Garden Furniture: I Pulled Unmatched Pieces Together with DIY Mosaics

Garden furniture has come a long way. Aristotle loved to lecture outdoors at his home. Unfortunately, the weather sometimes left the grounds wet leaving the students no place to sit with comfort. Flocks of his students went to the local marble quarries for a slab of broken marble, plopped it down in Aristotle's garden; and thus, the first garden seat was born. Mosaics is also an ancient craft and combining the two - garden furniture with mosaics - can transform "trash into treasure".

This photo is a photo of a project I did as a layout, commissioned and published by The Underground Shopper, demonstrating how flawed, unmatched pieces, collected from here and there at an incredible discount, were magically married to create a wonderful garden retreat in our backyard.

I remember having such fun with it. My whole family was involved, one perfect spring weekend, in cutting the marble tiles and placing them in vined patterns. We created a table top, seats, trivets and even covered the pots and chimneria. The project was not without learning curve disasters. The first table top was done on a wood table round, donated by Home Depot for the project, and I sealed it only on one side. When it was finished, we were so pleased with it. Then the next day we watched, helplessly, as the moisture permeated the wood top and it bowed until it looked like a taco shell.

Not daring to admit to the Home Depot manager that I ruined their wood round, we bought another. This time, prior to starting the mosaic, BOTH sides were sealed and the grouting was sealed too - problem solved.

In exchange for the advertisement of their products, every single thing in the photo, including the baker's rack, the chimneria, and the plants, was donated and ours to keep and enjoy. I was especially sad to lose the miniature roses nestling on the baker's rack- I lack a green thumb. Roasting marshmellows in a chimneria while little ones chase fireflies is such a memory-making treat; and it was a happy morning spot to start a new day. Over all, not too shabby, heh? Doesn't it make you long for spring?

Click on the photo to see an enlargement that is a burst of color that promises flowers around the corner.