DIY Network

Outdoor Umbrella Rooms Make an outdoor room with giant umbrellas and room dividers From "B. Original" episode DBOR-107

Kick back in your own "umbrella room."

Umbrellas aren't just for a rainy day—they're for any day you want to B. Original with your own outdoor room! Host Michele Beschen helps you create your own with how-to tips that make it easy.

Michele Beschen shows how you can dress up tattered patio umbrellas, make custom umbrella holders/storage units from shipping crates and create an outdoor room full of indoor touches.

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The first step in making a great outdoor room with patio umbrellas and room dividers is to B. Original with your umbrellas. Even the most tattered ones can clean up great with some paint and creativity.

Materials:

2 large patio umbrellas
umbrella stand
paint and brushes
textile medium (for painting on cloth)
mixing container
stencils or stamps (optional)
water repellant spray

	Figure A
	Figure B

• Check your umbrella fabric before buying your paint; if you're unsure which paint to use for your fabric, ask the staff at your local craft store. Michele Beschen used regular house paints and acrylics for her vinyl and nylon umbrellas.

• Make sure your umbrella is clean before you start painting.

• If you're painting on canvas or other cloth material and are concerned about your paint's flexibility, add textile medium to your paints according to the manufacturer's instructions.

• Take apart your umbrella so you're only dealing with the top half. Put the pole in an umbrella stand, and your umbrella should be at a good height to work on (figure A).

• B. Original with your paint designs. You can paint the whole umbrella or just do accent designs, paint freehand or use stamps and stencils (figure B).

• Spray the surface with a water repellant after the paint dries. The colors may fade, but they'll still look good.

	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E
	Figure F

Set Up Your Room

• Your newly fabulous umbrellas need great stands—after all, you won't be sticking them down through a picnic table. Michele Beschen recommends using pallet boxes—large, wooden shipping crates. They not only keep your umbrellas upright, they function as handy tables and roomy storage (figure C).

  Note: To turn the crates into umbrella stands, use a hole saw to drill a hole in the center of the lid the same width as your umbrella pole. Then drill a corresponding hole in the bottom of the crate so that your umbrella goes all the way through.

• Your outdoor room needs chairs. Make sure they're comfortable as well as waterproof; deck chairs make a nice choice.

• Outdoor rooms may not need walls, but they do benefit from a floor. Michele Beschen put a waterproof groundcloth down in her space, then covered it with large pieces of upholstery fabric (figure D). The underside of this fabric is very durable, and she simply tosses hers in the wash if it gets too dirty. Hold the fabric in place with anchors or landscape staples.

• Define your space further with one or more room dividers (figure E). The best choices are those that let the light in and allow the surrounding scenery to show through.

• B. Original with accessories. Give the room character with small objects you love—and that won't be destroyed by some weathering. Try to follow Michele Beschen's example of finding new uses for objects, like her dish rack that now serves as a magazine rack (figure F).

Congratulations—your room is ready. Now, hurry up and relax!