A relaxing and beautiful patio space is a "must-have" in my book. I absolutely love the spring, summer, and fall months when you can enjoy the outdoors. I like to eat dinner outside on the patio, sit and chat with friends, enjoy a magazine, etc.

But, the weather can be rough on the furniture and decor... sun beats down on it and it gets brittle and old far quicker than indoor furniture. Indoor furniture can last many years if it's well cared for but patio furniture sometimes only lasts one or two years.

My boyfriend and I gave his patio a makeover without spending a ton of money and by using a lot of things he already had.

This is one of three articles I wrote for Wayfair's Ideas and Advice pages. I shared the DIY Hot Tub Privacy Screen earlier and today I want to share the rest of the patio with the full reveal!

Budget Patio Makeover Reveal

After we built the hot tub privacy wall, we started cleaning up for the rest of the makeover. Here is a before shot. 

We had a list of things we did to improve this space, most of which was cleaning and organizing and the rest was very inexpensive:

• pressure washed the retaining wall
• cleaned up the leaves and weeds
• added bark mulch (only about $4 a bag and we used about 5 bags)
• planted flowers
• pruned the blackberry bushes
• painted that table (the after can be seen in the Wayfair article)

I used a lot of what he already had like those trellis pieces leaning against the wall, the blue metal turtle, and the Buddha statue.
And here they are after painting!We chose to use flagstone pieces that he already had to weigh the umbrella down rather than expensive umbrella weights.


We just added some coconut liners and potting soil to each basket!I made a mushroom from an old copper bird bath bowl turned upside down and attached to an old tree branch.Here are just a few more views of the completed patio.