How to Make My Patio Cute With Old Things

Add some hinges to an old pair of window shutters to create a cute room divider or privacy screen. You can find old window shutters at salvage yards or purchase them at garage sales or flea markets. Don't paint them. If they're weathered and the paint is chipping, all the better to bring character to your patio. Attach cup hooks and hang a few vintage metal signs or old farm photos to the shutters.

Use old cane-bottom chairs as planters. Remove the seat bottom, and set a plant down into the hollow of the seat. The dowels of the legs can support the plant in place. Collect a hodgepodge of chairs in varying styles and colors to make your patio cute with a vintage flair.

Create a patio coffee table from an old multi-paned, wood-framed window. Use old flower pots identical in height for the legs. Turn them upside down in a square formation or match the shape of the old window. Seat the window on top of the pots. Keep the old hinges and hardware on the windows for architectural appeal.

Create a sweet sun catcher to light up your patio with colorful prisms. Pick up an ornate doorplate from any vintage hardware or salvage shop. If the doorplate does not have holes, use a small drill and drill bit to punch a few into the bottom of the plate. Attach dripping chandelier crystals with wire into the holes, then hang the sun catcher from a hook in your patio's beam and enjoy the colorful light show.

Find an old glass light fixture at a scrap yard or garage sale. Turn it upside down so the shade creates a bowl. Mount it to a stud or into a wall of your patio and use it as a bird feeder, bird bath or as a planter or terrarium for a tender young plant. Alternately, place a votive candle inside to bathe your patio in soft, romantic light.

Spruce up an old camp cot to create a cute patio daybed. Fold out the cot to its full, open length and cut a 4-inch-thick piece of foam to fit. Sew a simple slipcover using cheery garden greens and pink fabrics and top it with contrasting pillows.