Wednesday's weather was darn near perfect. Friday was the first official day of spring. Today is Saturday, and that means you finally have time to go outside and start surveying Living Room 2.0 — your patio, deck, porch, back yard or whatever you call that place you plan to live in during the next six months.

It's where the barbecue grill and the hammock reside; where the berries grow within arm's reach and the mint can throw itself into your julep glass without much trouble.

Winter has likely done its usual dingy best to thwart the pretty space. So, before you have people over, and because you don't want to go broke in the process, we have some ideas for the de-dingification.