Refreshed Patio Space Revealed!

Whether or not to participate in last year's Patio Challenge was a no-brainer, especially since we started with a barren, blank slate of a back patio (see the before shots here). Granted, we have a pool, so it wasn't completely awful, but we had no ambiance or place to actually enjoy it! Thanks to Home Depot and some manual labor, we were able to transform the space, and have enjoyed it ever since.

But after living with it for a year, we realized a few simple changes and additions would make it a true outdoor living room, in essence, giving our home more usable square-footage, and fully utilizing the pool area. So of course I jumped at the chance to refresh our space!

The patio set and cushions held up well over the Winter, so I simply added a black-and-white lumbar pillow to tie in with the new striped umbrella.

The {DIY} Starburst Mirror is from several years ago, and we hung an old birdcage filled with battery-operated candles for additional lighting and decor.

I think my {DIY} Otomi Table just looks better with wear!

The bar cart takes up very little space, but adds so much storage and entertaining possibilities...not to mention ups the glam-factor!

Some of the problems we addressed with this new space include:

• No shade to hide from the sun and heat
• Seating arrangement blocked view of the pool
• Rug too small to protect all the loungers from the hot tiles
• Not enough serving area for entertaining
• No lighting

Hop over to the Home Depot blog to see the breakdown of solutions, sources for our new accessories like the umbrella, along with tons more pictures! I'll be back in the coming weeks with tutorials for the bar cart, tassel pillow and side table. So who's coming over to enjoy the new space with us?!