Today, I’m sharing our back patio design to help you create a beautiful patio for relaxing and entertaining. Join me over on YouTube to see these spaces come to life in real time!
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Sources
We spend SO MUCH time on our back patio, so this summer we thought it was time for a quick refresh! The pergola was built by the previous owners. Actually, it was a very sweet project – the husband built it for his wife’s birthday one year! It’s stunning and defines the space so nicely. When we moved, we brought some small wicker furniture from our previous house and put it back here, supplemented with camp chairs whenever we’ve had family or friends over. There are already so many memories on this patio – makes me smile just thinking about it! My goal with this patio refresh was just to cozy it up and make a little better use of the space.
Here’s what we started with:
And here’s the after:
The pergola is great for privacy and blocking the wind (it can be pretty windy in this area). We wove a synthetic burlap (not sure exactly what type of fabric) through the top for some shade cover and zig-zagged two sets of outdoor string lights [HERE] across the whole space. We just used u-nails to attach them to the bottom of the the pergola beams.
I made the plant wall along the left side to offset the asymmetrical loveseats and balance things out a bit. I grabbed a few terra cotta pots, spray painted them with white outdoor paint [HERE], and then hung them with wall planter hoops [HERE].
The loveseats are both from Target [HERE]. They go on sale pretty often and are great quality. There were a few reviews that said they had issues with pieces arriving damaged, but ours were all in good condition and quick + straightforward to assemble. It’s been a few months now, and we’re really happy with them!
I picked up a couple side tables from Walmart [HERE], pillows [pink, lumbar, gold], and planters [HERE] to bring some green into the space.
Now for our favorite parts – Joseph loves the black Adirondack chair and the kids love the new gas fire pit (or they love all the s’mores we can make over it 😉).
The Adirondack chair is an Amazon find [HERE]. It’s a little slimmer style (not one of the large, oversized adirondacks) and super comfortable. Joseph is 5′ 11″ and always sits in it. He’s requested 3 more to put on the other side of the patio.
I searched high and low for a reasonably priced gas fire pit and finally found one at Lowes [HERE]. All the other gas fire pits I found were in the $300 – $500 range. This one was under $200! It’s a great size, high quality, and even puts out a little heat. I think it was under $200 because it’s just a powder coated black (no fancy stone or tile top), but that was fine with us.
Here it is all lit up for the evening:
I’ve been wanting to fix this patio up since we moved in, but, as with all home projects, these things take time. It can be easy to get caught up in the more-more-more mentality of social media nowadays, but don’t forget to slow down and live right now. The patio didn’t have to be perfect to make memories. We’ve made full use of it for the last couple years just as it was! Sometimes I hesitate to share room makeovers (or, in this case, patio refresh) for fear of adding to the “keeping-up-with-the-joneses” of social media. So, just keep in mind that for every one finished project, there are still a hundred sitting unfinished, half finished, not-even-on-the-list-yet projects.
Home takes time.
** UPDATE 2023 –
Speaking of “home takes time”, I never did anything to the other half of this patio until just this year 😅 But here is the view from a little farther back where we added a new vertical gardening GreenStalk tower:
I’ve been eyeing them for a few years now and picked one up during their Mother’s Day sale a few weeks ago (see the fullpost HERE). The full plan is to add another small seating area on the near patio that compliments the fire pit area on the far patio. For now, we just pull camp chairs out when we have guests so everyone can fit! But the GreenStalk tower already makes such a difference to tie the two spaces together!
I added a few started herbs and sowed a variety of lettuce, spinach, bok choy, and dwarf cherry tomatoes into the rest of the pockets. We’re so excited to have fresh greens right here, just off the kitchen!
Sources
- Greenstalk Vertical Planters from Greenstalk Garden – this is the 7 tier leaf planter in the stone color with the spinner base
- Greenstalk Planter on Amazon – 5 Tier
- Greenstalk Spinner Base with Wheels on Amazon
- Outdoor Loveseats
- Black Weather Resistant Adirondack Chair
- Gas Fire Pit Table
- Black Side Tables
- Basket Planter
- Wall Planter Hoops
- Outdoor String Lights
As always, please let me know if you have any questions and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
| Tylynn |