Vintage Patio Set Makeover

I never met my great-grandparents, but most summer nights, I sit at their table. It’s a wrought iron set with a glass top and a million memories. The chairs are sized for a smaller generation and I work every year to keep the rust from eating away at the lattice seat.

To me, it’s a blessing to own something that runs generations deep. To my husband, it’s an albatross.

Flipping through furniture catalogs, we never see anything like it. To him, it’s an indication that the patio set on our recently renovated side patio is painfully out of date. He’s made subtle hints about replacing it, but he was also there for the moment it became an obligation, not just a place to sit.

THE ALBATROSS

“Moe, I want you to take the patio set,” my grandma told me over the phone days after I came back from my honeymoon.

She and my grandpa were moving out of their home they built in the early 1960’s. A woman, who claimed to helping them sell antiques they no longer wanted, was going through their belongings piece by piece. It was my job to get a U-haul to my grandparents home and pick up the patio set before the woman claimed it.

I did as I was told, and let’s just say the woman wasn’t thrilled with my intrusion. I got the sense she had priced out the profit.

When my husband and I tipped the table on it’s side to fit it through a doorway, the glass top slid off and shattered on the floor. The woman immediately called my grandmother and tattled on my careless effort. Why this woman thought my grandmother would side with her, I’ll never know. A petty little battle over the table and chairs ended with me having it in my possession for the rest of my life.

THE INSPIRATION

For years, I couldn’t figure out how to make the patio set current. I was always looking for either inspiration or a nice storage unit. But last year, a photo on Instagram changed my outlook.

Ralph Lauren posted a photo of it’s cafe in Paris. The tables and chairs are a similar wrought iron. The pillows are all shades of blue and white, which look crisp against the stone and greenery. It was perfection.

Courtesy: Encore! Life on Tumbler

Now all I had to do was figure out how to replicate this luxury onto the tiny-butt seats in my back yard.

THE REPLICATION

In my search for the perfect fabric, I found a beautiful light blue pinstripe with a natural cream canvas on Serena & Lily. At first I thought it was a little expensive to buy a designer fabric by the yard for something that will get rained on in my backyard, but the quality is worth it.

I re-covered the small rectangular seat cushions myself, and then made a cover for the outdoor pillows for the back of the chairs at the head of the table.

At Ralph’s Paris Restaurant, there are bench seats filled with throw pillows in various shades of navy and cobalt blue. The dishes are expensive white plates with blue floral patterns. To get the same look, I pulled in the various shades of blue using navy cloth napkins and glassware, along with white platters and plates.

The effort to recreate the Paris cafe is an ongoing effort. As we go through the summer, I add touches here and there with potted flowers or serveware. There won’t be much investment until I host anyone regularly other than my children.

But that’s the history of this table: kids sitting around eating plates of grilled hot dogs and burgers. I can vividly remember my feet barely touching the ground as I ate a peanut butter and jelly at that table with my grandma sitting next to me. It will always be a family gathering table. Only in this era of it’s existence, maybe it will have a Parisian flair.

(UPDATE: My husband no longer asks to replace it.)