Small Apartment Patio Reveal
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It’s patio szn!! Well in LA it’s pretty much always patio season ;) When we moved from Texas to California, I knew our new apartment included a decent sized patio, but I didn’t prioritize buying patio furniture for several reasons…
1) We signed our lease sight unseen, so I didn’t really know how glorious our patio was
2) We had just spent a lot of money on moving
3) I wasn’t used to year-round patio weather
Jute Runner Rug (Thrifted - similar here, here, and here)| Tiger Pillow | Gold Shelf (Thrifted - similar here)
About 8 months after moving the weather started warming up, as did I to the thought of purchasing patio decor. In reference to #2 above, I briefly looked at patio furniture shortly after moving; however, everywhere I looked the options were so expensive and more than I wanted to pay. Finally, right before Memorial Day, Nick and I sat down to hash out our new digs. Lucky for us, there were great Memorial Day sales occurring, so we were able to get what we wanted AND save some cash.
The first thing I did when beginning to choose furniture was consider the seating. Those are the base of everything else, so we needed to pick them first. I knew I wanted kind of a clean and modern look, yet boho beachy feel; so, I rounded up options that fit what I was looking for in both style and price Next I presented them to Nick and we decided on them together. I mostly considered Walmart, Target, and World Market, as those fit our budget best. Honestly, they all had great options, but we ended going with World Market because of this great 3 piece chair/bench set. Do not write Wold Market out!! They have such cute stuff that you typically find more expensive elsewhere.
Everlane T-shirt (c/o) | Agolde Jean Shorts
After deciding on our chairs, I went on to pick our pillows and such, in addition to making a cute little mood board with everything. Nick went on to do the more practical step and arguably the most important part…measuring! He measured our entire space and entered the dimensions into an app called Magic Plan. Once we picked out other items like these nesting tables, Nick placed them and made sure we had enough space. I cannot mention this enough, as even though we were prepared, our spacing was a little cramped. It’s perfect!! Buuut there is less room to wiggle than we initially thought.
RANDOM TIPS FOR DECORATING YOUR PATIO
Other thoughts besides measuring and somewhat knowing the vibe you’re looking for.
Make sure the furniture is meant for outdoors. Specifically any fabric! This fabric is heavier and heartier to withstand wind and weather. All of the cushions that came with our patio chairs are made for outdoors, so that was easy. I made sure to buy outdoor specific pillows too! When it rains I would still cover or bring in the items; however, “outdoor” made furniture is still best to get for this purpose.
Check your dumpsters. The original rug I wanted sold out, so I found a similar one on Etsy…except it never arrived and was the only one. I was so sad. Lucky for us, Nick actually found an amazing jute runner that someone left for the garbage man. This saved us money and tied the whole look together! People throw away furniture all the time. Don’t be afraid to grab it, fix it up, or even paint it!
Shop at unsuspecting places. I honestly never considered World Market, but am so glad did. They have good prices in general, but have great sales. Don’t forget about discount stores either. We considered Costco, but all of their sets were too big. I will say our fiddle fig tree is from there though and it was only $40!! While that tree is great, our herbs and plants from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods don’t hold a candle to our plants from the actual plant store. Know where to get the most bang for your buck and buy there!
Side note - I made the above on Canva when we where shopping, but another great tool is honestly PowerPoint!
Do you have any thoughts for patios or tips for making the space? The only other thing we may do is put up some ivy on the lattice section. This would create even more of an oasis and give us added privacy. If you don’t have a ton of space or a budget for furniture, adding a couple strands of lights really add some sparkle! We used 3 strands of lights here, but could have honestly used 4. They make it so magical in the evening! We even bought an automatic controller, where they turn on after the sun sets. Cheers to longer days and even longer nights spent on our patio! XOXO
Side note, we have some other projects coming up and are planning on using Rochester Concrete Contractor. Any guesses on what it is?
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