With the warmer weather we all love spending time in our outdoor living spaces, whether it’s a backyard patio, a deck, or garden. There’s so many ways you can create a beautiful outdoor living space that is meant for entertaining, eating, and having fun. But figuring out how you want the space to look and function can be a challenge! In this blog post, you will find tons of inspiration pictures for pergolas, outdoor kitchens, patios, raised decks, garden landscaping, and even spaces kids can enjoy!
1- Choosing the right deck material
Budget is usually the biggest consideration when choosing the material for a new deck. But also consider your climate and how long you’ll be in that home. Composite decking looks a lot better overtime and will require less maintenance. A wood deck is a great option, but it will require re-staining every few years. Overtime wood tends to rot and break down. A deck might need to be replaced after 25 years in winter climates.
2- Add curtain rods to a walk out basement for privacy
Instead of spending more money to build a pergola, this house has a walk out basement. You can simply hang a curtain rod and soft curtains to add privacy on a budget.
3- Add a Fire pit for Modern Luxury
A built-in fire pit helps to transition an outdoor entertaining space into the evening. It’s a perfect outdoor living space to roast marshmallows and enjoy company. Concrete fire pits can also be hooked up to your gas source so you don’t need an external propane tank.
4- French Bistro Table and Chairs
Don’t overlook interesting outdoor furniture for your outdoor dining. This outdoor space has a European charm with these French bistro chairs. It’s paired with this neutral, modern table, which makes the space look current.
5- Painted concrete patio
There are so many backyard patio ideas that can be done on a budget. Spruce up a plain concrete patio with paint! Can you believe that this marble tile is actually painted concrete? Check out the full tutorial by Pennies for a Fortune
6- Outdoor Kitchen meant for entertaining
In an expansive outdoor deck, creating an outdoor kitchen is the ultimate luxury. It eliminates the need to go back into the house to grab food items. This makes entertaining so much more enjoyable for the host who can mingle and talk to guests as they prep food.
Plus, this long outdoor island mimics the look of a high end indoor kitchen. It provides the perfect spot to hang out, set up food and have conversation.
7- Evening Lighting to set the Ambiance
Adding outdoor lighting extends the use of your outdoor space into the beautiful warm summer evenings. When adding lighting, make sure to think of different levels of light, both in terms of height and brightness.
In this evening set up, there is lighting at the ground level, at eye level on the fence and table, and draped around the pergola sides and top.
8- Floral Bloomed Archway
Adding a whimsical touch to your garden with this arch. This is a simple and budget friendly way to make the entrance to your garden look magical. Make sure you use climbing flowers and vines planted around the roots to encourage climbing, but also go in weekly and help wind the stems around the arch. Some good options for climbing flowers are roses, Bougainvillea, clematis and honeysuckle.
9- Tuscan Inspired Pizza Kitchen
If you’re fond of fresh fire baked pizza, add a pizza kitchen in your outdoor kitchen! This is such a unique, crowd pleasing meal. You can have this in addition to a BBQ, or ditch the BBQ if you’re not a big meat eater. To transport you to Italy, this backyard has cobblestone, and white cement to complete the European architecture.
10- Modern Black Railings on a Wood Deck
If you’re going to build a deck this summer or refreshing your old one, opt for black rod railings instead of wood pickets. This gives a much modern and updated look to your deck.
11- Outdoor Rugs Mimic the Coziness of Indoor Spaces
Every outdoor deck or patio should have an outdoor rug. Outdoor rugs are made of a different, water resistant material than an indoor rug. The designs have come a long way in outdoor rugs. There are so many styles from vintage, persian rugs to modern geometric patterns.
Outdoor rugs are inexpensive and easy to change after a few years if you are drawn to a different decor style. You can use the rug as a starting point for throw pillows and other deck decor.
12- Movie Night Projector Screen
Set up a kids birthday or neighbourhood movie night with an outdoor projector. These screens are easily set up, and can be disassembled so they are not a permanent structure in your backyard. I would love to throw a neighbourhood party here with a vintage popcorn machine and tell everyone to bring their own blankets!
13- String Lights to set the Ambiance
String lights create a cozy ambiance around a seating area. String lights can be zip tied to a pergola structure. If you don’t have one, you can also attach lights to your fence, or privacy screen. Another idea is to create concrete planters with a pole. Then hook the string lights to the pole like Pennies for a Fortune did!
Layer Texture Through Planters, Throw Pillows and Rugs
The earthy palette of this outdoor space creates a warm and inviting ambiance. Plus, there is so much texture through the hanging planters, throw pillows, rug and ottoman.
15- Lights Around your Pergola
Hang lights around your pergola using zip ties. This is an easy way to add coziness, especially on warm summer nights. When considering whether you should use solar powered lights or plug in LED lights, take into account how much direct sunlight this area gets, and how bright you want it at night.
Our backyard gets direct sunlight from afternoon to evening, so I opted for solar lights. However, I didn’t find them bright enough for evening outdoor entertaining, so I switched to these plus in LED lights. Bonus, they plug into each other so you can create a long circuit of lights!
16- Cozy Lantern Lighting Lantern
This unique idea by blogger LoveNida is to use baskets as outdoor lighting. By layering different sizes of baskets, she creates a beautiful cozy spot to hang out in the evening.
17- Retractable Screen Projector Movie Nights
A retractable projector is a great way to elevate your outdoor space. This retractable projector screen is attached to the pergola structure. Then, it folds away when not in use. Plus, you can even unmount it for the winter months. Teenagers would love this idea as a spot to hang out, watch movies or play video games with their friends.
18- Monochromatic Throw Pillows
Add layers of coziness with lots of throw pillows. This cozy, boho deck has a patio couch that is low to the ground and lots of neutral textured pillows. Plus the addition of hanging lights and an ottoman adds more warmth to this space.
19- Tropical Oasis With the Perfect Plants
When setting up your outdoor space, don’t rely on the grass to be the only greenery. The best patio design ideas pair decor with nature. The more greenery and plants the better! If you don’t have a green thumb, ferns are a perfect plant that are tough to kill! Add more tropical plants like bird of paradise, and fiddle leaf fig trees if you aren’t fond of bright colored flowers.
20- Fairy Inspired Cozy Seating
Playing around with different elements like climbing flowers, string lights, and cozy seating makes this outdoor patio a relaxing spot to unwind after a long day at work.
21- Wild Flower Garden
Create your own budget wildflower garden that you can create stunning bouquets from all summer. All you need is a few garden beds and an assortment of seeds like zinnia, poppies and black eyed susan. They are low maintenance and fun to grow.
22- White Stained Deck to Brighten up the Backyard
Although brown wood stain is a classic choice white stain has become increasingly popular, a white deck paired with a white pergola really brightens up a backyard. Space.
23- Easy to Install Interlocking Decking
If you’re in a rental, or you don’t have a budget for a deck makeover, adding interlocking flooring is a great budget, friendly and easy DIY that any skill level can tackle. These tiles from IKEA click together and come in many different luxe, such as wood or even pattern tiles. They would also be great on a front porch.
24- Multi-level Decking Gives Depth to this Backyard
Create layers in your backyard with multiple layers of decking. This small backyard looks so much more expansive with all these layers. Plus, this is an easy DIY project!
25- Poolside Oasis
If you have a large backyard, a pool is a must have. A pool is great for entertaining, as well as relaxing and exercise. It requires maintenance, but I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t use their pool ALL summer long.
26- Brick Lined Garden Beds
A beautiful way to create garden beds is to use large bricks. In this large backyard, bricks make these vegetable garden beds. They are more durable than cedar garden beds which start to rot with the moisture and soil after 7 years.
27- A Garden at the Center of the Backyard
This European inspired backyard has a garden at the center of it. It feels like a park with this design, and bench seating. You could even add a fountain for more oomph in this backyard patio.
28- Adding Privacy with a Lattice Grid
Many of us have neighboring houses right next to us, as well as behind us. To add privacy, add a lattice grid which plants can climb on as well. Alternatively, you can hang small planters off the lattice like flowers or even vegetable garden boxes.
29- Cobblestone Garden Walkways
This backyard is right out of a fairy tale! Hydrangea and hostas are easy to grow plants that will grow back annually without much. Consider the cost of plants, ease of maintenance, and how big the plants will grow
30- Stone Outdoor Kitchen
This outdoor stone patio kitchen is so beautiful. They’ve used a concrete slab as the countertop for the kitchen island and the cooking prep area. The extra detail of adding the stones around the Pergola post ties the whole space together.
31 – Retractable Shade Pergola gives you choices!
If your deck is unusable because of the afternoon sun, install a shade pergola. This one is easily retractable with a simple curtain to pull down.
32- Space-saving Pergola Attached to the Home Exterior
If you have a small patio, a 4 post pergola may end up taking up too much room. Instead, you can attach the Pergola to the brick exterior of your home and save the space of two pergola posts.
Enjoy the summer with these backyard and patio ideas
Whether you have a large expansive outdoor space, or a cozy patio, you can make an outdoor patio or backyard perfect for you! My favorites are stone patio ideas that are inspired by indoor living spaces. My patio and deck includes a fire pit and cozy seating.
If you loved the landscaping ideas and patio designs in this article, make sure to pin it! Have a great summer!
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