Our backyard patio has been needing some love since day 1. We were fortunate enough to get a house that has a large backyard with a covered (and fenced) patio. I was really excited about all of the possibilities of what I could make out of our outdoor space. Having never had one before I was pretty shocked at how pricey outdoor items could be! Unfortunately that meant that our patio would remain pretty bare for the foreseeable future.
Here's what our patio looked like when we moved in:
Nothing like a blank slate huh? It took me some time with scouting out some good deals and collecting items for finishing touches (which I haven't quite finished yet) but I finally made a pretty substantial dent in the patio project.
Here's what it looks like now:
Fun, right? I think so :) It's still not 100% done- but the rest I'll get too later (like changing out the ugly light fixture and fixing the misters- yes, we have misters!)
I'll start with the table and chairs that I got. This glass top table and matching folding chairs were actually something that I bought last year after the summer was over and everything was one sale. I spotted this same table at Target the other day for $80!!!! You KNOW I didn't spend that much! I got it for $25 and spent $9 each for the chairs. For a while it was actually acting as our dining room table (before we got one).
The extra two chairs are serving as additional seating at the moment next to the newly acquired BBQ (more on that later in this post). I didn't want to squeeze all four chairs around the table because it would start to look squished. Plus the only way that I could do that is if I put the table in the middle of the patio which dwarfed the rest of the space. This way it remains open but we have the additional seating if we need it. I also got the seat pads at Target on the cheap and it adds lots of fun color to the space. That pot is empty now (it's part of the "not 100% done") but I'm looking for something that's inexpensive and easy to take care of. It's difficult finding a plant that works well in the heat here, is inexpensive, colorful, and hard to kill (I'm bad with plants).
Now these chairs are my favorite for two reasons. Reason #1: the style. I love love love the style of these chairs. Our whole patio would be this type of furniture if we could afford it. Reason #2: they were F-R-E-E. My parents had bought these chairs for their upstairs deck at their beach house. The only problem with that is that when they sat down, all the saw was the railing- not the beautiful water. So they bought some taller chairs and brought these beauties over to our house! Score!
Next up, we have our hanging ornaments. I like windchimes and all that but I really like neat ornaments that look nifty when the wind blows thru them. This piece does just that. I scored it at a store in Long Beach- and I know you can't tell from the picture but it looks rock'n when the wind blows thru it.
The next one that I have is something that I also acquired from my parents. I can't explain why I love it. I just do. So when my parents said they had no use for it anymore I jumped on it. Problem was, that was years ago and I had nowhere to put it either. Enter new patio......
Let me explain why I love it. It reminds me of when I was a kid. My parents had this hanging in their room and I loved running my fingers through it (it's super soft). I would also stand underneath it and pretend that the long colorful strands were my long hair- I'm nerdy... don't judge me :)
And here's the pièce de résistance- Thomas' new BBQ. We've been wanting a BBQ forever! We wanted one in our Rancho apartment but thanks to a California law saying that you could only have electric grills (what's the point of even having a bbq then?) within 20 feet of a building we couldn't get one. Now here's why we didn't get one last summer: they are expensive (and our money needed to be spent on more essential items at the time- like furniture and food), they are only available during certain seasons (the good ones anyway) and up until now Thomas was doing his research on what type he wanted (it's his toy after all).
This compact- and totally awesome- BBQ suits our needs just fine. It's easy to clean, heats up real quick, cooks evenly, and is super purdy. There's a lot more reasons why we settled on this one (which I won't bore you with now) but we are so excited to finally have one! We've been smelling our neighbors awesome bbq goodies for months!!!
Here's how excited we were to finally have the ability to grill. It was 45 degrees last night and at one point was hailing! Thomas was still out there playing with his new toy so that we could have street tacos for dinner :)
Yay! Patio = awesome :)
