I want to tell you about the summer I tried to save money by buying the cheapest patio set I could find on Facebook Marketplace, and how that decision led to me standing in my backyard in flip-flops, holding a rusted chair leg that had snapped clean off mid-sit, while my neighbor watched from his … Read more
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Let me paint you a picture. It’s a sunny Saturday morning, I’ve got my coffee, my ambition is at an all-time high, and I am absolutely convinced I can restore resin wicker patio furniture that hasn’t been touched since roughly the … Read more
Let me paint you a picture. It’s a Tuesday morning in late October, I’m standing in my backyard in my bathrobe holding a coffee mug, staring at a very empty patio — and then staring over the fence at my neighbor Dave’s pool, where my beloved wicker loveseat is doing a lazy float like it’s … Read more
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Three summers ago, I threw away $400 in a single afternoon. Not literally — I mean, I didn’t set it on fire — but watching two sets of patio chairs get hauled to the curb felt pretty close. That’s when I … Read more
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Five summers ago, I dragged a set of bargain-bin patio chairs and a wobbly glass table onto my back deck and told myself I’d made a smart financial decision. By the end of that first season, two chair legs had cracked, … Read more
I want to tell you about the day I nearly destroyed my marriage, my back, and a perfectly good Saturday — all because I was too proud to read the assembly instructions for an outdoor daybed swing. Spoiler: it ended beautifully. But the journey? Absolutely chaotic. This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, … Read more
I’d like to tell you that our backyard swing set build went smoothly — that I measured twice, cut once, and stood back at the end like a proud craftsman wiping sawdust off my brow. Instead, I spent forty-five minutes confidently assembling what I was absolutely certain was the main frame, only to realize I … Read more
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Let me set the scene. It’s a Saturday morning last spring, I’ve got a fresh cup of coffee in hand, and I’m standing in my backyard staring at a hole I just drilled directly through my pergola beam — a beam … Read more
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I’ll be honest with you — when I started my pergola swing installation DIY project last spring, I was convinced it would be a fun weekend activity. Two days, maybe three. I’d watched a handful of YouTube videos, ordered what I … Read more
Let me set the scene: it’s a Tuesday evening, my wife Sarah and I are sitting six feet apart on the couch, both scrolling our phones, not talking, and I suddenly announce — with the energy of a man who has just solved world peace — that I’m going to install a porch swing for … Read more