Sources: Accent table / Chairs / Outdoor rug / String lights
First posted on July 15, 2020. Updated on September 23, 2020.
My husband and I have lived in our current apartment for almost two years. It’s our second home together and the first one with an outdoor patio. I like the idea of having an outdoor space, but truth is we hardly ever spend time out there. The main thing we’re getting out of is the valuable storage space of having a shed that came with the apartment. That is pretty helpful!
There are two reasons we don’t spend much time on the patio. One: We never bought proper patio chairs. For a little while we would use our old camping chairs, but they were just not comfortable. Two: It doesn’t seem all that safe for a baby. A previous tenant added stone pavers. I’m not sure if that’s the right term but they are square stones. I was just a bit wary of my one-year-old accidentally tripping on uneven stone. I have been taking her out there more often though. It could also be a nice place for us parents to sit and relax.
Some inspiration photos…
Last summer, we went ahead and got an accent table from World Market. It’s very similar to the one I linked to up top, just a different color scheme. I like it, but I kind of wish we would have got a 3-piece set. Or at least bought chairs soon after. Once we had the table, it was hard to decide on chairs we liked that also would go well with the table. I even bought chair pads last summer, but no chairs.
We just bought the chairs listed above a few weeks ago online. I hope the chairs goes well with the table we already have. I remembered that we also already had an outdoor rug we weren’t using that was just in a closet, so I put that out. It’s a little smaller than I would like. It works for now. I guess our patio is finally coming together, two years in the making.
I would also like to have a few plants and maybe other decorations outside. I just hope I can take care of the plants. We bought two soon after moving and they died within a month or so. But in my defense, that was the heat of summer – August in Southern California! I’m looking to this blog post from In Honor of Design for patio plant advice.
For the kiddo: Sand Chair / Pool / Watering Can
I have had Maggie out on our patio a lot more often lately, supervised of course. I wasn’t that comfortable with having her on the patio when she was crawling and barely learning to walk. But now she is pretty steady on her feet. She needs the outdoor time and with parks not being the best option lately, I want to give her outdoor play options at home. I’m feeling inspired by this post on The Everymom. Side note: Kids water tables seem to be selling out like crazy.
One of my besties gifted her the pool shown above. Maggie tried it out for the first time last week and it was pretty fun. One of her favorite things to do outside lately is help me put weeds in a bucket. She loves being helpful, so I think a watering can would also be nice for her. Lastly, I got a sand chair from Target that is good for her to use, as it is so low to the ground.
Update: We had a play mat on the patio so that if Maggie fell on the stove pavers, she wouldn’t get hurt much. Several months later we had crickets living under them. So, we took care of that problem and don’t have the mat out any more. I’m not sure if the crickets problem was related to the mat, the pool, or the wood chips, but probably a combo of all three. Therefore, I don’t recommend having a play mat or inflatable pool around if you also have wooden chips that you can’t get rid of.
I recently found a new home decor influencer to follow and I love her boho aesthetic. She doesn’t have lot of patio or balcony pictures but her interior posts look great. Follow @jnaydaily on YouTube and Instagram.
I would love to hear from you guys if you have any advice on outdoor styling or gardening, especially in a small space.
Modern Notebook 