$400 Pergola Project

Wow! Three years since I last posted! Shame on me. I thought I would post about this Pergola we just built, because even though it's not gardening per se, it is an outdoor space, and it's a small space Pergola.

 We needed a solution to block the hot afternoon sun from our patio table area, but it’s such a small space, we couldn’t find anything we liked that would fit.

I didn’t want a cheap looking unfolding popup shade (and even those were too big). Anything that was the right size was ugly, or too expensive. As I researched I came across vinyl Pergola kits and really liked how they looked, but couldn’t find one small enough for our space. Our roof edge is only 7.5 feet high and the stretch to the pool is only 7.5 feet.

So we came up with this idea to build our own out of the materials for vinyl fencing supplies, available at Lowes or Home Depot. The curtain rods are from Target, and the curtains are 80x84 panels from Walmart.

 Materials used:
$75 (3) 8 foot vinyl fence post
$72 (6) 8 foot vinyl fence rails
$14 (4) vinyl post caps
$36 (6) rail attachment bracket sets
$74 (3) curtain rods and (3) packs of rod rings
$36 (2) sets of 80x84 curtains
$40 (2) ceramic pots
$39 decorative stone to fill the pots
$14 eight inch screws 

Cheap blue curtains from Walmart.
I love the resort-like ambiance they create.

 These ceramic pots were a steal at under $20 each. I had to search 3 HDs to find two in stock.

I read a lot of online reviews about canopies weaving in the wind, and because the wind comes up in the afternoons, I wanted my pergola as securely fixed to the ground as I could get without cutting or drilling into my cement. I got the idea to put them in pots filled with stone, and I love the way it turned out. These pots are absolutely gorgeous, and won’t leave any permanent damage to the patio.