This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BigLotsOutdoor #CollectiveBias
For many, the patio is a place where friends and family come together to make lasting memories. Growing up, I used to love hanging outside, playing games, and enjoying food fresh off the grill. I wanted my patio to be a sanctuary…to “bring the indoors out“, you could say. For the past few years I have made small updates to the patio each summer, but this year I figured it was time to do a big outdoor space makeover with summer just around the corner. With a theme, a little creativity, and some gorgeous outdoor products from Big Lots, I was able to transform my patio in a day.
That’s right. One day.
So, here is my “before” picture. As you can see, everything is pretty much a mess at this point. It had been abandoned throughout the cooler months and we hadn’t been able to take care of the rug.
Since we had been working on updating the patio the past few years, I already had a theme. While you don’t necessarily need a theme, it definitely helps to have an idea for the style and colors you want on your deck. This will make it so much easier to find products at the store and make the makeover happen faster.
Here’s the theme I have been working on:
Blueberry Lemonade Chic
I swoon over country and shabby chic decor. Blue and yellow country decor in the kitchen has always appealed to me, and fresh blueberries with homemade lemonade fit so perfectly with all of it while bringing some delightful colors in. In every corner, I tried to incorporate this Blueberry Lemonade Chic theme at least a little bit.
Here are the simple steps to makeover your patio in only one day:
Clean Up
Yes, it’s as simple as that. Just cleaning up your patio can make a huge difference. As you can see, I spent a majority of the day sweeping the deck and rinsing everything down. I even wiped down and towel-dried all the furniture and the floor of the deck and tossed out the rug that was beyond hope.
Consider Rearranging
While our deck isn’t ridiculously tiny, it is not the biggest either, so I really wanted to utilize the space and open it up the best that I could. The patio furniture we have was designed to have foot rests for the two chairs, but it was taking up so much space this way and really made the patio look crowded.
By simply moving the foot rests to the side and utilizing them as chairs or just keeping them aside until they are needed, I was able to make the patio look so much bigger and even have a little extra seating. I moved the couch off to one side then put the chairs in another corner and placed the table a little off center to give a little more room in front of our patio door.
Not only does this set up give more space and seating, it also is perfect for entertaining or enjoying a hot cup of coffee (or tea) in the morning with your spouse. The chairs offer a cozy corner for one-on-one chats while the couch provides a place to enjoy each others company and a view of all the other seating. My boys had fun sitting on the foot rests as chairs and all the furniture still allows for group conversations the way they are set up.
Add Fabric
You can see from my before pictures that we did not keep the cushions on the seats; we stored it away to keep it in good condition. Simply adding this and a few throw pillows makes a big difference. Big Lots has some great outdoor throw pillows. I used my DIY burlap fabric pillows I made a couple years ago for the texture–these would look great alongside the Big Lots ones.
Color It Happy
Every patio needs a pop of color. At least a little. Since my theme is Blueberry Lemonade Chic, I was sure to add blue, yellow, and a little white.
A great way to add color is to get some beautiful pots, like these blue ones from Big Lots, and to fill them with gorgeous flowers. I let my boys join in on the action for some sensory play and life skill lessons on gardening!
I chose flowers that reminded me of blueberries and lemons. The blue flowers I found were tiny and the yellow flowers were large. When combining flowers in a pot, you want to keep them pleasing to the eye, so choose ones that have colors that complement and a variety of sizes. While all the same size flower is nice, it also is not as interesting. Using larger flowers next to smaller ones, and even adding some green leaves, is much more appealing. Make sure you choose flowers that play nicely together–ground cover flowers will likely take over, so I would avoid those, and you will want to check to make sure each flower has the same light requirements. When in doubt, ask someone with a green thumb!
Tip: If the flowers aren’t full grown, you will want to leave a few inches of just dirt around the flowers in the pot. This way the roots have some space to grow into.
Sign up for my newsletter!
Decorate
Flowers and pillows make for great decorations, but adding a few other interesting pieces can take it to a whole new level. I absolutely love the outdoor/patio products from Big Lots because they have trendy décor at value prices (styles and assortment vary by store). They even have furniture and gazebos! Here are the products I purchased:
I had a hard time sticking to just one theme, but was able to mix and match some of my favorites! I immediately fell in love with the glass ball and had to have it.
Here you can see that I used the planter shelf in the corner and topped it with the beautiful flower-filled pots, my homemade Blueberry Basil Lemonade Citronella Candles, and these fabulous battery-operated lanterns.
I had wooden boxes, so I had those set up as side tables. I added one in between the two foot rests to double as a place to hold decorations and a surface to set snacks and drinks. To give this table some height so it didn’t blend in with the seats that were just as short, I added a tall metal stand with a stylish glass bulb. Fun story–the one I picked was yellow, but had one speck of blue on the back. I chose to stick with this one because it has some great personality and it looks like a blueberry in a world of lemons.
Over by the two chairs, I had another couple boxes stacked up. I used shorter decorations on this one and went with an old broken pot I had, full of white and yellow flowers, another of my candles, and another lantern to balance out the patio. As you can see, I added some burlap napkins over the boxes before I added the decorations. This makes them look more uniform and adds some great country chic textures.
You can even add some mason jars and vases filled with cut flowers or a clock on a plate stand! I left them out this time around, but usually stick these outside when we are set to entertain guests.
If you can, go ahead and add an outdoor rug to tie the space together. Since we had to toss mine unexpectedly, I did not get to replace it yet but I plan to eventually.
Light It Up
We do have a patio light, but I love the magic added by using candles and lanterns, so as the daylight started to dim, I turned on the lanterns and lit the candles. Eventually we will add some bulb lights either around the deck rail or hang them from a ceiling to a planter hook over the patio.
Enjoy the Space
Now that you have completed your patio makeover, enjoy it! I decided to serve some lemonade to my great little helpers.
Don’t mind their outfits–I knew they would get a little dirty, so E had half play clothes and S had full mix-match pajamas.
We didn’t have time to make my blueberry lemonade, but it’s delicious so check out the recipe.
Read Also: Blueberry Lemonade Chic Lemonade Tray and 8 Quick Tips to Transform Your Home Decor
I would love to hear from you in the comments below–-Do you love entertaining outdoors? What will be your patio theme and color scheme? Which Big Lots products are you going to purchase?
Sign up for my newsletter!
Know someone who would love this? Hit the “share” buttons below! Be sure to follow Arts & Crackers on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or the others at the top right!
OMG I love the after!! We moved recently, and finally have a deck that we can decorate. I’m keeping this one in mind. I love the colors!
Thank you! I love the color scheme too. Blue and yellow are so wonderful together.
Haven’y been to a Big Lots in a long time. Guess I will have to make a special trip.
They have some great outdoor products right now!
I love what you’ve done there – especially that corner stand!
Thank you, Menucha. I love that stand!
We love entertaining in the Summer and your redo of your patio is so pretty! You did a great job with the flowers and decor. I would pick all of your amazing colors!
What a beautiful transformation! thanks for the great ideas!
This is beautiful! I really need to do our back patio. I’ve been meaning to and just haven’t gotten to it yet. Thanks for the ideas! 🙂
Pingback: 20 DIY Backyard Ideas To Get Ready For The Summer!