The first official day of spring, I went out with my hammer and prybar and took down the handicap ramp that had been taking up half of our backyard, unused. I happily took down that aging ramp, piled up each piece aside thinking of what I would do with them. A lot of those pieces were still in good working condition. I had ideas for outdoor furniture, chairs, tables, benches, a workbench. I had lots of big ideas this summer.
By the end, it looked like I had my own private lumber yard at a time when lumber prices had been apparently on the rise. I saw it as a chance to really dive into woodworking and practice on outdoor furniture first because I think mistakes can easily be covered up. Plus, I know the wood is already meant for outdoor use and it didn’t cost me anything so if I screwed it up, it won’t be that bad – right?
When I got to the top of the ramp, I thought that keeping the flat portion was a good idea. This gives us a cute little porch that I can build and hang some planter boxes on later.
That’s it! I ended up making chairs and planter boxes with these. It felt amazing to be able to do it without having to pay someone for once.
Update: The patio is going strong with the new matte black color. I had built these planter boxes and liked the color so much we decided to make everything black.