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My Great Outdoors: Rebecca's Small City Backyard

2009greatoutdoorsbadge.gifName: Rebecca Orlov
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Type of space: Small city backyard behind our quad-plex.
Tell us about your outdoor project and how you enjoy it: When we moved into our new apartment last winter, we gained some square footage and what I call a "city" backyard (no grass, just cement). We love to entertain and knew that we wanted an outdoor room vibe as a place to hang with friends and BBQ. However, we didn't want to spend more then $100 on the space. We decided to use some decor accents we already had in our home and bring 'em outside.
 
 

How did you create it? We wanted a lot of seating and decided to create two distinct areas - a table area and a more loungy area. We also wanted it to feel like a real room so we got an outdoor rug, placed floor cushions on the ground and hung up a large canvas to complete the look.

Recommended store, site, product or resource? Since we were on a budget, we used Craigslist to find a few things, like the patio table and terra cotta pots. We bought the reversible outdoor rug and string lights at Target and the tables and folding chairs from Ikea. Our fave find - palm plants at Costco for only $10 each.

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Tags

My Great Outdoors 2009, entertaining, Rebecca, bbq, My Great Outdoors, city backyard

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Comments (10)

That wall would be the perfect place to hang a white sheet and watch projected movies!

posted by dmh on June 22nd 2009 at 5:26pm
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Beautiful! It's like a second living room. It seems to be a trend that people are enjoying the outdoors nowadays ... perhaps we are spending more time at home these days?

posted by Kenneth on June 22nd 2009 at 6:23pm
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one thing to remember, what you have may not all be true outdoor stuff so you can't leave it out there in the rain, when it rains and that's why there are things made for even moisture prone areas such as bathrooms that require special attention to prevent electrical shock and such.

Otherwise this is very nice and on such a limited budget.

posted by ciddyguy on June 22nd 2009 at 6:56pm
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I'm with ciddyguy. The rain would be the only problem. This would never work where I live, but perhaps it doesn't rain in LA as often.

posted by baileyb on June 22nd 2009 at 7:31pm
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Since it doesn't rain that much here in sunny Los Angeles, we tend to keep the lamp and canvas outside. When it rained a few weeks ago, we just brought it inside.

dmh, love that idea! Thanks for the suggestion.

posted by RebeccaATLA on June 22nd 2009 at 7:38pm
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Where did you find that print? I have been looking for something just like it.

posted by danielled on June 22nd 2009 at 8:51pm
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danielled - the print is from Ikea. about $200 i think

posted by umma2002 on June 22nd 2009 at 9:39pm
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Yeah for roses! In a world mad for succulants, it's nice to see the grand dame of petals in full glory!

posted by Seaside on June 22nd 2009 at 9:53pm
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have to say, that's pretty sweet. whereabouts in LA is that? i moved here from Chicago last fall and my lease is up soon. currently live on the westside in SM, but am thinking of looking elsewhere.

Cheers,
M

posted by Matt. M on June 23rd 2009 at 12:36am
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Careful Rebecca. "It never rains in California, but girl, don't they warn ya? It pours, man, it pour."

posted by here2help on June 23rd 2009 at 4:25am
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