Most of us apartment dwellers have pretty limited outdoor space so it's important to make the most of it. Whether you've got a porch, a balcony or a small patio or deck now is the time to spend a little bit of energy sprucing it up. It will extend your living space, invite you outdoors and maybe even inspire you to invite some people over for cocktails and a board game. Here are 5 cheap ways to get your patio spruced up (maybe even this weekend):
Declutter/Sweep/Dust: Maybe it's cheating to put these three as one thing, but go out there and pull out all those dead plants, the contianers you're never going to use and the box of stuff to donate that's been sitting there for months. Get it out and then give your deck/patio/porch a good sweeping and dusting.
Add a Tablecloth: If the table you're using is less than awesome, throw a great tablecloth over it (we bought the Orla Kiely Pear tablecloth at Target just for things like this). A graphic printed piece of fabric will do nicely as well. If you don't have a table but the seating you have is dirty/faded/less than awesome, throw the tablecloth/fabric over that and voila! A cleaned up stylish looking space.
Image from grey goosie.
Add some Plants: You can do it the no cost way or you can start now with some seeds and watch them grow. If you have plenty of plants, give them a trim. For containers now is the time to fertilize and weed.
Add Some Lighting: Keep it simple by using a regular drinking glass and a tea light on a table, or line some up on a banister (not where they'll fall of and start a fire though). If your patio is covered and has access to electricity, chinese lanterns provide great ambiance and are pretty cheap. Go the classic route and string up some christmas lights. If the space is inviting, you'll actually use it. If a lantern is what you're after, we really like these simple ones from west elm.
Image from mass destraction.
Choose one thing: To either repair or replace. Maybe your chairs have rotted through and you really need to replace them--search craiglist for vintage furniture. Maybe they're just really faded and you could get away with spraypainting them. (try this eco-friendly spraypaint). And if you're in the market for a new doormat because yours is, um, used up, we love this Kyoto Rubber Doormat from Smith and Hawken. If you choose one thing you won't overwhelm yourself with weekends worth of projects and can start enjoying the outdoors right away!
Have any plans to clean up this weekend?
Image from O! Rachew!
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The folding chairs I have aren't that cute, if they were I'd happily spray paint them.
Any ideas for outdoor spaces that are exceedingly windy? We can't do a whole lot of decorating because of the imminent gusts of wind that destroy it all.
Caitlinella, this is a perfect "good question" to submit!
I guess I would need more details to answer your question-- if it's a balcony in an apartment building, there may be restrictions on putting up something that would guard against the wind... And if it's a part of a house, I'm having trouble thinking of ideas that are not prohibitively expensive.
I have an outdoor area right outside my bedroom but my landlord uses it to store his hoses and outdoor material-- so I never open the curtains on that side of the room or go outside! This post makes me envious of people that actually have usable space.
Caitlinella.
How about a rock garden?! Wrought iron chairs, tables topped with a slab of marble and just one or two large pots with a hardy plant (look to nature for ideas -- grasses thrive in windy coastal areas) may work.
If you want to use a table cloth for special occasions, I have seen instances where people weight them with rocks either on the table itself or sewn into the hem.
When I just moved into our little rented house and was faced with decorating a large-ish patio for a neighborhood party, I topped terracota pots with stone tiles to use as impromptu side tables. That might work well in a windy area too. You can easily deconstruct this set-up and make tidy stacks of the components when not in use.
Wow... you really got me going there! Hope this helps.
Aw darn it, another reason to clean my balcony. But inspiring... I may just do it this time. I want some sort of lighting along the bottom, below the plants. There's a half-wall going up the front where nothing grows (well, except tree trunks), and I want to do something that either lights up down there at night or reflects/refracts light in from the little drainage slot below. Ie. glass baubles set up on small mirrors?
Caitlinella, maybe low, heavy planters with grasses, succulents or small conifers would stay put. If you could give us some details about your climate, sun vs. shade and what you want to use the space for (sitting out or just something pretty to look at from inside?) we might be able to cough up some more ideas.
I just moved into a place that has a good size patio I look forward to using some of these ideas! :D
We have a deck that has these awful rubber flooring. It gets your feet filthy and doesn't absorb water at all. Do you have any suggestions for what we could do with this, on a budget?