Totally Turquoise Garden Swing Makeover

In an effort to punch up the wow factor in my English Garden, I recently decided that I would paint the swing that lives down there.  It was always wet and mucky and a boring brown wood color.  And to coordinate with the new painted swing, I would need cushions for my garden bench.  And if you give a mouse a cookie Sarah a paint brush, you might as well just paint the garden bench, while you are at it.  So, off we went to the fabric store to pick out some colorful outdoor fabric for the cushions as our jumping off point for the makeover.  (DIY tip of the day: Always pick your fabric first, because you can then have your paint matched to it, rather than the other way around, as you cannot always find fabrics to match paint you’ve already bought.)  We FINALLY settled on this lovely turquoise bird print fabric. 

LOVE.  Seriously, I would have a duvet out of this if that were an acceptable thing to have.

Next, we took the fabric swatch to the hardware store to find a coordinating paint color.  Away we went with a quart of turquoise paint.  Home we came to paint the swing.  First I brought it inside to dry out, cleaned it up, then primed it with oil-based Kilz, and finally painted it with my lovely hued oil paint.  A couple days later, after it was good and dry, we reinstalled it in the garden.

Voila!

And somewhere along the way, I managed to paint the garden bench a soft gray to coordinate with the birdbath and stone path.  And I also found time to sew up the round cushions to go in it!  Here they are:

And for your viewing pleasure, here’s a before and after comparison of the garden swing.

Here’s what it looked like before we moved in—ivy, ivy everywhere!

And after a great ivy battle, some plants and mulch, and a bit of paint and pillows:

Now if I could just get that brick patio under the swing straightened out, all would be well.  For now, I’m enjoying the new fun color in my garden.  Here’s the comparison from last year…

and now!