I Want a Frugal Gazebo!

By (Guest Post)

I saw one site where they used one of those large satellite dishes as the top of the gazebo and it looked really cool. Lots of people don't use theirs any more and probably would be glad for you to take them off their hands.

By Melanie (Guest Post)

Check out the book 2 x 4 Projects for Outdoor Living by Stevie Henderson and Mark Baldwin (ISBN 1-57990-164-6). There is a project in there for a "mini" gazebo, which will hold 1 or 2 people. There are full lists of materials, hardware, and cutting instructions. Perhaps you could double or triple its size.

This is a terrific book that gives many more ideas for outdoor living, such as lawn chairs, porch swing, picnic table, and an outdoor bar.

By L. Miller (Guest Post)

Target has somevery nice metal gazebos $100-$200 range. Also a book called Frugal Gardener has plans to build one out of PVC pipes.

By jhawkgrl19 (Guest Post)

I would keep looking. I saw an iron one recently in an ad for Atwoods for only $89.

By Songberries (Guest Post)

I saw an old satelite dish used for the roof on a gazebo. It was one of the old style, and I had to look twice to figure out what it was!

By (Guest Post)

We constructed a nice 10'x10' sitting area in with $125- worth of lumber and a day's work -- basically an arbor, or pergola with 4x4 posts for the sides, and 2x6 lumber for the top and corner bracings. Grape plants were already established on the site so after just one growing season, the arbor was pretty well covered with vines, providing a lovely shaded area in the summer. The leaves are dense enough that they provide protection from the weather in a light rain. My friend has a larger arbor/pergola covered in kiwi vines, planned around an existing cement patio which has been laid with tile flooring. It's really a 3-season room, and with an electrical supply, she was able to add lights and a ceiling fan for a wonderful place to visit on a summer night!

By Jessy (Guest Post)

We wanted to do a gazebo but then decided to do an simple outdoor shelter because it was cheaper and still looked nice. It just has four 4x4 columns and a flat roof. I used cedar which is cheap locally. You can either put lattice on the roof or something that wll actually cover it. I looked around for plans online, this is somewhat like what we did...

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/store/product.jhtml?catid=cat1220006&prodid=prod301010