reveal: our patio refresh

Hello and welcome to the blog!

I have been wanting to start a blog for ages (something like seven years), so today we are here to do the dang thing. We are here to JUST START ALREADY. Plus, I have all this content coming up featuring the new house that I desperately need an outlet for!!

This is more of a refresh than a makeover, but for most people, refreshing is so much more approachable. By “refresh”, I mean changing your furnishings and styling, but not necessarily changing major structural features or hard finishes (i.e. flooring). You might want to lean towards this if you’re in a temporary space like a rental, not ready to commit to a style, or want to keep the budget small. It was perfect for our small patio to keep costs down.

Our Patio (That Let Itself Go)

We moved this summer, so technically this is our “old patio”. It was on the 4th story of our home and looked out over downtown Houston. The wonderful, magical views were a major part of my husband’s love for this specific house. At one point, it looked like this:

Unfortunately, the patio had gone unused for months because of repair work on the stucco, exterior paint, railings, and patio membrane. In other words, it looked NOTHING like the above photo, and there sure as shoot was not snow. It did not help that all we had was a set of hand-me-down metal chairs that were rusting and waiting to give someone tetanus, and a very basic glass-top table held together partially by duct tape and that always looked dirty. Our little Ikea bistro set held up OK, but it had been relocated downstairs.Also, there were some old broken patio tiles thrown in a corner and some dead plants. It was very, very lovely. It looked approximately like this (depressing, made cheerier by the cute pets and baby):

Broken furniture not pictured.

Then, when the world shut down in March, we obviously started spending more time at home, and the six weeks of reasonable temperatures in Houston were quickly approaching (not to be seen again until late November). I embarked on this refresh as an anniversary gift to my husband and set to work to complete it by mid-April.

The Inspiration

In the spring I saw a BHG for Walmart ad that inspired my design. WALMART, Y’ALL - it’s OK to start somewhere. I wanted to modernize things with a palette of black, white, and warm woods, with bold stripes and graphics throughout, and we’d just painted the exterior of the house baby blue. Target came out with a KILLER patio line for 2020, perfect for mixing and matching. My goal was a slightly boho, informal, but modern and clean vibe. I briefly toyed with the idea of white or espresso wicker, but it didn’t feel special enough. My mood board started here:

patio mood board: modern, inviting, fun, furniture that won’t scald you

The first thing we purchased was this egg chair (Ventura egg chair by BHG, Walmart) and that thing is AWESOME. It just gave the space such immediate height and character. It’s literally my husband’s favorite chair, is wide enough to snuggle two, deep enough for napping and it even lived in our bedroom for a brief spell. Egg chairs were HUGE this summer, and I am here for it.

Below, you can see that the Target Opalhouse chair (at right) is slightly higher end. There is less exposed powder-coated metal, the legs are wrapped in the wicker, it’s only two wicker pieces instead of three, and the pillows might end up holding up better. However, at $300 vs $500, the Ventura was a steal I don’t regret. It was a bit finicky to assemble because it had been dropped at the warehouse, but it was the last one in town at the time and we made it work.

Ventura egg chair by BHG (Walmart, $300) vs. Southport egg chair by Opalhouse (Target, $500)

For seating, we wanted both 1) a loveseat to snuggle on and 2) enough total space for 5-6 butts. Something without pillows will arguably age better, but is decidedly less comfortable and pillows can be replaced or brought in. I decided on the Kaufmann loveseat to contrast the roundness of the egg chair, and the Mulberry chairs which were cozy enough to lean back in and tied into the boho/woven look. We went with a rectangular coffee table to maximize the amount of tabletop we could fit in our small conversation area that would also double as an outdoor dining area - nothing too complex, but enough to grill and have your drinks upstairs.

Next up was the “floor”: an outdoor rug to put over our patio tiles (red terracotta look and they get wicked hot in the sun). Again I went with BHG for a bold black and white stripe. To make ourselves a “ceiling”, I pulled in a matching umbrella and we strung up some old globe patio lights on a (somewhat unsightly) metal pole…but it was just so magical at nighttime.

For furniture placement, I wanted the loveseat to face downtown for the most romantic view, and I thought the egg chair was best as a sort of space-divider between our patio and the neighbor’s. That left the other two chairs to face it: no one’s back was to the fence, none of the furniture obstructed the view, and all parties could see each other. The grill was behind the loveseat with just enough space to cook comfortably. Our giant A/C unit is off in the corner, being loud and also very important, but limiting our usable space.

Kai was delighted with the new seating arrangements.

Now for the disclaimer (please love me): around the time I was designing this, it turned out my favorite designer Emily Henderson had basically ALREADY DESIGNED IT. This post came out eight days after I ordered my Target pieces - I kid you not. And actually, I wouldn’t have done it any other way, because some of those pieces immediately sold out, and then I would have had no options but still a Target/Walmart/Wayfair budget. So even though my mix feels a little copy cat now, I don’t regret going for the collections I used here. Plus, all the lines they released this year were so complementary (very similar shades of light-medium brown) that I couldn’t have gone wrong. Here are my favorite shots from the Target shoot this year (credit: Style by Emily Henderson):

So much color and yet not chaotic.

I styled and accessorized with some tasseled throw pillows for that pop of black, and I grounded the black more with a pillow I’ve had for ages. Because the loveseat arms are open, the square pillows actually helped fill the gap (hear that honey? IT’S FUNCTIONAL) and give you a backrest in that direction. I wanted to buy more throw pillows and an outdoor blanket, but realistically we were already hauling in pillows into the hallway to protect them from frequent rain, and it rarely gets chilly upstairs. I resisted.

For greenery, I selected matte white ceramic planters from Home Depot with clean lines and simple silhouette. I filled them with Blue Plumbago, Mexican Heather (purple), and white phlox from our favorite garden store, Buchanan’s Native Plants. They’re all somewhat difficult to kill, which is good because once it gets hot I tend to “forget” to go up there and water. We planted some passionflower vine and marigolds in the wooden planter box (old). Meanwhile, the plumeria tree in the corner has been growing for like 3-4 years now, has such sculptural leaves and seems to do better the more we neglect it. (I PROMISE I am a better mom than plant mom.)

And that was it - a quick refresh! Yes, brand new patio furniture is surprisingly expensive (you want how much for something I am leaving outside all day?!), but with some Target skills and Walmart savings, this came out VERY affordable compared to when I’d priced it out in former years.

Before we shot this for showing, I picked up that cute hyacinth tray for like $8 at Home Goods - such a steal - and filled it with a bunch of white candles. I guess we had this random lantern lying around, and a spare planter (one should always have spare planters). I wasn’t home for the shoot and would have liked to style it more, but it turned out fine. It was our feature photo for our listing, and I suspect it really helped grab some attention. We were under contract in under 48 hours!

how do i photoshop out my dead plants? send help

And now for #regrets: the rug did NOT hold up well at all over 4 short months, and the white is basically flaking off. I bought the umbrella to use with an existing stand, but the crosswind was so strong up there that we had to continually secure the umbrella in place so it didn’t blow over. A heavier base and/or an offset umbrella (where the base and canopy are not aligned) would have worked better in that space, but now that we’re at ground level again, it’s less of an issue because there’s less wind.

We’ll miss that patio, but all the furniture and the newer planters moved with us. We’re so excited to make it perfect for our new space!

bisous,

Nicole

sources: BHG Ventura egg chair / BHG Ibiza stripe rug / BHG umbrella and stand / Kaufmann loveseat and coffee table / Mulberry 3-piece conversation set / black & white tassel throw pillows / black and white lumbar pillow (old) - similar / white ceramic planters / patio globe lights (old) - similar / woven tray - similar / white ceramic candle / exterior paint / my favorite Houston garden store