I certainly did not think this quarantine was going to last as long as it has. By week three, I was so over every corner of my house and couldn’t handle the sight of my backyard anymore. I probably rearranged my shelves 29348 times, ordered new home decor, organized my cabinets, and took all unnecessary things out of the baby’s room. Then hearing news that this could possibly last a couple more months, and the weather was to heat up, we knew it was time to focus on the backyard to make it as much of a “staycation” as possible. If I can’t go to the beach, and travel plans are cancelled, I had to turn my backyard into somewhat of an escape! So we whipped out the paint, and started visualizing what to do while on a budget. I also want to add in that PAINT itself, makes a huge difference.
First thing we did was paint our deck and one of our back corner walls white. Our house is a deep yellowy tan and we had that adobe cement floor with white paneling around our deck. So really, the only color we had to choose from to not make it so eye scorching was white. Which I am so happy about because it tied the house together, and also gave it an open clean look which was my goal. Then Matt wanted to paint our back wall white, which I was iffy about for a few reasons but I let him do it, and it turned out great! It gave the part of our backyard a little bit of a Palm Springs vibe because we have some palms planted over there. Paint itself changes a look SO much, and can make something look completely different, without doing any crazy renovations.
Once the paint was done, it was onto furniture shopping. We had a lot of old chairs kinda all put together and it was time to replace them with a full set. Outdoor furniture is SO EXPENSIVE. It was all more than my dining table, etc. BUT, we shopped during sale time, and found so many great conversation sets with 4 pieces for under $400. With this place being a rental, the pandemic going down and being unsure financially, were balling on a budget. Luckily I have been saving for outdoor furniture for quite sometime (thank you everyone on Poshmark) so we were able to go a little more than expected and I got my egg chair 😉 Here is our deck set up! The patio set + egg chair is from Target, the rug is from Wayfair, and the side table is from World Market.
Next, we have the back “Palm Springs” corner area that’s been left blank. I don’t have that finished yet, and I thought I came to a conclusion but I have not quite figured it out. I am torn between making this a lounge / tanning area to make it feel more like a “staycation.” We do not have a pool in our backyard, so the idea seems silly, but we do use our minnidip all the time! Then the other idea was more fire cozy. I’m trying to blend the two ideas together, but the spot is smaller, so I don’t know how it will all morph together. Here is what we have right now, so I will link it. It has been so nice to eat under the umbrella, and stare at our back patio when it’s all lit up at sunset! The grey rope loveseat was passed down, so linking something similar!
After the furniture we started visualizing the blank wall space for plants. Adding in plants fills in spaces, and brings a spot to LIFE. We aren’t quite finished, but have started! We are bringing some of the plants in the front yard to the back because they have grown out of control and it saves some $$$. What we have purchased are some Bouganvillea plants, and Angel’s Grass from Lowes. We actually scored with the Bouganvillea’s and bought their “dead” ones which were only $10. We brought them back to life and they’re doing great! I can’t wait for them to cover more wall space and add some color. But definitely go on Pinterest and look at garden ideas and see what you can do! There’s awesome planters on sale right now for Memorial Day, which I am eyeing right now too! I will link some here 🙂 They’re all on SALE at CB2!
And there ya go! We have created a nice backyard staycation for this quarantine. We had been planning to do all of this for a year now, but with work, we never had too much time. So this is definitely one of the positives that will come out of quarantine! Now I wake up and the first thing I want to do is sit on our backyard patio. We have all the water blow ups for the kiddos, umbrellas, blankets, poufs, etc. to make the grass area nice and cozy. We have been doing tons of BBQ’s, which has been so much fun! It has been a work in progress but I’m so happy we dedicated some time and money into this. It’s helped with quarantine so much and given us a little peace of mind. It was a great project, and still is, to help kill time. Now I hope this helped inspire you to make your backyard, balcony, patio, or whatever spot in your home a type of staycation!
CHEERS!
Deanna Page 