Yes! We are finally ready to reveal our gazebo makeover that we've been working on for months. I'm calling it a DIY Cabana Style Gazebo because of the black and white striped fabric used in the drapes, and the pops of bright colors to celebrate the promise of Spring here in Fresno, California. I've always loved the geometric pattern of the bold stripes used in cabanas on the beach or around luxurious pools. So, I dove in and did it for myself!
Now I feel like all I need is a bowl of grapes, a dry martini, and a perfectly blue sky and a little breeze to imagine that I'm being pampered at a chic hotel somewhere in the tropics!
I started the decor process with a little sketch so that I could get a shopping list, get on Amazon and buy the drapes, and decide on the pops of color for our gazebo makeover.
Here you can see the bare bones of the gazebo. If you look at an earlier post here: GazeboMakeover2015 you'll see that we decorated the gazebo with DIY Curtains and some bright colors 4 years ago. But this summer during the 2019 California fires, our gazebo caught fire when the PG&E wires came in contact with a fallen tree branch!
It was a frightening experience, and we are very fortunate not to have lost the entire gazebo! The fire charred the floor and swing, and took out a lot of the roof before the firemen got there. They were our heroes! They saved the gazebo from complete ruin, and let us know that it was a good thing we were home when it happened, or the fire would have possibly taken our house and several neighboring houses within minutes!
We kicked into DIY mode and Scott began repairs to build a completely new roof, repair the swing and deck floor, and repaint everything. I even got a hand in painting, with a roller in one hand and a brush in the other!!
The chandelier that we had made with twigs was covered in ash and melted roof materials, so Scott took it down for me to clean and repair the branches and check out the wiring.
I decided it was a good time to go with color!! I used two different colors of COLORSHOT Premium Spray Paint to make the twigs resemble coral. I used Stiletto and Orange Slice to get a more natural look of ombre color on the chandelier. The twigs are actually branches from shrubs that we trimmed in our yard that I wired to a discarded wire rack I found at Yosi Now, a junk store in downtown Fresno, and one of my all-time favorite places to find weird things I can re-purpose. Scott checked the light kit and it was good to go!
I absolutely love, love, LOVE it! Our twig chandelier never looked so good. The bright color is such a graphic statement in the gazebo, and immediately draws your eye upward when you walk into the space.
Next up was putting a new cushion on the repaired swing that Scott made from a wooden pallet and painted. I made a cushion slipcover to cover a slab of foam that we already had. The fabric is some that I bought several years ago at IKEA for a shower curtain. I repurposed it with some black fabric to make a cover like a pillowcase with the opening on one end. Then I sewed hook & loop tape to the opening so I could have a simple closure. I'm sure we'll be taking it off to launder, since our wiener dogs will definitely be sitting on the seat, too :)
The cushion on the gazebo swing looks great! I pieced it together to kind of look like butterfly wings with the pattern going opposite directions from the center of the cushion.
I made 2 rectangular pillows to match, and stuffed them with Poly-fil from Fairfield. These two pillows with the graphic design were perfect to continue the graphic black and white pattern on the back of the swing.
I threw a black faux fur blanket across the back of the swing and placed the graphic pillows with some black pillows I already had, to set the stage for adding accent pillows.
Then I added an indoor/outdoor rug I found at World Market. It's super-lightweight and weather proof, so it should last a long time and add a nice grounded touch to the gazebo.
Some pops of color! Yes, I made these pillows too, and love the color. Kiwi and coral pillows add so much attitude and make the gazebo anything but boring, right? I picked up the fabric at JoAnn Fabrics and it's indoor/outdoor so these colorful pillows will be resistant to weather, the sun, and stains.
The finishing touch was a bright IKEA side table, and a simple terrarium to have a spot to lay my ipad or book and little adult beverage. We're all set to stir up some martinis and chill!
I just had to show how amazing the twig chandelier warms up the visual space in the gazebo at night. It really adds a romantic and mysterious ambience to our fun new DIY Cabana Style Gazebo Makeover!