Coming Out of Hibernation with a Backyard Mood Board for Spring
This spring and summer, I’m determined for us to live our best backyard life.
The secret to decorating outdoors is to treat your space the same as you would a room in your home. In most outdoor spaces, there are walls (fences? trees?), a ceiling (pergola? string lights? sky?), and a floor (deck? grass? brick?). And this year, I’ve realized I need to take that concept a step further and treat our backyard as if it’s a great room and divide it into zones.
With that in mind, I pulled up half of the faux grass in our backyard (it was already a few pieces, so I didn’t need to cut anything). Let me tell you, it was NOT an easy task; faux grass is HEAVY. At first I thought we could roll it up tight like a rug and throw it in the garage, but that turned out not to be a possibility because we just couldn’t get it tight (Also: bugs). Instead, we rolled/folded it up and put it on the side yard of our house. Out of sight, out of mind.
Now half the patio has faux grass and half has a mix of brick pavers and cement (the patio side). Then I moved the furniture onto the patio side, knowing that Benji will be using the grassy side for his kitty pool and splash table.
Then, I agonized over whether or not to invest in new outdoor furniture this year or to wait until next year.
I have been meaning to update our outdoor furniture. Back in 2018 and 2019, I invested in some very inexpensive outdoor furnishings. First it was plastic Adirondack chairs and then later an outdoor loveseat from Target.
2017
2018 [This is the only pic I have of our patio with the couch at our old apartment. I was VERY pregnant (~36 weeks) when we built the loveseat and this outdoor storage box, and then after Benji was born, I pretty much only used my camera to take pictures of him.]
The loveseat has been working just fine (though it’s close to the end of its life span), but the plastic chairs make me cringe every time I see them.
Last year, I tried to replace them with the Acapulco chairs, which I LOVED. Unfortunately, I was the only one in our household who thought they were comfortable, so back to CB2 they went.
2021 Acapulco Chairs | Lemon Kiddy Pool | Fire Pit | White Side Table | Pillows (No longer available)
And here’s where we were at the start of 2022.
February 2022
Pretty rough, right?
As I’ve been hunting for new patio furniture, Denis has been strongly requesting that we stop buying white things for the outdoors. While I don’t have the problem with white outdoors that he does, and I think it’s fairly easy to clean, I understand where he’s coming from.
I thought the main alternative to white outdoor cushions were black ones, but then I saw Jess’s makeover for her apartment building’s communal patio over on Style by Emily Henderson. She used an outdoor couch with dusty red cushions, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Actually, I was incredibly inspired by the whole thing! It’s eclectic, and like everything Emily and her team do, all of the different pieces work so well together. The reds, tans, browns, blues, and whites are so warm, inviting, and fun. I even adore the white curved chair with white cushions (here), but I understand that may not be the best idea with a toddler and the inevitable mud play he will participate in in our backyard.
The outdoor couch is about $2800, and since we’re investing in several new pieces of furniture for our interiors this year, that price tag seemed a little outside the realm of possibility for 2022. Maybe next year.
But I just didn’t think I could keep living with our plastic Adirondack chairs. Maybe I could take inspiration from the style and the colors in Jess’s patio and do a cheap replacement of our chairs? But the ones I picked up from Ikea didn’t look right to me in our space.
Then I considered some medium priced outdoor chairs, like these and these.
Eventually, I realized it wasn’t worth it to spend a not-small chunk of change on something I didn’t love and would be waiting to replace.
After scouring the interwebs, I discovered these beautiful chairs at Crate & Barrel. They work with both our current outdoor love seat and the couch with the red cushions that I’ve fallen in love with. And after a 15% off coupon snagged from eBay, the price is not totally unreasonable.
Once I had the chairs in mind, I built out the rest of the plan, keeping as much of what we already have as possible.
Faux Rattan Kiddie Pool | Outdoor Baskets (for furniture covers when not in use) | Lounge Chairs | Fire Pit (Similar) | Propane Tank Cover/Side Table | Rug | Patterned Lumbar Pillow | Pink Pillow | Blue Pillow | | White Side Table | Folding Chairs | Folding Table | Planters (Discontinued)
And here’s how we could evolve it over time…
Also, in case you were wondering what those triangle things hanging over the lounge area are, they’re shade sails. I ordered a few different shapes and need to decide which to keep and where to position them, then I’ll have my new favorite handy guys from LA Teams to hang them up.
The chairs arrive this Friday and I’m so excited. Everything else is trickling in and I’ll be lounging in the backyard in style so soon.
Do you have any big (or small) plans for your outdoor areas? What are they?!