany (26:17)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (26:19)
yeah. fabric samples are another thing. If you're gonna reupholster something or make cushions, you can do that. you could also make you could make a rug out of fabric samples. Now I highly recommend not using indoor rug materials outdoor because it will mold if it rains.

Tiffany (26:38)
Right. Yes.

Kat (26:40)
Outdoor rugs are worth the investment, I think.

Tiffany (26:42)
Mm-hmm.

Mine was like 200 bucks.

Kat (26:44)
Yeah, I think mine were too. I even had th those are the ones that I bought for my front patio that didn't fit, and then one of them went out on the back patio and really tied that area together, and then the other one went in my office for years. And then

Tiffany (26:54)
There you go. Perfect.

Kat (26:57)
Sean moved in and we had more free rugs, so I put a nicer rug in here, but then he wanted to put what he thought was an outdoor rug outside. It is not an outdoor rug, and we need to get rid of it. But all free. All free. from Buy Nothing

Tiffany (27:05)
Understood. Yeah. Yeah.

Kat (27:09)
Group. so

There's and and you can you don't necessarily have to have a sewing machine to recover cushions. Like

Tiffany (27:20)
Right.

Kat (27:21)
we gave some free patio furniture that Sean had at his last place to his sister and she set it up outside and covered it. She just bought new cushion covers. She didn't

Tiffany (27:32)
Yeah.

Kat (27:32)
even have to buy the new and she just and it looks so much nicer. And it's great.

Tiffany (27:35)
Yeah, totally.

Kat (27:36)
So y you can do that. And and it's just elastic, you know, and you just put it over the thing and it looks great.

Tiffany (27:41)
cool. Okay. You can buy the ones that zip too, depending on, I guess it depends on the, yeah. Yeah.

Kat (27:42)
Yeah, so she didn't have to like Yeah. Yeah, what kind of cushion you have. Yeah. But you can recover things and

It you know.

Tiffany (27:54)
That kind of thing is worth it.

Kat (27:56)
Yeah. also another idea was okay, well another tip, give it time. So if you're

Tiffany (28:04)
Yes.

Kat (28:04)
not buying a patio kit, you know, that comes as it is, you're probably gonna have to build your collection of outdoor furniture over time. Lord knows I have, you know.

Tiffany (28:11)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Kat (28:14)
but okay, so we had some other ideas that we were gonna talk about. So a fire pit. So

Tiffany (28:22)
yeah!

Kat (28:23)
Sean built one in this space that I would like to repurpose out back that is just rocks right now and dog a dog run. But he built me a little fire pit so I could do my faux bra, which is our burning of the fake Zozobra. If

Tiffany (28:38)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (28:39)
you're from New Mexico, you might know what Zozobra is, but every fall I do that as like an homage to my New Mexican roots and he built me this fire pit.

And he just bought the little paving stones,

Tiffany (28:53)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (28:54)
dug out a little hole, put them around, put the sand in, and then I had a fire pit.

Tiffany (28:59)
Yeah.

Kat (28:59)
and that was to burn actual wood. But if you there the HGTV link had like you can build like a gas powered fire pit or like a a propane gel kind of fire pit that

Tiffany (29:10)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (29:11)
won't have the smoke, you know, from like planters.

Tiffany (29:16)
interesting.

Kat (29:17)
So they have a a

Play by play on that. You've made one, haven't you? You've made a fire pit?

Tiffany (29:22)
Yeah, we,

that was the first thing we did after we bought this house and it's just out of bricks that we found laying around.

Kat (29:27)
Yeah. Yeah. You just outline the space, you know.

Tiffany (29:30)
yeah. And it was a weekend project, but you know, as long as we, we like leveled it and stuff, but yeah, it wasn't pro status by any means, but.

Kat (29:38)
Yeah. Sean tried to do that too. I was like, You're not gonna Yeah, I mine

fell apart 'cause we didn't cement it together and yeah.

Tiffany (29:45)
Ours isn't either.

they'll... We used to have landscapers who would come and they would run into it with a lawnmower and be like, well, shit. But yeah.

Kat (29:51)
Yeah, of course. Yeah, it's gone now. But that's the other

thing is that you just put it back, you know. Like if they had broken a brick fire pit, you would have been so mad. Yeah.

Tiffany (29:57)
Yeah, exactly. just restacked it. Right. yeah, that would have been way worse. Yeah.

And now we have that free mulch that we got last year. That's all around it. So we have this big like mulched area so you can't even run into it anymore. Thank God. Yeah.

Kat (30:13)
Yeah, thank God.

But you know, and you have to be careful about make sure that you put fires out, you know,

Tiffany (30:19)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (30:20)
be careful with fire. But there are ways you can add a nice yeah.

Tiffany (30:24)
Yeah, I was shocked. It was easy.

Kat (30:27)
H D T V had this like candle lit heater for like small outdoor spaces that was basically

like a pot turned upside down with like the water like a terracotta pot and you put like candles

Like they turned it they h I think they had to string it to hang it. I don't know. It was a cool looking thing. But it was an upside down pot and then they had like a plate with with tea candles and you light those

Tiffany (30:56)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (30:57)
and the pot heats up and it heats the area.

Tiffany (31:00)
Interesting.

Kat (31:01)
So, you know, again be careful playing with fire, but you just hang it, you know, and then you have this little ambiance heater thing. Yeah.

Tiffany (31:07)
Huh, that's pretty cool.

Kat (31:12)
So there's, you know, ways to add cozy, warmth giving elements that aren't

Tiffany (31:17)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (31:18)
a four hundred dollar chimney or whatever.

Tiffany (31:21)
Yeah.

Kat (31:23)
another idea, living wall.

Tiffany (31:25)
Yes.

Kat (31:25)
So we talked about those, and like I was saying, there are you could you can just put potted plants on an outdoor shelf, you know? And to give again, to set off the space, to give you some privacy, you know. that's easy.

That's

easy.

Tiffany (31:41)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (31:42)
But you could also do like a full living wall and but you know, I grow vines, you know, to Yeah. If you have a fence and and Yeah, grow beans.

Tiffany (31:48)
Yeah, vines, vining stuff is easy. Even like beans, you know? Those are pretty.

Kat (31:55)
We've got cucumbers right now and they are not faring well because they don't have enough soil. But they're just growing out of our cause our neighbor gave us four cucumbers because he had too many.

Tiffany (32:01)
Okay

Kat (32:02)
So they're we just put them in our window boxes and then put a string

Tiffany (32:09)
yeah, yeah, totally.

Kat (32:09)
Up to

like I have a curtain I hung curtains and they're gross and they weren't a great idea because curtains blow around a lot. But so I have a curtain rod up there and you just they're growing up the strings. And they they

Tiffany (32:19)
Uh-huh. that's smart. That's really cool.

Kat (32:23)
look cool, but I mean they don't have enough soil, so we're definitely not gonna have cucumbers. And Sean's like,

Tiffany (32:26)
Heh.

Kat (32:27)
It's okay, I hate cucumbers. But they're providing some pretty greenery, you know, and it's blocking us off from the street some.

Tiffany (32:31)
There you go. Yeah, totally. I'm

happy to announce that my Effigarden's going well.

Kat (32:38)
yeah, what what's come up? How's it look?

Tiffany (32:41)
If you missed it, I just planted a garden and researched nothing because I was just like done researching and I

Kat (32:45)
Yeah. Tired. Yeah.

Tiffany (32:48)
just wanted it planted and done. I planted it way too late, probably late May, early June, whatever. I have two zucchini, big ones at this point, and then a cucumber. And there's probably going to be another two or three cucumbers. Like it's just starting to really come to life. So,

Kat (33:05)
nice.

Tiffany (33:07)
and then we got pumpkins coming. Somehow my

broccoli decided now is the time to grow, which I didn't realize.

Kat (33:15)
It is a winter plant, what?

Tiffany (33:17)
I think it starts growing in now and then it

Kat (33:23)
Okay.

Tiffany (33:24)
really blossoms in the fall

Kat (33:26)
Okay.

Tiffany (33:26)
and the winter. like, it's weird because I had it planted and it didn't do much. And I was like, I just wrote it off. And now it's like thriving. Yes.

Kat (33:35)
It's like I really love these cucumbers. These are

my friends.

Tiffany (33:38)
Yeah, and I planted carrot seeds earlier, like two months ago, and now those are just coming up and I'm like, what is this? This is awesome. So I'm learning so much.

Kat (33:49)
She she loves.

I sometimes i it is really like growing tomatoes in in pots, I feel like they do miss something. 'Cause when they're in a bed rather than a pot, they just do so much better. They go nuts. So, yeah.

Tiffany (34:06)
They go crazy, Yeah,

and my potatoes are nutso, and I love them. And huge pumpkin plant that Charlie planted.

Kat (34:14)
I love it. I could never get

pumpkins to germinate. Yeah, I don't I think

Tiffany (34:21)
interesting. Ours went crazy.

Kat (34:23)
I never got female pumpkin flowers. Are you getting actual fruit?

Tiffany (34:31)
not yet. I mean, it's too early.

Kat (34:32)
Okay.

Okay. But that's the issue is apparently that sometimes you have to Okay.

Tiffany (34:37)
We have three or four plants, so hopefully.

Kat (34:40)
Sometimes you have to pollinate you have to hand pollinate the male to female. Yeah. Okay. But yeah, I I

Tiffany (34:43)
really? Alright, I'm not gonna do that. fingers crossed.

Kat (34:48)
I had pump and I just picked the they were all like I think they're all male flowers, so I just picked them all and stuffed them with goat cheese and fried and it was delicious. Yeah, so

Tiffany (34:56)
smart, yeah. Yummy.

Kat (35:00)
those are good.

Tiffany (35:01)
Yeah,

anyway, that's my Effort Garden.

Kat (35:02)
But yeah, plant wall can yeah.

Cre you know, we've got our passion flower vines that grow from pots and they're supposed to kind of create

Tiffany (35:08)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (35:08)
more they don't get enough light, but you know, nice greenery and create privacy and again set your space off. again I mentioned earlier furniture that doubles the storage. So

Tiffany (35:19)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (35:19)
build a bench with storage so you can put those cushions away when they're not in use.

incorporate

planters into your seating. this one was an interesting one is to create a hanging bench or seat. Like if there is

a piece of furniture that the legs are totally broken and you just don't want to repair it, you can hang it. Just cut the legs off and hang it. Which I was like, that's a cool idea. But you do need good hardware for that.

Tiffany (35:48)
Right, you need to know what you're doing.

Kat (35:50)
So careful about that. But I thought that was kind of a cool idea. If you

Tiffany (35:54)
That is cool.

Kat (35:55)
If you can get the right

Tiffany (35:55)
And who doesn't love a swing?

Kat (35:56)
I know. Swings are the best. I love a swing. You know

Tiffany (35:59)
Mm-hmm. Kids,

adults, everybody.

Kat (36:03)
Hammocks are great. I think they can be isolating. So if you if

Tiffany (36:10)
Mmm.

Kat (36:11)
you have a space where it can just be a hammock for somebody to go I love reading under a tree in a hammock. That's one of my favorite

Tiffany (36:17)
Yes.

Kat (36:17)
things. But it's not a place where you're gonna like socialize and talk to other people. Yeah. Yeah. A hammock is for napping alone. Well well, or with somebody you're very intimate with, perhaps. But yeah.

Tiffany (36:20)
talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can't like share a hammock with a person. Uh-huh. Maybe with somebody, but yeah. Probably not like a person,

an acquaintance.

Kat (36:32)
Yes. You're not gonna be like, let's go have a chat with our cocktails in the hammock where we can't just spilling it all. I can't I cannot get out of a hammock gracefully either. No. It's

Tiffany (36:41)
No, who can? My god.

Kat (36:44)
not. But yeah. so another thing is using paint on things you wouldn't expect. Again, not really a fan of painting antique chairs and turning them into planters

Tiffany (36:56)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (36:57)
per se. But you can

Do paint on outdoor rugs to change the color. So like if if

Tiffany (37:05)
interesting.

Kat (37:06)
you find like a beige rug that you're bored with and you want it to be a different color, get outdoor rug paint and paint it a new color.

Tiffany (37:13)
There's rug paint.

Kat (37:15)
Well there might be. But you know, dyeing, yeah, there's fabric paint.

Tiffany (37:16)
There might be, I don't know. There's fabric paint, so why wouldn't there be?

Kat (37:21)
So there's probably outdoor, you know yeah. You can dye cushions or, you know, cushion covers if you don't like the colours. Like you know, reuse stuff, color it in new ways, you know. Make it yours.

Tiffany (37:38)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (37:41)
Sean only wears two pairs of certain Levi's in black jeans. Those are the pants he wears. And he just redys them like every six months. And we found cause

Tiffany (37:54)
Whoa, and they don't get holes in them or anything?

Kat (37:58)
He has had to buy a new pair, I think, but some of them are a little worn out. But he just re dyes them when they've c started becoming grey instead of black.

Tiffany (38:05)
That's so interesting.

Kat (38:07)
And we have

A sous vide that he uses for this because you have to keep the water at a certain temperature. So he sous vides his pants. It's great. So you get you know, dyeing stuff at home is actually not that hard.

Tiffany (38:19)
Yeah.

Kat (38:21)
and it's not that expensive. So you can do it. I mean it depends on the fabric. But like cotton, you know, if it's not polyester or satin or whatever, you can dye stuff and you know.

Tiffany (38:32)
That is so interesting.

Kat (38:33)
Yeah. So

And

you can apply an outdoor paint to a lot of furniture to make it patio furniture. Again.

Tiffany (38:38)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (38:40)
Sanding it, etcetera. But a lot of this is just experimentation, you know?

Tiffany (38:44)
Yeah.

Yeah. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

Kat (38:46)
And when it's free, I kinda don't care about it, you know?

Tiffany (38:48)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (38:50)
So we have right now, just sitting on our back patio, two giant planters that Sean got but they're just sitting on our back patio 'cause he's gonna plant these

plumeria that we got in Hawaii that he's gonna plant in those

Tiffany (39:05)
Mm. Okay.

Kat (39:07)
So we have those sitting out there. We have, you know, all these kind of projects we need to work on. That shelf of mine that we need to get rid of and replace. we have so many and those chairs that we got from across the street need to be painted too.

Tiffany (39:20)
Right. It is so hard.

Kat (39:23)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We ha and we're like

Tiffany (39:23)
It is so hard to make the time for all this crap.

Kat (39:28)
you mow the lawn on Saturday and you're like, Well it's time for a nap and I didn't even mow the lawn, I just want a nap,

Tiffany (39:30)
I'm tired.

Kat (39:32)
you know? So

Tiffany (39:35)
Exactly. have a sandbox that was a DIY sandbox that went to shit because Ruby peed in it instantly. Instantly.

and that sand is still out there and I'm like, what do do with this? So,

Kat (39:48)
Yeah.

Yeah. So that was what I had.

Tiffany (39:53)
Yeah.

Kat (39:54)
I said, is this something a normal person could do or afford? Yeah. Again, it's a wide spectrum of stuff. It depends on your level

Tiffany (40:02)
Yeah.

Kat (40:03)
of you can upcycle anything. It just depends on

Tiffany (40:05)
Mm-hmm.

Kat (40:06)
your level of DIY capabilities, how much patience you have, a little bit of money and elbow grease you're willing to put into things. I have found that I just

the craft ideas I have have not come out properly and I would rather just have something already like I would rather pick up an already outdoor piece of furniture than try to make an indoor piece of furniture an outdoor piece of furniture successfully.

So

Tiffany (40:29)
Mm-hmm, totally. And

you also have to consider your time and your energy levels, because it's

Kat (40:34)
Yes. Yeah.

Tiffany (40:35)
like, even those two chairs, I did two of them, and I was so tired by the end of it. And was like, I'm so done with this shit.

Kat (40:38)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And it again it there is some pride of o of creatorship, right? That's cool. But

Tiffany (40:48)
Mmhmm. Yeah.

Kat (40:49)
also like

If it's gonna turn into an awfucket, throw it away. Maybe just

Tiffany (40:53)
Yeah.

Kat (40:54)
get it already, you know, pre assembled or, you know,

Tiffany (40:57)
Mm-hmm. Yes.

Kat (40:58)
buy it off the person who's upcycled. You know, people sell

Tiffany (41:01)
Yeah, totally.

Kat (41:02)
stuff on Craigslist and Etsy all the time, and you can get it

Tiffany (41:04)
yes.

Kat (41:05)
for relatively inexpensive, you support a local creator, you know. So Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly Yeah.

Tiffany (41:08)
Yes, even Facebook marketplace. That's where we got our table and chairs. And he, the guy delivered them. We had to pay

him, but I was like, yes, please. I'll pay you whatever you want.

Kat (41:18)
Yeah, the my bench, the

the sofa we have outside he delivered. Yeah. And it was nice to meet a neighbor, you know? So yeah.

Tiffany (41:22)
Yeah. Right. Yeah, that's great.

Kat (41:28)
yeah, br

Tiffany (41:28)
Awesome.

Kat (41:28)
and repairing stuff if you know how to. Good on you. Do that. Highly recommend. I

Tiffany (41:33)
Good on you.

Kat (41:36)
I don't have that in me, but some people are good at it. So

Tiffany (41:39)
Yes. Yeah.

Kat (41:41)
Alright, so next week, solar lights is what we had on the list. Is that what you're talking about? Okay. Cool.

Tiffany (41:45)
Aha. Yeah, that can be what I talked about.

Cause I've been wanting to do that for like three years. So.

Kat (41:52)
Okay.

I like to hear the 'cause I will tell you my personal stories around solar lights.

Tiffany (41:56)
yes. So interested. Perfect.

Kat (41:58)
Mm-hmm.

Awesome. Well yeah, thanks for listening. like we said last week, we are still coming up with ideas for next season. So email us at greeningupmyact at gmail.com or message us on Instagram. Where we never post, but we're still looking. We Yeah.

Tiffany (42:14)
We swear we will one day.

Kat (42:17)
Yeah. We'll get back to it. I just hate Instagram. I'm sorry.

Tiffany (42:20)
I

do too. I know it's such a drain of emotional resources, but yes.

Kat (42:26)
Thank you for listening. Yes.

Tiffany (42:27)
Yeah. So let us know what you want to, what you want us to research and we'll do it. Yes. Thank you. Bye.

Kat (42:30)
What questions you have, yeah. And we love you. Thank you for listening. All right. See ya soon. Bye.