Fashioning an Arbor

 When we started renovating the backyard, there was a sidewalk that went along the roses, under an arbor, and out to the shop. You couldn't really see it though. 

After we excavated, the sidewalk got pulled up and the arbor fence started dropping slats. 

I laid old rugs down to try to kill any weeds by Spring and when the dust settled, I stared at the old arbor and had a vision. I've always wanted a gazebo tea house. Why not an arbor coffee shelter? And I was on a roll!

I played with ideas and put my general thoughts on paper. I have a scrap book of inspiration for each area of the yard. The pages for the arbor started to show a trend of thought and I ran with it. I need a bistro set.

 

I didn't want the old standard. My yard is not a Victorian garden. In fact, it is now and will always be a Pacific Northwest sanctuary. I love where I live and I love a natural environment. So this bistro set had to be something different - something quirky (I do live near Portland). 

I found some chairs at a yard sale. Should I paint them? No. I want them they way they are. Now I needed the table. 

I went on Facebook and asked my friends for ideas. Molly sent me pictures of these cool film reels. I checked them out and loved them!

$25 and I had a table top and two plant stand tops. Yep. That'll work! OK - how to mount them? 

Again, Molly came through. What about a tripod? Hmmm. Might work. Two days later we found a telescope tripod at a yard sale - for free!!

Mounting it was the hard part. The poles fit into the holes in the reels, but stabilizing was tricky! I glued the pieces in place in three or four spots, then anchored it with wire. It held tight, but kept drooping and not being level. So I tweaked the wire more and glued it into place (what glue you ask? Why E6000Plus of course!). But I didn't like the contrast of the legs and the top. 

So I painted it! The color? Rusted Iron! Perfect!

The table is looking great. 

Next piece - the plexiglass top.

 

The extra reels really didn't work as plant stands and were a bit too large. Put them into the "garage sale" pile. 

The final touch - some plants. 

There is star jasmine on either side of the arbor. Over time they will climb over the top and encase the whole thing. There is vining kiwi on the back and plants in the ground inside as well as in pots in the corner. 

A few flowers and some ground covers inside will be the finishing touches. Note: the sidewalk still runs through the middle of the arbor so the chairs won't sink into the dirt. 

Coffee shelter complete. I'm ready to sit and watch the birds with my morning java.