Hiding Ugly Swing Chains: Welcome to the 67th Metamorphosis Monday!

Metamorphosis Monday:

I don't have anything dramatic to share this week for Met Monday, but I thought I would show you some of the spring fluffing I've been doing out on the porch. A couple of weeks ago, I took the swing chain covers off the swing, tossed them into the hand wash basket of my ancient GE washing machine, poured in a smidgen of bleach and gave 'em a good wash. They hadn't been washed since they were first hung over 2 years ago, and truthfully, they still looked fine. But I figured with all the pollen, a wash couldn't hurt. That stuff you see on the floor...yep, pollen! So here's the swing..."neked" and minus it's covers. Looks very different, doesn't it?

Another Before:

We had a big storm roll through night before last...and it continued all day yesterday. The decks are a wreck. Today I bought a pressure washer from The Home Depot. I'm going to try my hand at pressure washing the decks and deck rails tomorrow...wish me luck!

Notice the pots over there under the window...there are actually 3 that fit there in that stand but I had already started filling one when I remembered to take a "Before" pic. Things are looking pretty bare.




The start of the "After":
Here's the swing with one side re-covered with shiny, clean covers. The cushions are all inside the house, awaiting the end of this INTENSE pollen season. I read in the paper that this year is MUCH worse in the south because it stayed sooo cold so long here, so when everything finally did start blooming/pollinating, the plants all did it at once. INTENSE, indeed! You can see it on the floor behind the swing...and I vacuumed the porch about a week ago, so that's all new.




A little close-up for those of you who may be thinking about adding covers over your swing chains. They are actually ecletrical cord covers I purchased from Hobby Lobby. They come in a gazillion colors. I didn't want them to stand out...just wanted to make the not-so-attractive chains go away So I went with an off-white/cream color.

At each end of the cord covers, there are several snaps so you can adjust how tight you need it on the ends. For my swing, I used four cord covers: one cover each for the longest section of chain which is the one coming down from the ceiling.

Then I cut the other two cord covers in half, hemmed the raw edges of the fabric with fabric glue and used the sections to cover the smaller sections of chain. The covers are a bit pricey, but they occasionally go on sale 1/2 off. If they aren't on sale, use one of Hobby Lobby's 40% off coupons. You can sign up to get those sent right to your e-mail inbox and can usually find one on a visit to their website.




There are a million and one snaps going down the length of the covers. You DO NOT want to goof up when snapping them and miss one...trust me on this! If you do, it's sort of like when you button your sweater up wrong...you have to go back and undo all your work and find where you goofed and start over from that point. Not fun. Of course, "I" would NEVER do something like that. (snort) I'm just telling you, so you can watch out.  Look at all the pollen on the top of the wicker coffee table!  Yuck.




All covered...should be good for another two years. I know pollen season isn't over, but I miss my cushions/pillows, so I brought them back out for the evening.

The Second part of our Metamophosis:
Here are the planters...all filled with geraniums.





Recently, I created a mossy tablescape.  When my chandelier installer walked out onto the deck to help re-attach a screw I had undone on a gutter when I rescued a chipmunk, he stopped dead in his tracks when he was it. After the shock wore off, he declared that my table looked like it was covered in shag carpeting! (LOL)  Update:  I shared that mossy table HERE.

So what do you do with bags and bags of left-over moss from the Dollar Tree?  It's now mulch for my geraniums. Let's just say, I have a lot of mulch!!!




As I was vacuuming stuff down on the porch today, I took this pic to show you how bad the pollen has been. The left side of the shade had been vacuumed...the right had not been done, yet.  Serious pollen!

Looking forward to seeing your Before and Afters:



Met Monday:
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