The weather right now in Sacramento is beautiful; everything is growing like crazy, trees are filling up with leaves and flowers are blooming. Days like this have me excited to get off work rush home, make a quick dinner and do lots of yard work. If you caught my Instagram Stories this weekend, then you know we have so much yard work to tackle including cleaning up our patio and getting it ready for Spring. Also on our To-Do list is getting a new lawnmower since ours died.

One of the main reasons this time of the year is my favorite season in Sacramento is fully utilizing our outdoor spaces; it's like our home doubles in size which is a great feeling. One of my goals for our outdoor area is to make it feel like an extension of our home; I love the whole vibe of outdoor living. The thought of dining outside every night, weekend brunches, tending to my veggie garden (we're doing it this year! last year was a bust) and enjoying Spring days gives me all the feels. The past couple of years we’ve been slowly transforming our outdoor patios, adding both lounge and dining furniture. See more our patio transformations: How to Update Patio Furniture, Patio Updates and Our Summer Patio

I love for my outdoor space to feel lush and colorful; I add lots of greenery on my patio with plants everywhere. Planters filled with an array green plants enhance the look of outdoor spaces. I'm all for the more, the merrier! The Past two years, I've gotten really into container gardening, even planting two blueberry bushes in containers! I'm happy to report that 85% of the plants I planted in pots are still living and thriving. In fact, several of the plants I thought for sure were goners came back and looked better than last year brand new from the nursery. Here’s how my patio looked early last Summer, filled with plants galore. I love mixing up the height of the planters I use on my paito and I also love filling my BBQ Grill up with plants.

I love using modern planters to layer in color, mixing up the shape, size, and style add a sophisticated modern look in an outdoor setting. The fun thing container gardening is the ability to move plants around, of you, notice one plant needs a shady spot, just move it. I’ve had lots of luck planting various varieties of dwarf lemon citrus in large planters. I have a pink lemonade variegated tree just outside my patio door, and it looks perfect there! Container gardening is also a great solution of small spaces and apartments.

I also think planters work great in garden beds. I add them to my garden beds to help disguise unsightly elements (like our sprinkler valves and faucets). Plus sometimes I have better luck with plants in planters vs. the ground. Here are a few of my favorite looks for using containers in a modern way.

Whether your outdoor space is large or limited, container plants are a must for layering color. Below I’ve rounded up some of my favorite Modern Containers including modern hanging planters for outside, a few of them I already own or planning too!

One can never have enough planters #TrustMe. If you’re in need of planter ideas for inside check out this post Oh So Modern Containers; this is one of my most pinned post ever! In need of more outdoor style ideas and DIY Projects, check out my Outdoor Style posts here.

Modern Containers for Outside, Wall Planters and Hanging Planters.png

GET THE LOOK: ONE Howell Planters TWO Modernist Planters THREE White Rope Planter FOUR Wall Mount Planter - LOVE! FIVE Juno Planters SIX Lineal Planters SEVEN Texture planter - great for coffee tables EIGHT Iris Stand NINE Dundee Planter - several sizes TEN White Weave Planter ELEVEN Iris Planter** TWELVLE Lillie Planter THIRTEEN Riverage Planter AND FOURTEEN Grey Hanging Planter - I lvoe filling these up with overflowing flowers or succulents

** Thoughts on the Iris Planter from West Elm, on the site the it starts outdoor use only - I have three of these planters and use them outdoors (when I purchased mine 2-3 years ago it said indoor/outdoor use), I think it will depend on the climate you have if they're able to stay outside. I do wash the outside of my every year to keep them clean and cover in extreme weather changes. In Sacramento we have very mild weather so it hasn't been an issue.

Are you also a fan of outdoor container gardening? What are some of your favorite ways to add color on your patio or deck?

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.

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