Sunday afternoon my husband and I spend a few hours cleaning off our patio: sweeping away the debris, deciding on which plants were a lost cause and planting new ones. It feels so good to get everything freshened up on the patio as we slowly head into fall. Even though the Calendar says, it's mid-September, in Sacramento we’ve had plenty of days of 90+ degree weather. Frankly, friends, it's been hot, and I’m over it. Thankfully, the weather seems to be finally cooling off, and there are lots of 80 degree days ahead! Which means lots of outdoor time, including easy dinners dining al fresco. I’ve recently made updates to our patio that I’m excited to share, plus what I’m tackling this fall.
I’m a huge fan container gardening; I’m all about the more plants on a patio, the better! I recently moved the large lime tree that was on my front porch to my patio. Two things happened.
ONE. The tree seemed to not like being in more direct heat and sun since it no longer had the covering of the front porch and
TWO: The tree didn’t get watered enough during the triple digit days. Sadly it dropped leaves, I trimmed a lot of the branches back, and even though it's not full as it once was, I think it will make a come back over the new few weeks.
The scale of the lime tree looks perfect next to the sofa; I love the combination. Above the sofa, I hung an outdoor mirror I picked up over the weekend at Target. I’m obsessed. The mirror looks incredible paired with the sofa. I love how my patio has slowly been evolving over the past couple of years. When the season changes the mirror along with the cushions will be stored in the garage.
I also added two new pillows to the sofa, giving the sofa a nice full look. The mud-cloth inspired pillows look incredible with the existing pillows. White cushions can be so hard to clean clean, and having the outside can seem impossible. To keep the cushions on our outdoor sofa and chairs clean, we use outdoor furniture covers when not in use. I love these from Amazon; they're affordable and oversized. During the rainy season, I store the cushions in a large cushion storage bag.
On my coffee table, I added a large wood base terrarium filled with succulents. I found the terrarium at Home Goods, and found a twin version here. Look a little closer; they’re all faux plants! To make the terrarium appear real, I lined the bottom of the glass container with dirt and added small rocks on top filling the inside with a variety of faux succulents. The great thing about using faux plants is longevity and not having to remember to water. Plus faux plants have come such a long way in the past few years, gone are the days of bad looking cheap plastic plants. Under the coffee table, I have a basket filled with throw blankets, I love keep on hand outside for chilly nights.
This fall, we plan on tackling two small projects that will enhance the overall look of our patio.
Above our DIY Bar Cart, we plan on adding a large chalk board. Chalk boards are so much fun and even better when they’re outdoors! We also want to add lighting and hang baskets from our pergola to create two light sources, one above the lounge area of the patio and the other above our dining room table.
Just like that, its already the weekend! My weekend plans include planting some plants in the empty containers and getting lots of lounging on the sofa.
