Backyard Update, Part 3: The Big Reveal!
Now that the weather has finally cooled off to a reasonable temperature, I figured it’s high time I post the patio reveal! I’ll keep my usual rambling to a minimum because I know what you’re all really here for: the pics! (Click here if you missed part 1 and part 2!)
A reminder of what we were dealing with before:
YIIIIIIIIIIIIIKES!!!!!
DOUBLE YIKES
And…AFTER!
I swear I manifested these chairs. I wanted them SO BADLY earlier in the year but felt like I shouldn’t be buying patio furniture during a pandemic, so I held off. And then they sold out. I was so bummed! We’d already done the reno on the pavers, and I was itching for some new furniture. I went to World Market when their store reopened and saw a box with the name of the style on the outside and immediately snatched them up. And they were HALF the price they were initially listed at AND I didn’t have to pay shipping. I was actually listening to the “Outdoor Spaces” episode of the A Beautiful Mess podcast on the way there. It was fate! I purchased chair covers right after for about $20 each at Target and picked up that rug the same day!
One of my fave design tips is to shop your home for styling items before going out and buying a bunch of random things to fill your space. By maintaining a consistent style throughout our home, I was able to grab a few pieces from inside to make our outdoor space feel more cozy like the pillows, faux fur rug, side table, and even plants! Because we get so much rain here, I always haul these items back indoors before the end of the evening. I highly recommend listening to the ABM podcast because I think it helps you prioritize what your commitment will be to maintaining your outdoor pieces. Also, I was worried this rug might really stress me out because the white part would get dirty, but it’s held up really well! It gets dirty on occasion from puppy feet or acorns falling off of our trees, but the rain cleans it right up. I haven’t had to do anything yet to clean it up, and it’s been a few months.
Left, Purple Palm; Right, Gayfeather
Black Beauty Colocasia, Some Coral Plant (see?? this is what I was talking about IDK), Sedoro Sunsparkler Blue Elf Sedum (FYI Sedums come in a ton of varieties, and I am obsessed with them!)
Not the best pic BUT you can see our chair covers (only about $20 each at Target!) and Justin’s container garden with okra and a few pepper varieties. We placed the container over where we had the tree removed in our backyard.
An important thing to note is that most of the money spent has gone to items that we can take with us when we move (I will never leave this house but you catch my drift!). I was going to do another lead-in post on the container plants, but I have a black thumb and didn’t want y’all asking me a bunch of questions I don’t know the answers to SOOOOO 🤣 I’m a plant mom in training. In short, I buy or build the containers, I’ve made a friend at the local nursery that tells me what will work with the amount of light we get in each area, and Justin tends to all of the living things around the house (myself included LOL). The dark gray containers are from At Home (I got all 3 for about $80), and the light gray container is from Southeastern Salvage for about $120.
I built this!!! Not by myself, but I designed it and built it with my husband’s boss. I’m so proud of it!
Look at this cute before and after! These photos were taken only a few months apart!
My fave part of my backyard, my cute neighbors! 😍😍😍😍😍😍 Before they moved in I remember being nervous about having someone that close, but it’s honestly the best. Sometimes I feel like someone is watching me, and I look out the window and see Wrangler staring at me from his favorite chair (that has now been moved to the corner of the deck so he can check on his favorite neighbors better 😂 If you don’t know your neighbors, go say hello! Community is more important now than ever, I think.
Just a few more detail photos…
Someone always has to be in the shot 😂
We’ve been enjoying this space so much and even hosted a small dinner party a few weekends ago. If you told me a year or even 4 months ago that I would be hosting people in our backyard without suffering from extreme embarrassment, I straight up would not have believed you lol. But here we are!
We got a grill at the beginning of summer, and it’s been so nice to switch things up a bit when the weather cooperates!
We’ve made some amazing progress in this space in only a few months, and I’m so thrilled to finally have nice weather to enjoy it!
Some things I still want to add:
Outdoor safe dining table
Stackable outdoor dining chairs (I have my eye on these!)
A coffee table
Tiki torches
Outdoor pillows
A different, more lounge-y loveseat
Some sort of shade element
Most of these can wait until next year, but I would love to go ahead and get some dining chairs so we can safely hang out with friends and neighbors for a meal or cocktails or a game night.
Also, in true Natalie fashion, this space has already changed since I took these photos. We’ve since added tiki torches and I’ve begun transitioning our containers for fall. Ushering in the new season by freshening up my potted plants has been a fun new way to decorate! I can’t wait to show you our front porch. Maybe I’ll get around to it by Valentine’s Day 🤣
