Creating your Dream Patio

THE DESIGN

The beginning to a great patio is a great design. Take your time with this process and set up the room with furniture and accessories you already have. Then, use the patio area to get a sense of what will work in the room, by exploring various scenarios and how they can work together to make a beautiful and functional design, fit specifically to your needs. By taking your time you will find whether you need more furniture or not. You will also have a better idea on the type and size of the furniture piece that will work best for the design. For instance, a bench that can quickly be turned into a table.

As you begin to get a sense of how you will arrange your patio, you will likely encounter more specialty work necessary not only to make it more comfortable but also to protect your patio from the weather. Things like a sun shade, ceiling fan, and lighting make your patio comfortable, beautiful and versatile. An example could be a semi-enclosed patio with beautiful sun shades to shield the patio from the afternoon sun. They will also help to keep the rain from misting into the patio area.

THE GARDEN

This is also a good time to start planning your patio garden. A nicely spaced walkway sets the scene and the planting areas. You can use pavers or get creative using squares of grass amid a field of stones. This requires maintenance to keep it looking great. Plan for various heights in your plants — you will want specimen plants, background plants, mid-ground, and low plants. Adding shapely areas of ground cover are nice with or without flowers. Let them wind through and around your other plants.

THE FAN

The quiet DC motor ceiling fan with light includes a remote control to control the fan remotely. I also have it plugged into a smart plug. There is an electric plug on the patio but there is no power in the ceiling, so I installed my ceiling/light fan with an extension cord! A cord track keeps it nicely camouflaged.

FLOORING

Textured, stamped concrete catches the dirt and debris in the grooves, making cleaning the floor a nightmare. Our answer was usually to give it a good pressure clean and paint over the last one. I would like to pour a slurry coat of concrete to fill in the texture to a smooth surface right over the top again, but everything I'm reading says to take it down to the bare concrete first.

SCREENING

The screen has been removed on the lower 3′ section all around the screened-in patio frame — Princess Peach (my dog) chases after small creatures (mice, lizards, squirrels), so it will be replaced with Plexi-glass.

VINYL WITH SCREENING SPLINE

Vinyl works well to keep the water out for now, but it begins to look bad quickly. The screening spline works well with the vinyl to keep it in place.

SEMI-ENCLOSED PATIO

A sheet of Plexi-glass, secured with a strong outdoor silicone adhesive along with a water diverter strip along the top and the lower edges of the sheet, helps keep the water from pooling in the silicone adhesive/caulk.

GUTTER

The gutter helps keep the driving rain out of the patio that dumps down from the roof. A 10′ section of gutter successfully channels the water away from the patio door area. The best solution would be to install another gutter along the long side of the house, approximately 60′ — this would solve the problem of the rain dumping on the entrance to the garage as well.

FRENCH DRAIN

A French drain made of PVC pipe to drain the water away from the house will be installed. The excess soil in areas of the garden is contributing to the water build-up.

THE BUILT-IN LOOK

The pressure-treated 2″ x 2″ wood is painted with the beautiful Bellini by Sherwin Williams. This adds an elegant built-in look, while the screen framing remains the structural support.

CONTAINERS

I use a beautiful basket to hold my sewing or whatever project I'm working on at the time. Beautiful objects are also useful — candles come in some of the prettiest jars, so I take advantage when the candle is done and melt the wax. Clean it up and you have a beautiful container to strategically place and hide small items you commonly use.

ACCENTS

Unique accent pieces such as mirrors, shelves, and pictures, or a unique book caddy, can be functional objects on the patio as well as enhance the ambiance. I love to pick up great glass bowls, vases, and other items for amazing prices to adorn my patio. It's fun to hunt for and create your own personalized decor — you might even re-purpose items you no longer use or need. My wood toilet paper holder is now a mirrored wall shelf!

TABLES

Look for small tables because they are so versatile. They can be used for a side table, a charging station, for plants, and of course they are always ready at a moment's notice when company is expected. Decorate the tables with some material such as a vinyl cover that subtly blends in with the room and cleans up easily, while different jeweled tones offer a playful experience. For a completely different vibe, drape an oversized tablecloth down a side table and place a colorful stained glass lamp on top — it's elegant and functional! The beautiful array of brilliant colors gives a sophisticated, vintage feeling, and the tablecloth further completes the design by concealing a basket of cleaning supplies underneath.

I love using a beautiful basket as an instant table base too — put a large rectangular floor tile on top along with a few plants or some pretty glass and, voila, instant table!

PINEAPPLE PLANTS

Right now I have some pineapple plants on it. Pineapple plants give such a beautiful tropical look and feel with the ease of little care. Anyone can do it!

THE OUTDOOR FURNITURE AND UPHOLSTERY/CUSHIONS

Pay attention to the size of the furniture — pictures can be deceiving. If you need a nice wide chair, make sure you know how wide you would like it.

My outdoor furniture cushions are updated with a high density foam, wrapped in batting. The cushion covers are a fun and sunny orange color by Sunbrella — they are bright and cheerful and contrast nicely with the dark rattan furniture.

There are so many choices, and it's not necessary to sacrifice sophistication for price. You can make some things even better with very little extra effort or money — adding legs or hardware, for instance. I like to make ordinary items extraordinary.