Ask anyone: being confined within the walls of your home or apartment for a long time can feel suffocating. However, when you still feel trapped upon stepping out to your front porch, that can be an especially painful realization.
But here’s some good news for you: it’s possible to reverse this feeling and transform your outdoor living space into an aesthetic and comfortably cosy retreat that you actually love.
It’ll take some effort and hard work on your part, but giving your outdoor living space an overhaul can transform the way you look at your home in a truly remarkable way.
Without further ado, here are five easy ways you can revamp your outdoor living space.
1) Introduce Potted Plants
Is the hustle and bustle of daily life stressing you out?
While taking that much-needed tropical holiday is a desire that can’t be beat, it’s not something everyone can get. But there’s an alternative that comes fairly close—and that’s bringing the tropical feeling to your house instead!
Surrounding yourself with greenery is a great way to pick you up whenever you feel down. In fact, studies show that being around plants for as little as five minutes can be enough to improve how you currently feel.
If your current outdoor living space is devoid of lush plant life, start browsing for some ideal plants online or in your local gardening retailer. Some great beginner plants are the snake plant, peace lily, and dracaena, but you’re free to mix and match your own selection of plants to your heart’s content.
You can also consider flowers if that’s more to your liking—hibiscus, euonymus, and daisies are a few excellent choices.
That said, be sure to pick plants that are suitable for your climate. Wilting plants is always a looming possibility, so be committed to caring for them and bringing them inside in case the weather looks bad.
2) Play With A Theme
Are you someone who loves luxe patio designs? Do you have an affinity for the muted, earthy tones of nature? Or perhaps you admire classic European architecture?
Whatever design suits your fancy, go ahead and use these decorative elements on your patio. Having a few furniture pieces that work harmoniously together is an excellent way to express your distinct individual style. And at the very least, it’s much better than having a haphazard placement of jarring furniture pieces.
If you don’t have a theme in mind, you can start by coordinating your furniture using a colour palette. Earthy colours like browns, greens, and blues often work together nicely. You can also mix patterns from different themes to allow your creativity to truly shine, granted that they look good together, of course!
3) Get The Essentials Sorted Out
We’ve all been there—when revamping a section in your home, it can be easy to get carried away and click “Buy” on more things than you actually need.
While it’s tempting to go all-out with your layout plans, it’s important to stay grounded. Having too many items can make your place look cluttered. You could even end up scrapping some items altogether, leaving them collecting dust on the shelves.
Conversely, you don’t want to have a shortage of furniture either. A barren patio is uninviting and, frankly, underutilised. You’ll want to strike a balance.
To do so, it’s a good idea to prepare a list of the furniture essentials first. This checklist will depend on the size and shape of your outdoor living space, but you’ll want to ensure at the minimum that there’s a seating area, a table, and some cushions.
If there’s space, building and decorating a working fire pit would be the perfect cherry on top. It could turn your outdoor lawn into a viable place where the household and your friends can hang out.
4) Harness The Power of Light
The look of your outdoor space during the day is important, sure, but the nighttime ambience matter much more than you think!
If you have a patio all ready to go, consider hanging up some string lights to set the tone. You can hang these lights in a variety of ways; for instance, you can hang them around your trellis structure and make the pathway leading to your patio look like something like an enchanting fairy tale. Alternatively, you can hang it on a horizontal rod to light up a space from end to end.
Besides traditional string lights, you have a tonne of outdoor lighting options to consider. Fixed lanterns are a great addition to give your patio a sense of identity in your home. You can also consider hanging paper lanterns on an open-roof design, similar to the modern patios from Trueline.
5) Make Your Place Cosy
We love retreating into our bedrooms after a long, gruelling day. But don’t think for a minute that your patio can’t provide that same inviting atmosphere!
When furnishing your patio, it’s important to consider comfortability. If the reason you rarely ever lounge on your patio is the lack of cushioning and the like, invest in those items! If you can’t find yourself doing pastimes like reading a book or sipping on your morning coffee out on the patio because you lack a side table, get one.
Revamping the outdoor space isn’t only about aesthetics. It’s also about making it a comfortable environment for yourself and your visitors to enjoy. Besides the aforementioned necessities, you’d benefit greatly from having some throw pillows, leg rests, and a portable fan for hot summer days.
