Summer Patio Refresh

In 2021, when I decided to move back to Lincoln, Nebraska, one of the things that really struck me and just made me so happy about where I live is the enjoyment people get in the outdoors here. Even just driving around you’ll see tons of people outside, running, riding bikes, walking their dogs. People are always outside and really enjoying it.

This year I’ve decided I want to buy into that outdoor mentality. I try to spend a lot of time outside already but I only have a patio that was kind of grungy so it’s been kind of hard to take full advantage of all the outdoors has to offer. But, I’m going to make the most of it. This is how it went!

Part 1: The Before

One of the reasons I chose to live in the apartment that I live in is that it’s on the ground floor. After years of lugging furniture up and down stairs, I want to never have to do that again. So my patio is on the ground floor and faces a pond. It’s quite peaceful and scenic.

The downside is that it is right next to a large tree, and while it’s nice to have privacy, there’s also a major bird problem. I already have a bit of a thing about birds. They are just so unpredictable and they can steal your food. What they do to my patio though, is that they poop all over it. I think the previous resident tried to scare them away with a statue of an owl because they left it when they moved out and I haven’t touched it. I’m thinking I should name it but so far it just sits there. For a while there was a bird nest on the patio too but thankfully that is gone. For the first year I lived here my patio was basically unusable. I was not about to share my space with some birds, that would be the opposite of peaceful to me. Instead my patio languished with bird droppings and two chairs I never used tucked in the corner. Luckily the birds are gone this year so I can now actually use the space, fingers crossed they stay gone!

Step 1 was to clean out the space. There was a huge area that was just full of bird poop. I sprayed down the area and wiped down the siding. I cleared everything off to start with a clean slate. The next step was to start adding layers to make it actually useful for me.

Part 2: The Process

There were some things that I already had that I wanted to use on my patio. I already had two Adirondack chairs to lounge in. Other than that I had a door mat but otherwise it was pretty sparse. In the fall I add mums and pumpkins but I didn’t have anything permanent. I considered getting a grill but it wouldn’t really fit the space since the chairs took up most of the area.

In my dreams I would have really comfortable beautiful outdoor chairs, Edison bulbs draping from the ceiling, lots of candles, blooming greenery, and no bugs. Unfortunately most of those are just not possible. One of my first challenges was lighting. There is an outdoor light but of course it is just so harsh and ugly. I’m all about ambient light so I had to figure out a solution. Some of my neighbors hung lights from the deck above their units, but it’s probably 14 feet and I don’t have a ladder or a way to get lights that high. Another problem was cords, I’m not a big fan of visible cords and there is no way to hang the lights from above without an eyesore. My solution was to hang my lights under a brick border that runs just under windowsill height. That way I could double back the lights so the cord would be as unobstructive as possible. It actually worked out way better than I anticipated. I used outdoor light command hooks and then strung up the lights, it was easy, affordable, and surprisingly pretty. There was still some cord but I had a plan to hide it.

I really wanted to add some greenery to the patio. I think you can’t talk about summer patios and porches without talking about ferns. They are just the quintessential patio staple and I think every home needs them. So with the starting point of a Boston fern, I also wanted to add some blooming plants. Now I’m pretty picky with plants. My mom is a huge gardener so I’ve seen all kinds of flowers. They are all pretty but I just gravitate towards certain colors. I can’t help it! I’m not a massive fan of yellows or oranges, red is kind of risky, and other than peonies and roses, pink isn’t my favorite. I’m a white, blue, purple, and green kind of gal. Besides color, I’m also picky about type of flower. I know they are summer classics like ferns, but I just do not like pansies, petunias, and geraniums. They are nice, but not for me.

So armed with my requirements, I headed to a local nursery for more variety. Campbell’s Nursery in Lincoln is a staple. I know my mom used to go there even 20 years ago. Even if you don’t want to buy anything it’s fun to just look around. With lots of consultation with my mom I ended up with one pot of Sallyfun Pure White Salvia, a pot of Colorblast Double Coconut Portulaca, and two pots of Blue My Mind Evolvulus.

I already had the planters I was going to use, like everyone else, I was influenced to get some new ones from Walmart that are trending this year. I like the mix of textures even though they are super affordable plastic planters. I’m sure I’ll use them for years to come. Another place to check out for affordable planters is At Home, I picked up one plain white one from there but they had lots of options to choose from.

After adding the lights, chairs, and plants, I got to add the soft features. For months I’ve wanted to get a rug for under my doormat. I know it’s kind of the trendy, Joanna Gaines, thing to do but my doormat looked a little undersized so I needed something to add space. I bought maybe 5 different options and I ended up not loving any of them in the space. Looking back, I wish I bought the larger option of the doormat I have but that’s life. I really liked all the rugs but the dimensions were just not right. In the end, I took a rug I had from inside my house and used it outside. The black stripes along the sides create sections while the other rugs just had too much open space that dwarfed the doormat.

The finishing touch of any project: pillows! Adirondack chairs are a little bit lower than you think so pillows are a little hard. I wish there was a more rectangular size of pillow to create more height but I do like what I ended up with. Of course, my color preferences are limited but I didn’t want anything too plain. I wanted to pull from the colors of the flowers, so I went with blue. I went to Homegoods and picked out two different patterns. I did that because I didn’t feel like I needed to add to the general symmetry. I was considering getting a lumbar pillow for one of the chairs but it took up too much of the sitting area on the chair so that plan was scrapped.

Part 3: The After

Overall, I’m really happy with how it turned out. Of course it’s not the patio of my dreams, but for an apartment patio I think I really made the most of it. Also it was very achievable and not crazy expensive. The flowers are a learning curve but I’m excited to learn and to maybe garden in the future. So far I’ve only slightly killed one!

I’ve already broken in the patio. It’s nice to have somewhere to have an evening drink, a chat with friends, and a place to watch thunderstorms. After a long day, I like to grab a popsicle and a book and just enjoy the weather.