Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart. All opinions are my own and always will be! Thanks for supporting the content that keeps Jojotastic going.
I’m not gonna lie… our outdoor spaces have sort of been the lowest priority since we moved to the cabin. Mostly because it’s still not quiiiite spring here yet! In fact, the day after I took these photos, it snowed! So when Better Homes & Gardens exclusively at Walmart challenged me to refresh an outdoor space, I was really worried. The weather is so unpredictable out here, plus I hadn’t even begun to wrap my mind around what I wanted to do on our concrete patio. You’ll see the before photo and totally understand… but thankfully, there are SO MANY amazing options for outdoor decor, furniture, planters, lighting, and even plants that they basically did my job for me. I am beyond thrilled with how easy and affordable it was to transform this boring concrete patio into the perfect relaxing retreat — especially since it’s right outside of our main bedroom suite!
A Budget-Friendly Concrete Patio Makeover
The Before
So um… remember when a tree fell on/around our house? It basically stayed there until about a month ago while we figured out what to do with it! There are still a bunch of smaller branches all around the backyard now, but for the most part we’ve cleaned up the tree… which left us with a basic, concrete pad that had no charm, character, or really interest whatsoever!
The Reveal
The concrete slab is actually quite large, so to make the design process a bit more approachable, I split it up into two zones: the outdoor dining area and the hot tub area. Even though they are a bit different aesthetically and color palette-wise, I feel like the vibe of each matches and helps to unify it!
Outdoor dining
When we lived in the city, we ate every meal outdoors from late-April through October usually. Now that we’re out here in the country, I’m pretty sure we’ll do the same! Or at least as much as possible. It’s very important to us to have a great outdoor dining area, where people can come over, BBQ, and hang out (once it’s safe to do so). We kept our outdoor dining table from the old house, but upgraded the chairs to these adorable Parisian inspired bistro chairs. I absolutely looooove them and the instant charm they bring to the space! Did I mention they are $100 for a set of two?? Such a good deal.
I kept things pretty neutral for the dining area and chose a chic and modern woven outdoor rug. I love that it picks up the wood tones, but still adds a bit of pattern. Now the pretty flowers can be the pop of color!
Outdoor decor
When I say that Better Homes & Gardens exclusively at Walmart has tons of options for outdoor decor, I am not exaggerating! I was able to get everything we needed to finish this patio: multiple types of lighting, melamine dishes and cups, bug repellant torches (which I am obsessed with, btw), and outdoor pillows. I love how it isn’t too matchy-matchy, but instead all just goes together.
I’d say that the biggest update on our patio is all of the potted flowers that I scattered around. As much as I love living in the forest, we needed some pops of color. I didn’t realize that the Better Homes & Gardens collection also included plants! From dahlias to English daisies to hostas, they had so many affordable and pretty flowers to fill our planters. I’m really excited for the planters to fill out and overflow this summer.
Speaking of planters, I really do encourage you to check out the amazing options from Walmart. I had a really tough time narrowing down my selection because there are SO many good ones. My personal favorite is this set of 2 terra cotta color planters. They are really sturdy, lightweight (aka easy to move), and so affordable. When I went to our local store to pick out plants, I had a lot of fun mixing and matching planters for them… to the point where Sean had to pull me away!
I’m really detail oriented when it comes to outdoor lighting. I LOVE lanterns and path lighting, so I incorporated a mix for the backyard. I wanted the space to have a cozy glow instead of any sort of directional light. One day, I hope to put up some café lights, too.
From what I’ve heard, it can get really buggy out here so I picked up a few ceramic flame tabletop torches to keep them at bay. I love how modern they feel and that I can refill them throughout the summer. We only have 3 right now, but given how much I love them… I might need more!
The hot tub zone
When it came to delineating the ‘zones,’ outdoor rugs came in quite handy. I was immediately drawn toward this bold blue rug. My hope is that the blue would bring a bit more life into the hot tub area since the tub itself is brown… and I think it works! Next, I surrounded the hot tub with even more potted flowers, lanterns, and outdoor decor. Oh and an umbrella! I’m a little bit of a brat when it comes to the hot tub… if it’s raining, I hate getting my hair wet, so I added an umbrella to prevent that from happening.
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So what do you think of our refreshed patio space??
