Over the last couple of weeks, I met and had the opportunity of updating a patio with a new friend I met through essential oils! She happens to live in an adjacent town and when I dropped off a few things we started talking and before I knew it, we had a budget to work with and a deadline! Her son’s third birthday party!

Her space was big and opened to their large yard opening to woods beyond. It was a very pretty setting and really all the space needed was a little sprucing up. (See the before photo at the end of this post) I showed her Brooke’s (Nesting with Grace) sister Brittany’s space from my phone on Instagram and she loved it. We divided the space into three zones. Lounge area, dining area, and the firepit area (which still needs chairs). My husband suggested tree stumps and of course we loved that idea. Budget-friendly too!

1. An expandable dining table 2. A comfortable sectional and coffee table 3. dining chairs 4. mix of planters spray painted black 5. string lights 6. outdoor pillows 7. a fun side table

Lounge area with sectional from walmart

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We made a shelf instead of a window box

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Window boxes can be a little limiting and if they are empty, they look like something is missing. But with a shelf, it’s more transitional. You can use it as a bar when entertaining or a display of a mix of seasonal plants. Elizabeth loved the idea of a dark palette and so we chose deep purple potato vines, a few succulents, a mini Japanese Maple, a few dark types of grass, and some small shrubs. Many of the large and small planters we had on hand. We just spray-painted them with Behr Chalk Spray Paint to get a more cohesive look.

Brent chose a thick piece of wood (2×12 and cut it to the exact length of the window). Wood this thick will not warp and he stained it with the stain from our garage. Tricorn Black from Sherwin Williams.

Dining area with expandable table

We loved this table because it’s expandable and super easy to extend from the middle of the table. It currently seats 4-6, but can easily expand and seat 8-10. And very budget-friendly at $250! We chose these chairs and then two extra folding chairs for the ends. The set of four chairs stack and so they are easy to store in the winter months. We use them in our backyard too! You can see them in this post.

A few things that make a big difference

First, spray paint. We painted several large and small mismatched pots and now they all look beautiful together in groupings and add to the overall look rather than distract. Elizabeth is also going to spray paint the lattice that is around the propane tank.

String lights add a little magic and just the right light when the sun goes down. Putting them on a dimmer is always a good idea too!

Votive candles in jars and pillars in hurricanes spread out around the patio, tucked into the planters, and on the shelf is a nice, simple touch for entertaining or just an evening on the patio with family.

Adding black mulch to the existing garden beds is like making the bed. Bags of mulch are about $2.50 each and it makes such a big difference and it’s great for weed control too.

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Future plans include: box the support posts to make them look more finished. We also talked about replacing the lattice with horizontal plank siding.

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Here’s a look at where we started a few weeks ago!