Outdoor living

This makeover has been a long time coming. 

All last spring/summer (in the rental house), I was dreaming of having "real" patio furniture. I even had some picked out and was thisclose to buying it. But we reasoned that since we knew we would be moving we should probably wait, that way we don't have to transport it to the new house. 

Once we got to the new house, my dreams of a beautiful outdoor living space still remained. But there were so many other "higher priority" items to spend money on. So we waited. Finally, with the weather all nice and toasty out (just how I like it!), I could wait no longer. I declared May to be our "spruce up the patio" month. 

And spruce up I did. And hey, we are only mid-month! Can't say I wait around :)

But lets back up here a bit. First some before pictures. This was our patio when we first moved in with the old furniture. It is practically identical to the way it was set up at the apartment and at the rental. Its functional. But not a place that inspires you to spend your time outdoors.

Oh, and please take note that our builder decided it would be a great idea to attach rain gutters to our columns. Um, no thank you. We took those off.

So the first part of our Project Spruce Up actually began in April, when we decided to stain the fence. This truly was more in effort to waterproof the fence and keep it from rotting over time than it was about aesthetics. But it did turn out quite lovely. 

Before:

During (this process was killer. Our fence is huge. It took us three weekends to finish and wayyyyy more stain than I ever would've guessed.)

After: 

Notice anything else different? We added a stone border around our tree bed. Love it. 

Before:

After:

Forgive the weeds. I plan to plant something pretty in this area (or at least cover it in mulch), but that is way down on my priority list for now.

The following picture serves a duel purpose. First, to illustrate that we also stained the columns. Second, to show the sad state that my patio accessories sat in for the first four months we lived here:

And the saddest part is that one day Nick accidentally broke my very favorite teal pots. I couldn't bear to throw them away at first, so they sat here like this for a couple months too.

So after we addressed the fence and the stone border (and I had thrown away the teal pots and planted a few things in the others), it was finally time to bite the bullet and buy some patio furniture! Oh happy day!

We ended up going with the same Target furniture I had my eye on the year before. It is the perfect mix of modern cottage style. 

I really debated the table situation. I would've preferred not to go matchy-matchy, but I couldn't find anything I thought would coordinate. Sometimes you just gotta go with what is easier.






















Leafy pillows are from Target. Green pillow is from Home Depot. I also got some green pots from Home Depot to replace my broken teal ones. Still need some plants for those.

Rug is from the ever-classy Wal-mart. This was not for lack of looking. I looked high and low (online and off) for a stylish green outdoor rug. I had my eye on a couple of pricey options (but was hesitating due to the price), when I spied this green rug for a mere $50 at Wally World. And it has a very similar leaf pattern to the pillows. How serendipitous :) 

Lantern is from Lowes, little potted plant is from Michaels. Yellow pot is Crate & Barrel (an Easter present from my mom!)

The flower box is from Michael's (there is another one underneath the coffee table), the snail is from Hobby Lobby (he has had quite the journey...but that will have to be another post).

This firepit was Nick and my Christmas present to ourselves two years ago (from Home Depot).

We also bought this bird feeder from Wal-mart. Its already empty. We've seen the most beautiful cardinals and even the occasional blue jay!

And the hammock was my birthday gift last year. From Target.

So there you have it. Our backyard makeover! And let me tell you, it has been worth every penny. It has increased our time spent outdoors a hundred-fold. I am out there practically every night reading. And of course, Nick has enjoyed it too:

But no one is happier than this girl...

...because nothing brings her more joy than us sitting outside as she runs around. 

The end.