Before & After Patio Makeover

In today’s blog post we’re sharing the before & after of our patio makeover. This is sponsored by Wayfair, but all opinions and product selections are my own.

before and after outdoor patio with wayfair

If you’ve been a reader for a while, you may remember we had the back patio on our project wish-list for 2021. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if we’d get around to it before summer was over (especially before our new baby arrives).

But every single day I would look out onto the big ol’ deck and dream about what I would do with it if budget and time allowed. So when Wayfair reached out to see if I would be interested in creating an “Outdoor Oasis”, I took it as a sign!

We decided it was time to give our back patio a makeover! You can bet we’ll be spending so much more time out there now that it’s actually functional for our family.

The Patio Before

You can see the before picture of our back deck, which I did clean before I took it. So it’s not horrible, but there isn’t anything special about it either. I mean we still need to figure out what to do in terms of either staining or maybe using a pressure washer to clean it? (which apparently isn’t good for wood?)

I took this picture while we were removing the old rotting patio furniture. We had an old umbrella that was moldy, the rattan chairs had holes in them, and the patio table was growing moss!! In my defense, the outdoor furniture came with the house when we bought it. But it also wasn’t my style, hence the reason why the back patio was on our list of projects to do this year.

After Our Patio Makeover

Dining Table, Patio Makeover, Patio Umbrella Wayfair,

Design Tip for a Patio Makeover

Our budget for this makeover was $400, which didn’t leave much room or any room for the sectional I had originally wanted. But as a stylist, this is exactly what I look for in a project. The idea of working within a budget shouldn’t feel restricted. Instead, it’s the freedom to spend money on something you want or need.

One of the things I always challenge my design clients to do is to think about one wish-list item and splurge on it. I want you to fall in love with space, and it usually means having a hero item and then choosing items around that.

The Hero Item

So instead of buying a ton of throw pillows, plates, or decor for our patio, I decided to splurge and order the Arlmont & Co. 10 Ft. Patio Cantilever Offset Umbrella from Wayfair.

Since the back patio gets a lot of sunlight and the entire purpose of this patio makeover is to make it functional for our family. I needed to source a patio umbrella that met the following criteria:

Large enough to cover the dining table
Easy to install
Easy to use, put up, and put away
Durable
Won’t fall over in the wind
Water-resistant
The material will be okay in direct sunlight

With all the options Wayfair has I knew it wouldn’t be hard to find a product that checked off all of our must-haves. As always I was very impressed with Wayfair, specifically with the ease of ordering products and how fast shipping times are.

Oh and don’t forget to grab the Patio Umbrella Cover to make sure it’s protected and doesn’t end up like our last umbrella.

Before and After Patio Makeover with Wayfair

We also owned a few other things from Wayfair already that I used to complete the patio makeover. This blue and white outdoor rug (which is no longer in stock but I’ll link other options here), our barstools (which are on sale), and the bar cart (similar options here)are all from Wayfair. I highly recommend every one of these items which I’ll include in the “Get the Look” section below.

This was a really fun project to put together, and I feel so much better knowing I can finally check off the back patio. We now enjoy family dinner’s outside, under the patio umbrella that not only protects us (and our food) from the elements but also from all those little bugs.

I’ve also been using our new patio in the early mornings when Penelope is still asleep. I’ll often bring my laptop, and a coffee out so I can write while enjoying some quiet time. In the future, I plan on adding that sectional I’ve been wanting, but for right now this is our own outdoor oasis.

Thanks to Wayfair for sponsoring our patio makeover. It will defiantly get a lot of use over the summer, and we’ll be ready for entertaining once it’s safe to do so!