With summer weather here, many of us are looking forward to spending more time outside. Yet, if your yard looks anything like mine, a little summer makeover might be in order! So, where to begin?
While looking at all the garden magazines for inspiration, we can start to feel a little intimidated. After all, these photos of outdoor rooms are designed to be perfect. And while they are
pretty to look at, for most of us our objective in decorating indoor or
outdoor rooms should not be perfection.
The point in creating beautiful rooms is to actually ENJOY them. If we obsess too much about the details of what to do, or have to spend time or
money beyond our means in order to create a space, we miss out on so much!
We may never get around to LIVING in these spaces — how sad that would
be (I’ve been guilty of that myself)!
We may not have a fancy table, outdoor kitchens, an enormous rock fireplace, or
matching lounge chairs. But, we can enjoy our humble rooms just the
same than the expensive ones! Maybe even more.
Make living the life you want within your reach right now, not something that is always saved for “someday!”
Throw out the rules and have fun creating your outdoor sanctuary!
Budget friendly ideas for outdoor rooms:
- Give an old picnic table a new coat of paint (or let it stay weathered and worn!)
- Go ahead, bring indoor furniture outside to enjoy on a nice day!
Why not? No need to buy expensive outdoor furniture if it is not within
your budget. - Shop at thrift stores or garage sales for items you can re-purpose in your garden or patio. Just about anything you find for cheap can be put outside!
- Go for the unexpected! Hang chandeliers from trees or use old sinks for planters.
- Use thrift store doors, shutters and old gates to help define the borders of an outdoor room.
- Add old metal furniture such as a French bistro chair and old leaded glass windows for personality.
- Make brightly colored pillow covers from shower curtains. You don't even have to sew them, just wrap the cloth around an old pillow and tie!
- Build a fire pit in the dirt for roasting marshmallows and hosting cookouts.
- Bring candles & lanterns outside to create ambience.
- Don’t have a green thumb? Keep your landscaping simple. Use containers for easy to grow plants.
- Involve the whole family in planting a garden! You’ll save on your grocery bill and have fun in the process.
- Use gravel to finish off spaces, instead of expensive stone patio and walkways (the crunch of a gravel walk is so charming!)
Really, we should focus more attention on creating memories with our
family outdoors this summer than we do on designing a space. Design your life first, then your space will fall into place.
Plan a BBQ, have
a family camping night, roast marshmallows, read together outside, have
breakfast on the patio, drag your TV outside and host a movie night for
the neighbors.
If you would like more ideas for your yard and patio, I've been doing a series on Outdoor Rooms for the past couple of months on my blog! Click HERE to be inspired!
Happy Summer!
Melissa Michaels of The Inspired Room is an interior design consultant from Portland, Oregon.
All photos Melissa Michaels
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I've been working on my own outdoor sanctuary. I like the idea of bringing lanterns outside for ambiance. And, thank you for budget-friendly tips!!