Our patio is the first space in our apartment that I finished! Living in an apartment, we’re no strangers to making the most of our space or trying to turn smaller, cold spaces into something that feels a little more like home. Some of the design choices or layouts of our past apartments have left us scratching out heads to be honest. But we’re really grateful to have this patio space in our new place and I couldn’t wait to decorate it!
My first thought on this space was “holy orange”. It’s really orange. The building was not afraid of a bold color to say the least. I had been saving so much cute wood colored patio furniture but knew I had to pivot with my patio design when we signed this lease. I went with black and white since it offset the colorful walls and also broke up the bright hues. I was honestly surprised at how well it came together! Hopefully this post will help you with a few patio ideas for your space! If you’re looking to decorate your patio on a budget, I think you’ll get a lot of inspiration from what I did! I have been sourcing a lot from Amazon for this apartment and have a patio decor list! You can also find all my other idea lists and favorite things from Amazon here.
RUG
The first thing I ordered for this space was this white and black rug with tassels. It’s technically an indoor/outdoor rug but living in California, I knew we wouldn’t have to worry much about putting this rug outside. Not to mention our patio is enclosed so exposure to the mild weather would be limited. It’s my second favorite rug (our bedroom rug is also outstanding if you’re looking for color). It doesn’t shed and it’s not itchy at all. It’s actually surprisingly soft. It’s white definitely white and black and the colors on the website are very accurate to it’s actual look.
PATIO CHAIRS
When it came to chairs, it was a struggle like all furniture to find something that would ship before we got halfway through our lease. I ended up finding these at Target as part of the Magnolia Home collection. They’re no longer available but I’ve rounded up a few styles that are similar and give you the same look. I love the ones we got because they were really easy to put together but I do wish I had gotten something with arm rests. It just ends up being a little more comfortable when you’re enjoying a glass of wine out there!
SIDE TABLE
I briefly mentioned this on Instagram but the theme of this apartment is a mix of investment pieces and things that were super budget friendly. We know we won’t be here forever so we wanted to invest in some things that we knew we could hold onto forever. For other things, we went as budget friendly as we could find. Since we are in the process of replacing everything we own since we lost it all in a burglary in 2020, it made the most sense to do this for things that we weren’t sure we’d be able to reuse in our future home. That being said, I’m pretty proud of how versatile everything is like this side table! It was only $55 and pretty easy to put together. It is perfect for this spot. It’s not super heavy so keep that in mind around kiddos but at$55, I’d say the quality is worth more than that!
POTS
As you’ve probably seen from my Instagram stories, gardening became a hobby of mine in 2020 since we were at home more. I have A LOT of pots out here. I stuck with the black and white theme but thought it would also be nice to sprinkle in splashes of terracotta to tie in the color from the walls. I love the idea of mismatching pots because it makes the space feel more homey. Most of them are from Amazon and are all really budget friendly. I got them in a bunch of sizes to give it that “I didn’t try too hard” look even though I really did spend a lot of time finding things that went well together. You can see how it looks below! I also used these white polished rocks to cover the dirt in some of my succulents/cacti! I kind of mixed it up so that some had them and others didn’t.
MARKET LIGHTS
This was a fun project that my dad helped me with. I just think it looks so magical when patios or outdoor spaces are done up with market lights (see the photo above!). I really liked the design of these market lights from Amazon because the bulb didn’t hang 6 inches off the main wire. For small spaces, I think it makes a difference and since I knew we would be hanging vertically and horizontally to frame our patio, I didn’t want the excess wire to flop around or fall in an awkward manner. These were a great price and they arrived quickly. You could also connect them end to end. If you want some ideas on what tools you need to hang them, watch my “home” highlight on Instagram for instructions! It only took about 2 hours and really only requires a drill with a masonry drill bit and a few hooks and zip ties! We have them hooked up to these wireless plugs and connected to our Echo Show 8 so we can have Alexa turn them off and on!
MACRAME HANGING PLANTER
Y’all know I love texture. I mean really love it. I wanted to incorporate a hint of boho design into this space and found this set of 4 macrame hanging planters on Amazon for under $20. I’d seen them at various retailers for over $30 each! I’m super happy with them and they came with hooks that you can use indoor too. They’re definitely something you can use inside your apartment as well as outside! Since our ceilings on the patio are high, I wanted to buy these fancy black brackets for them instead of use the hooks so that I could still easily reach the plants to water them.
ROSE GOLD WATERING CAN
This rose gold watering can was on my Amazon wish list for Christmas and my mom got it for me! I had been eyeing one that was over $130 and probably a little bigger but couldn’t justify it for our little patio space so I found something a little more budget friendly! It’s really lightweight and I usually have to refill once to water the plants on our patio!
GARDENING TOOLS
Aside from dirt which isn’t very exciting, I loved this gardening set from MacKenzie-Childs. It’s under $50 and has everything you need if you’re just starting out with a garden of your own. I also used them in this post here with Burpee!
LANTERNS
I also snagged two of these black square lanterns from Target in size small. They’re incredibly functional for both outdoor and indoor and beautifully crafted for the price point. I looked everywhere for something and these were by far the most affordable and impressive in person. Since I was using them outside, I also got these flameless remote controled non-wax candles (apparently the wax kind melts outside in high heat) from Amazon. They don’t look overly realistic but for the price point, they do the job especially when they’re hidden in the lantern. I’ve also had several readers say they stacked all 8 in their fireplace or on their mantle and love the look. They do flicker so they look a little more realistic at night than others I’ve seen!
SHELVING
I originally was thinking of doing a bar cart out here but I am really glad I went with this shelving. First, it was much more affordable being under $50! It also was about twice the height which gave me more storage for plants but also helps fill the space on the patio a lot better so it balances out the space as well. From a logistical standpoint, when I water the top plants, some of the water falls down to the plants below which is also much better for sustainability, general cleanliness, and drying out! It was also insanely quick to put together! I could see us repurposing this in our garage!
FULL LENGTH MIRROR
I love using full length mirrors to open up small spaces and I found a deal on this black one on Wayfair. It’s crazy how expensive they can get! I originally wanted to use this one inside but ended up ordering one too many so it’s on the patio and I love how it reflects the light and the plants when you’re sitting out there! I have it closest to the door to the apartment to reduce wear from weather!
PLANTS
I’ve been trying to focus on growing things that I can use in my cooking to be a little more sustainable. That, and succulents to up my success rate of keeping something alive although I have lost a few of those too… I’ve definitely learned a lot about certain plants and I’m still learning the perfect watering cadence, location, and care for others. So far, I have used cilantro, rosemary, mint, oregano, thyme, parsley, spinach, and kale from my garden. I really want to add peppers from Burpee next spring because I feel like their plants have the best change of survival. I’ve definitely struggled with other herbs and vegetables (basil comes to mind…) because I’m probably not getting them from the best places. But overall, it’s been a great learning experience and something that I’ve really enjoyed with the extra downtime!
I say I’m finished with our patio design but I’m still leaving the door open for more ideas! As with everything in our home, it’s a work in progress that I like to revisit from time to time! It will probably consist of adding new pots and plants for the most part but I would love to hear how you’ve made your outdoor space your own below!
Let me know what you think!