For the past 2 months we’ve been plotting, planning, shopping, implementing, and transforming our outdoor patio.  It’s been a labor of love to get this space to be an inviting oasis that we always envisioned and now can truly enjoy.

We bought our home in the middle of winter when there was over a foot of snow on the ground.  Once Spring hit, the melting snow revealed what we were up against a lot of work – much more than we anticipated.  In the sideyard, there was an above ground pool, which had seen better days, plus 20+ overgrown trees that made the entire yard look dark & cavernous.

In the last 4 years, we’ve done a lot of work & spent a lot of money to upgrade the area (things that we had to hire out because we couldn’t tackle on our own).  We’ve made progress over the years, but more work to really pull this outdoor space together needed to be done…

If you haven’t seen the before in previous posts (and this is actually after a lot of work had already been done), this is how the outdoor area looked before…

Yikes!

Our objective: To use the patio we already had (no money in the budget for something new) and to create a little slice of paradise with colorful decor!  I’m no expert on outdoor landscaping (or even keeping a flower alive for that matter), but I put my mad decorating skills to the test to transform this space…

If I can do it, so can you!

Before we could sit back, enjoy, and relax, there were a whole lotta steps that went into pulling this patio together.

First, the shopping.

It started with the pergola.  I first spotted it at Lowe’s in late Winter and fell in love.  We’ve always wanted a pergola, but were hesitant on building it from scratch.  Fear sometimes gets the best of us. Anyway, the black steel pergola seemed like the perfect (and much easier) way to go.

After that the layers.  Pillows + lanterns + pots + lighting + flowers!  I found all of these beauties at Lowe’s.  They have a great new outdoor collection this year with bold colors & patterns.

Once back at the house, one of the first things I tackled was painting the doors to the shed.  I was going for an orange vibe a few years ago, but that idea was ditched and the new outdoor space called for blue.  I started off attempting to spray paint the doors and that didn’t work.  Then I used the HomeRight Mini Paint Stick + a paint brush, and that was just the trick for an easy project makeover…

The patio set we chose was incredibly easy to put together.  So easy that each chair took about 2 minutes and 34 seconds… no joke!  The sides + the back literally snapped into the seat and voila it was done.  No nails, no screws, no allen keys, just wam-bam done!

The chairs were REALLY heavy, but my man could handle it.  With one hand – WOW.  totally kidding, they are actually incredibly light, but don’t tell him that because he was super impressed with himself.

Ya gotta laugh along the way, right?!

And of course with creating an outdoor oasis, there is a lot of planting involved.  From weeding, planting, and mulching, it took a few weekends to tackle.  Plus there was the cleaning of the pond, the removal of an old fence, and the putting together of the outdoor fireplace – which is a must for a Patio Paradise – so we’ve been busy to say the least…

…but in the end it’s all been worth it because this is the result of our beautiful space.

Too fuzzy?  Want a clearer picture?  Check it out…

Come join me on the patio.

The garden which was created (not by us, but by a previous homeowner) with a retaining wall sits about 2′ high than the patio and brings nice height and elevation to the patio setting. When you come down to the patio level, you are greeted by a blooming, oversized (not yet, but by mid-summer it’ll be huge) Russian Sage perennial.

The pond, which until last week was a muddy, gross mess, brings such a special touch to this area of our yard.  There is nothing like the calming sounds of water.  We’re also still loving the garden sculpture created 2 years ago from an old barrel. It’s such a pretty focal point.

The cushions for the chairs & sofa are incredible because the rain beads away instead of soaking in.  I found that out the other day by mistake.  Typically we put the cushions away each night, but they were accidentally left out.  The next day I was super bummed {enter mad-at-myself-face}, but when I touched them, they were completely dry!  They are made of Sunbrella fabric & I’m really impressed.

With the patio furniture set came different pillows, but instead of being matchy-matchy, I swapped them for a few others that I was drawn to at Lowe’s.

Lantern Love…

Want some drinks? Let’s chill at the table.

I took this beautiful Indian throw that I typically have on a chair indoors and used it as a table cloth.  The colors are so vibrant + bold, so it really brought a fun & festive vibe to the new patio.  Again, using what I have on-handmade makes it easier and less costly.

A simple pallet box that the Mister made is set as the centerpiece filled with colorful annuals.

Can you blame me for not wanting to leave my house for the next 2 months?!

For the underside of the pergola, I hung a lantern that I purchased a few years ago and draped lights from each corner to the center.

Important Info: The pergola came with 6″ stakes to anchor it into the ground.  First, we positioned the pergola on the patio, so the stakes wouldn’t work.  Secondly, I would be reluctant using stakes because I could still see the pergola pulling away.  The pergola has received rave reviews on the Lowe’s site, but the anchoring to the ground has been the only issue.  With an intense gust of wind, the fabric could easily act as a sail.

To make the pergola sturdy and in-place, we first used a masonry drill bit to make a hole into the concrete patio.  Then we used Tapcon concrete screws (see them here) in each of the 4 holes on the 4 posts.  It was a fairly easy process which took about 10 minutes.

Now that it’s all complete {thank goodness}, we can sit back and simply enjoy!

We’ve already enjoyed our first fire.  And within minutes of us starting it, some neighbors popped over.  That’s what Summer is all about…

And it melted my heart when the kids grabbed the poufs and started to read side-by-side.  It didn’t last long (I’m not going to pretend we are some kind of ‘perfect’ family where our kids always get along), but for the short moment, it was a treasure which I bookmarked in my mind.

If you missed (or didn’t see) the mood board I created for the patio outdoor space, this was the original vision that I created.  It always helps to have a ‘plan of action’ when shopping & executing a new space – either indoors or out.   Sources (with links) for all the elements are in last week’s post: The Plan.

No landscape expert designed this outdoor room, just lil’ ole’ me & I’m pretty darn satisfied!

Here’s a recap of the before & after…

Want to see another outdoor space of ours that I just finished?  Check out the deck…

You know where we will be all Summer!  Come join us!!

Thanks for coming over for a tour of our new patio paradise.  It’s a dream that this space (+ the deck) are finished.  I can now sit back & enjoy the Summer days to come!

What outdoor projects have you tackled this year?  Do you have a patio or deck that you transformed or plan on transforming?

Disclosure: I am part of the Lowe’s Creative Team and was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to purchase items for my project.  I was also compensated for my time to use the products.  No one told me what to create, what to buy, how to use the product, or what to write.  All opinions are 100% mine!