DIY Pergola Cabana Reveal!
A DIY pergola built in 2 days and styled as a Serena & Lily inspired cabana for less to provide extra shade by the pool.
After the water damage fiasco, foundation repairs, and being without A/C the last couple of weeks, it feels SO good to have a DIY pergola cabana in our backyard to escape from it all!
Remember this spot beside our pool before?
We had contractors fill in a flower bed with new concrete, and we built a beast of a DIY pergola with the help of my dad and brother.
And after painting it and styling it, we turned it into a cabana!
UV Blocking Curtains | Lounge Chairs | Garden Stools | Outdoor Pillows | Turkish Towels | Planter | Curtain Tie-Backs | Outdoor Curtain Rods
These 7 pool cabana ideas guided the whole vision with some Serena & Lily vibes for less.
All I need is a mojito and I’ll be set.
If you don’t follow us on Instagram, I shared the whole DIY pergola building process in my Instagram Stories using a kit gifted to us by Toja Grid. My brother and dad were a huge help in hoisting it up with us.
We made it 8’x24′ to give us plenty of shade space.
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To be honest, it was WAY harder than we anticipated. That 6×6 pressure treated lumber is insanely heavier than it looks.
Even though we might still be feeling the effects of it in our joints a little bit, at least we can rest on one of these outdoor lounge chairs in the shade by the pool now.
P.S. I definitely stood squished against our fence inside of our bushes just praying no creepy crawlies would bite me while I took this photo. #WorthIt
Robert and I have been so lucky to have visited a couple of really beautiful places in the last 5 years – one was a company trip when he worked in annuities to South Beach, Miami. And in April, we went to Montego Bay, Jamaica for our 10 year wedding anniversary.
So it felt fitting to style the cabana to remind us of those vacations. It’s a little slice of vacation in our own backyard now.
I added these UV blocking curtains and outdoor curtain rods all around to provide extra shade when the sun comes on from the sides of the pergola.
We attached these tiebacks so that they’d be easy to keep open and tamed from the breeze when not in use.
I got these four outdoor lounge chairs hoping they’d be easier to keep clean than chairs with cushions. My only regret is I wish I’d bought two more since there’s definitely room for six chairs under this pergola.
I think these are sold out, but these are similar:
(We have to wait a few more weeks for the new concrete to fully cure before we can paint it.)
To have a place handy for setting drinks or a book, I used these garden stools. They’re my favorite kind of outdoor furniture because they’re so versatile in all kinds of places around the yard.
I got these outdoor pillows for a little extra support too.
These Turkish towels are so perfect for by the pool because they’re extra absorbent but they dry much faster in the sun than regular plush towels.
This was one of the most physically challenging projects we’ve ever done, but we truly couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
Maybe I should add string lights too? That’s my solution for everything outdoors. String lights always seem to be the cherry on top.
Next, we plan to build a DIY outdoor kitchen, so I’ll share that soon too.
We’re still hoping to replace this old falling down fence this summer too and eventually, we plan to do concrete stamping on the pool deck possibly in the spring.
The DIY painted concrete is holding us over for now, but it’s proven to be really durable since last summer.
These outdoor projects always end up being way harder and more pricey than we anticipate, but my gosh they are so rewarding once they’re done.
Just for fun, remember when this spot looked like this when we first moved in?
After cleaning up the landscaping, dismantling the old wood rotted pergola swing, replacing the pool liner, painting the concrete, and building this DIY pergola cabana, here’s where we are now.
I mean, holy cannoli, Batman! What?!
Who needs air conditioning and intact drywall in your house when you’ve got a spot like this?
We’ll just keep turning lemons into lemonade over here… and drinking it by the pool pretending like the inside of our house isn’t falling apart. Ha!
Sources:
- Pergola Hardware Kit
- UV Blocking Curtains
- Outdoor Curtain Rod
- Curtain Tie Backs
- Lounge Chairs
- Outdoor Pillows
- Garden Stool Side Tables
- Turkish Towels
- Planters
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