As soon-to-be new homeowners, we’ve been plotting our outdoor living areas. It’s one of the things we’ve been missing living in an apartment; an outdoor area that’s large enough to use! Since we’re buying a manufactured home and placing it in a community that offers very small lots, we still won’t have a huge yard. Instead, we’ll have a large patio behind the garage (20′ x 23′ to be exact). It will be big enough for us to include seating for four or six, a grill of some sort, and a table.

Browsing websites like Better Homes and Gardens and This Old House has given me plenty of ideas to work with. In the beginning, we’ll only have a cement slab as a pad until we can build a raised deck. Knowing that many of the items will be moved, I’ve narrowed down what we can begin with in terms of decor ideas:

patio-umbrella

  • Planters and pots for plants – they are easy to move until we can build some planters into the deck. Most sites agree that plants add warmth to an exterior patio.
  • An umbrella for shade – ultimately, we’ll build a pergola above the deck. But until then, the umbrella not only adds some color to a patio or deck, but it serves a purpose as well – provides great shade. On a side note, one benefit to designing our home was placing the patio on the east side of the house; lots of shade in the afternoons!
  • Durable outdoor furniture – thankfully, we live in a temperate climate, but durability is still important since outdoor furniture is expensive, like seriously!
  • A colorful, outdoor rug – it adds color and connects the area, as well as makes the outdoors seem more attached to the indoors. Every where we’ve lived, we’ve added an outdoor carpet to a patio area. This time, instead of covering the whole thing in carpet, I’m leaning more toward a smaller, colorful outdoor rug.
  • Cafe string lighting – we’re looking into different types of lights, but a less expensive option in the beginning is string lighting. It adds warmth and light to a dusky evening.

We seem to have a bit of time on our hands right now since we’re still waiting for some final construction on the house to be completed. But that allows us to make a list of items we need and plan our patio. We may be moving closer to the end of October/beginning of November when our weather cools down a bit, which in some ways might be better. We’ll be able to put off a few outdoor purchases and really focus on finishing the interior.

Do you have a marvelous patio setup that you’d like to share? Can you use it year-round, or does weather interfere?

2 Comments

  1. Tia @ FinanciallyFitandFab Reply

    I have a slab right now myself! Eventually, I do want to change the fence around my current house and get a nice big porch. I imagine great times with family and friends on the porch.

    • I love big porches and can’t wait to have my own slab, for now! I’m constantly looking up porch and patio ideas. 😉

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