It’s Patio Season! (Beautiful Outdoor Living Ideas)

Happy weekend and welcome to the Saturday Spotlight!  Wow, the weeks are flying by, aren’t they?  If you want to make the most of these beautiful spring and summer months, I have some inspiration for you.   Today, I’m sharing some pretty outdoor living ideas to celebrate patio season!

*For your convenience, please note that this post may contain affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking my links below, I will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Patio Season – Outdoor Inspiration:

Create outdoor living spaces on your patio…

Recently, I visited the Mansion in May Designer Showhouse in Mendham, New Jersey.  Of course the interior spaces were beautifully decorated…but the tour also continued in the gardens and patio.  Even on a rainy day, the outdoor spaces in this historic home were stunning.  For instance, the designers from Garden Cottage created several seating areas using colors to coordinate with the fabulous swimming pool.  

For the outdoor wicker furniture, they chose grays to coordinate with the stone on the house and patio.  Don’t you just love the fabrics on the pillows?

Here’s another inviting spot to gather with friends or family…

To anchor this seating area, they used a beautiful outdoor striped rug.  The huge navy blue umbrella covered this whole seating area…perfect for a rainy day!

Another navy blue umbrella covered the outdoor dining table.  Once again, they carried the pool-inspired colors to this space.  What a cute idea to surround the lanterns with square boxwood wreaths.  So simple yet classic

During patio season, a grill is essential!  At the showhouse, this gas grill was built in with plenty of counter space for preparing.  If you’re considering a gas grill, and you have natural gas in your home, see if you can run your gas line to the grill.  That way you don’t have to keep replacing propane tanks.  When we built our patio, we overlooked that detail and now we regret not doing it.

Add an outdoor fireplaces or fire pit…

Next to the grill, they built this huge rustic fireplace with stone that coordinates with the exterior of the home.  To decorate around it, they continued with the same colors from the rest of the patio.  Always a great idea to decorate outdoors with blue and white porcelain…a classic way to bring the indoors-out.

*Hopefully, these patio photos from the Mansion in May Designer Showhouse inspired you.  In my May Recap blog post, I shared a couple interior photos and I promise, I’ll share the rest soon!

To continue with outdoor fireplace inspiration, I took the photo below at another house tour years ago.  It’s another great example of how an outdoor fireplace can be a great gathering spot on your patio.

If you don’t have room for a fireplace, consider installing a firepit instead.  There are so many sizes and styles these days.  For instance, I spotted this one on display at the RH store.

And on our backyard patio, we have a stone firepit (which we did run our gas line to). This firepit was a lifesaver during Covid.  Basically, it was the only place we would entertain guests! 

Dine Al Fresco during patio season…

Of course, what would summer entertaining be without outdoor dining?  Unfortunately, this rainy spring hasn’t been the best patio weather but we do try to dine outside every chance we get! 

On this table setting, I added hydrangea flowers from my gardens surrounding the patio.  For more ways to decorate with hydrangeas, read – 7 Easy Ways to Decorate with Hydrangeas.

It’s no wonder that I was drawn to the blue and white porcelain idea at the showhouse… One year, I decorated my patio table with blue and white!

Surround your patio with flowers…

When we built our patio, we added a variety of flowers that bloom at different times.  In early summer, the hydrangeas start blooming to add so much color to the space.

Speaking of color, I had to share this gorgeous patio from a trip to The Palms in Turks and Caicos.  In my opinion, this stone patio with cascading bougainvillea flowers is perfection.  To recreate this look, I think you’d really have to start with a green thumb…and a tropical location!   Though, you could copy some ideas with light stone pavers, classic iron lounge furniture and a large hanging outdoor lantern.  For the flowers…I guess it would really depend on the climate where you live.  

 

Patio Season – Shopping Finds:

Here are some great items to make the most of your outdoor spaces…

Add some ambiance to your patio with these outdoor solar lanterns!

To make your patio extra festive for summer, hang some string lights like this set.  

If you want to dress up your outdoor lanterns (like the patio from the showhouse above), try these square boxwood wreaths.

This season, anchor your patio seating with an outdoor rug!  To keep the rug looking clean longer, a patterned one is a great choice!

To add extra seating to your patio, white Adirondack chairs are always classic!

If you need more ideas for patio season, here are a few finds that caught my eye this week:

Outdoor summer decorating and more!…

• If you want to add lights to your patio, here are great tips to hang string lights!
• To freshen up your patio for guests, here are tips for a 10 minute patio cleanup!
• If you’re planning an outdoor dinner for friends, get inspired by this beautiful table!
• To make veggies on the grill this summer, try grilling with this balsamic marinade!
• For a refreshing summer cocktail to sip on the patio, try this Frozen Strawberry Aperol Spritz!

Hopefully, some of these patio season ideas inspired you today! 

For more ideas to celebrate patio season, read these blog posts:

• Celebrate barbecue season on the patio with these festive and practical ideas!
• For ideas for summer nights outdoors, read – Summer Nights – Entertaining on the Patio.
• To create a backyard oasis, read – Backyard Staycation – the Ultimate Escape.

Have you been enjoying the outdoors this season?

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