And The Winner Is?
Make A Rustic Sawhorse Table For Under $40
It doesn't happen for many apartment hunters, let alone apartment hunters in New York City, but Molly Berta and Jarrod Gorbel lucked out: They stumbled upon a clean, roomy living space in a great neighborhood that doesn't cost a fortune. But the real draw -- it has an outdoor space that is bigger than a postage stamp. A lot bigger.
The large, outdoor patio has made Molly, a fashion marketing manager, and her boyfriend Jarrod, a musician, both the envy and most celebrated barbecue hosts among their friends. Their apartment, located in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, had a slightly rundown outdoor space when they moved in, but it was full of outdoor entertaining potential. Molly quickly devised an inexpensive design strategy, planning a day trip upstate to visit a few thrift stores.
Jarrod and Molly relaxing on the patio. Photo: Lucy Hamblin
The end result is a warm, inviting, yet clean and minimal, decidedly rustic space. Molly used vintage canisters, crates and even an old-timey cooler as planters, alongside larger functional pieces, like a chaise lounge and picnic table, that she bought new from West Elm.
"(The vintage pieces) looked like they had already survived 10 winters in New York, so I thought they could handle a few more," she says.
Here's the patio before she began the makeover. It didn't look like an obvious place to hang out, but Molly had a vision.
And here's a view of the new patio. Now that's a transformation! It's easy to see why Molly and Jarrod are the envy of all of their friends. Molly let the rustic charm of the patio work for her, adding lights and lanterns along the aging fence and arranging lots of fresh greenery around the perimeter.
"I wanted it to look and feel inviting, relaxing and BBQ ready," she says. But she had to do it on a budget, so she incorporated many things she already owned. Take the vintage tricycle she found a few years ago in Austin, TX; it's now a decorative prop on the patio, adding some depth and character to one of the deck's corners.
Photo: Lucy Hamblin
She also strung Christmas lights around the deck's perimeter for easy, day-to-night transitions. It wouldn't be an outdoor space without greenery, so Molly added lots of it. "I get all of my plants from this store called Graceful Gardens in Williamsburg," she says. "They always have plants I've never seen before and original floral designs." Figuring out which plants will survive year-round outdoors is tricky, she says. Right now, there are lots of succulents and tomato plants.
After a summer of outdoor parties, Molly isn't retiring inside anytime soon. Time for a fire pit and some marshmallow roasting!
Photos by Lucy Hamblin
Reader comments (Page 1 of 2)
If you are a writer then you certainly know about spell check. It's "MarshmAllow"
ReplyWriters think spell check is for amateurs.
I guess someone who spells it marshmellow also thinks that looks good. I guess it's that "shabby chic" thing the city people do.
Are you serious? This is what you call a transformation? WOW, I was hoping to view this thing and get some really interesting ideas. Their AFTER is my BEFORE......I was looking to spice it up.
ReplyIncredible!
At least he spend $$ in the design of his arms...
before/after looks like, no change at all just brighter color chairs, nothing worth looking at..
Replythis was a joke! Are these people serious?
ReplyI got a good idea. Buy a gallon of paint and spruce up that fence! Jeesh
ReplyWhat a joke I mean dump
ReplyI guess for "city folks " That's a nice yard but I got to tell ya it does not look like much to me. Try pressure washing and painting the fence and staining the deck, and old wine bottles on the table????? is it just me? I don't get it.
ReplyTwo key issues here. One is their budget, minimal, they did the best they could to "brighten" their space. They could have added a large colorful outdoor rug. Two is that "rental landlords" do not always allow tenants to "renovate," most everything would need to be removed or undone when they leave. The expense of painting all the fences and power washing the deck floor, they would probably not have been reimbursed by the landlord etc., for sprucing up "his" property, but the landlord would take credit for the decor on advertising for the next renter.
I agree with you. That decking looks like if it doesn't get treated it's going to rot. Also that fence needs to be repainted or stained. What I think happened is that the couple finished off a few bottles of wine, put the bottles on the table and were so drunk they thought it looked great
Paula , not a landlord in the world would care if you painted an ugly fence the same or descent color and a gallon of paint can be bought for $10 or $15 which is less than one of the bottles of wine they emptied so I can't see that being the issue.
You wasted your money, should have repaired and stained the deck and fence. Still looks bad!
ReplyI am looking for ideas for landscaping my back yard and this is what I find. My 5 year old could have done a better job. I especially like the way they re-stacked the chairs.
ReplyI have to agree with most of the posts above. It looks as though no money was invested in what couldn't be hauled out. I mean, pressure washing , stain, and some paint could have transformed the space into something nice. The term "mexican dump" actually does seem appropriate, LOL. How did these people come to be featured anyway? Is Molly some big daddy's little girl? What gives?
ReplyI must be going blind, I don't see any difference..
ReplyARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!! This was a DUMP BEFORE AND A DUMP AFTER. aol must be running out of good aticles to write about. Sounds like aol. need to lay off a couple of writers.
ReplyGEEZ..... You seem to be a little misinformed to the definition of class... maybe it's just your twisted version or just really a bigoted rant!!!
ReplyI'm sorry, I do not see much of an after pic. Although it looks a little better than it did, it's certainly not post worthy. Much more needs to be done for the WOW factor. They probably had a very small budget to work with and that's all that could be done and they should be proud of their update because it's their home, but not for the internet.
ReplySomeone mentioned the landlord might not want an improvement done for whatever reason, to that I say screw that landlord. I feel, as long as they aren't destroying the place and not putting some outlandish color on the deck and fence, I say do it. Besides from the look of the fence & deck, I'd say the landlord never cared about the place to make the proper improvements & protecting the wood on the deck and perhaps a much better fence, that thing looks like it saw it's last season. So, why should the landlord worry so much about the tenant destroying it, it's already destroyed looking. It's their sanctuary and they should have pleasant surroundings. After all, they are the ones that are paying the mortgage (indirectly), plus profit, not the landlord. That's the way I see it. I'm a renter and although there are some improvements I wouldn't make to the structure of the house without the landlord's permission, at least painting, wall & floor techniques within reason are my surroundings and I would want to be happy and comfortable in my own home. After all, I'm the one that pays for it and I'm the one that has to look at it. It should look the way I want it, but in good taste & being courteous to the value of the home. I would never live in a home where the landlord is being ridiculous, they would never dictate the way I'm going to live. There are way too many bad landlords out there, trust me, I've met them and wanted nothing to do with them. Some landlords can be pretty cool to work with and actually care about the home they don't live in. After all, it's their investment and care that their tenants have nice surroundings but trying to find them is a huge task. Our landlord doesn't bother us improvement wise, They know we don't destroy and know we're going to take good care of the place.