A step up from a kiddie pool and much less of a commitment than a built-in swimming pool, the above-ground pool has seen a wave of new interest this summer. If you’re one of the many who succumbed or are on the verge, consider taking inspiration from Manda McGrath of The Merrythought blog.
After acquiring a metal-walled pool for her three boys, she upgraded the look with nothing more than a coat of paint. Come see the transformation.
Photography courtesy of The Merrythought.
Before
Above: Manda’s family of five live in rural Western New York. She bought their pool for $300 (pump, ladder, and cover included) on Craig’s List, an approach we applaud as both a huge money saver—a similar new model goes for $2,396—and a way to keep the parts out of landfill. Still, it didn’t exactly enhance the yard.
After
Above: “I always said I wouldn’t get one of these pools because I don’t like the way they look,” says Manda. “Three little boys quickly changed my mind on that.” Known for her simple, resourceful DIYs, she and her husband, Mike, upgraded the aluminum sides with Rust-Oleum’s Flat Black paint in an oil base “because it’s better on metal and will hold up.” Above: A crucial first step before painting: clean the walls “really, really well—after scrubbing them, we used a pressure washer.” Manda chose black because it goes with another DIY project, their patio wall, and she hoped the dark color would help warm the water (“unfortunately, we haven’t noticed it helping much with that”). Above: One coat of paint seemed to do the trick—”we’ll see how it holds up over the winter; if need be, it will get a spring touchup.” They taped off the white posts and top rail, which they left as they were, and used a roller on the panels and a brush on the edges. Manda is now wondering whether to go ahead and paint the whole thing black—what do you think?
For full details, go to The Merrythought. And here are some more of our favorite Merrythought DIYs:
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Or Subscribe for Maximum Value!
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Sorry! As a registered member you get 10 free posts from our archive (posts more than a year old) every 30 days. You have reached your limit for this 30-day period. If you would like to access unlimited posts from the archive (ad free, too), become a subscriber today, and keep reading as many articles as you want.
Full Access Individual Subscription
Benefits include:
Unlimited access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay just 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Sorry! You have reached your limit of three (3) free posts from our archive every 30 days. You can increase this to 10 posts by joining as a free Member, or read unlimited posts with no ads by becoming a paid Subscriber.
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Manage Newsletters
Congratulations on becoming a Subscriber to Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Unlimited access to all three sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive any of the newsletters, including the the full-text daily Remodelista and Gardenista newsletters
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Congratulations on joining as a free Member of Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Access to all posts published in the past year
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
If at any time you want to become a Subscriber and enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to all our content, just go to the My Account link and choose Subscribe.
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Join the conversation