Home Sweet Home--Part II: Outdoor Spaces
Welcome back to this little series all about how to make a rental space cozy. It's so hard to make a space your own when you can't change the paint colors, the trim, or the fixtures. So this series is all about making your space your own cosmetically and using items in a new way to add your style to a rental space. If you missed the first part of this series, find it here:
This second part in the series is about Outdoor Spaces, and how to make them as cozy as possible. I used a few tips to help make our outdoor living space comfortable and relaxing.
First of all, here is a before picture of our patio when we first moved in. Pretty basic.
We have lots of space on this back here, and we absolutely love having a place to sit outside!
Ok. So here are my tips...
Tip #1 Ferns
We have these two little alcoves on our back patio because of our fireplace inside. These spaces are too small to fit chairs into, and one of them houses our grill. Ferns are a great way to fill a space and get a BIG bang for your buck! I'm talking $10 for this huge plant! This fern is brand new, but by the end of the summer, it will probably double in size, filling up that whole space in front of the window!
-Hang ferns instead of flowers! Way cheaper
-Place a fern inside of an old washtub for a quaint farmhouse look
-Use ferns inside of large planters to flank a front door, garage door, or window!
-You could always bring the fern inside for the winter so it would last you for years, but they are super messy inside.
Tip #2 Focal Point
Since we aren't really in the position to invest in nice, permanent patio furniture, we kind of have a hodge podge of pieces. But it works, and this is why: I have a focal point! On our back patio, I chose our barn quilt as the focal point. The barn quilt's colors are Black, White, Green, Red, and Yellow. I tried my hardest to have pops of those colors so the eye is drawn to the colors, and not the fact that the furniture is kind of random.
-Paint furniture pieces so they work with the color scheme--I painted everything I could black so that it all coordinated with the frame of the barn quilt. (pots, plant stands, side tables...all black!)
-Choose flowers that go with your color scheme, but you can always branch out a little...they're flowers!
Tip #3 Groupings
In all my years of watching HGTV I've learned that groupings of odd numbers is more pleasing to the eye. So keep that in mind as you're decorating your outdoor space.
-If that hodge podge look is still bothering you, try to group very similar items together. For instance, we have a black bistro with two chairs and a table, so that went in one corner. We have two separate chairs that match together, so I placed those in the center with a black end table between them. And finally, I just got a lounge chair that has a gray frame, so that went on the opposite corner with a black side table and a black flower pot. Each grouping has three main items. Each grouping has an element of black. Each grouping has as much matching furniture as possible.
-The odd number rule applies to accessories as well! Think about placing items on a table in odd numbers. (1, 3, or 5)
-Use this rule with flowers in a container. I usually try to do 1 main flower, 3 fillers, and 1 creeping plant--so five total! With small pots, I usually try to squeeze 3-5 flowers in each.
Tip #4 Container Gardens
If you live on a rented property, you probably can't put in a garden or your own flower beds. Containers are the perfect way to satisfy that garden craving!
-Create a container herb garden in an old galvanized wash tub--I have it located right out my back door so I can quickly grab some herbs as I cook! It's the best!!
-Think outside the box (haha...) for things to use for containers! Shop your local antique stores or vintage shows for items that can be used for planting--a lot times these items are much more budget friendly. I have a couple of galvanized buckets, but you could also use a wash tub, a wheel barrow, stock tanks, an old tool box, chicken feeders, the possibilities are endless!
This is a super easy tip that's very effective! To add more interest to your front door, layer a welcome mat on top of a patterned rug! It creates the illusion of a bigger rug, it adds interest, and it's pretty adorable!
I hope you find these little tips helpful! I think it is so valuable and important to make our homes a place where we can escape and relax. Rental or not, take the time to look at a space and ask yourself how you can improve. It's vital for our busy selves to be able to relax when we come home!
Please let me know if you have any questions, and of course if you try any of these tips! Comment here, on Instagram, or Facebook! I'd absolutely LOVE to hear from you! Send me pictures of things you try, or use my hashtag (#graceandpeaceblog) so I can find them! Also, let me know if you'd like the link to something you see! I'd be happy to grab it for you!
grace & peace
Mairin
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