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Creating a Perfect Patio Oasis

Last updated August 21, 2024

A performing songwriter by trade, Jen Woodhouse has released three albums, toured the world, and has licensed her music to national television shows, commercials, and films, including Keeping Up with the Kardashians, MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules, Starbucks, United Way, and more. Most recently, Jen has added ‘DIY Blogger’ to her eclectic resume. A musician, military wife, and mother to two young children, Jen authors The House of Wood as her creative outlet for all things DIY and design, where she documents her adventures in woodworking, furniture and interior design, and home decor. Jen’s work has been featured on Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Country Living, and Apartment Therapy. Jen is a TV spokesperson for Hometalk, the largest home and garden community on the web and has worked with such brands as The Home Depot, RYOBI Tools, Minwax, Kreg, General Electric, among others. In addition to designing and drawing up plans with in-depth tutorials on her blog, Jen is a charismatic and engaging speaker. She was invited to speak at the Haven Conference in Atlanta, Georgia last year. This year, she will be returning as a speaker at the Haven Conference, as well as the Snap Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A Note From The Home Depot
Here’s a patio oasis that’s ready for just about any time of year.
This outdoor space belongs to Jen Woodhouse, of House of Wood. She recently moved to Texas and quickly discovered that if she’s going to enjoy her patio, she’ll have to be ready with some shade for the hot, sunny days, and some heat when a cold front blows through and drops the temps into chilly territory.
Check out how Jen created this patio oasis in her new backyard.

We’ve been living in Texas for about nine months now, so I’m pretty sure that makes us official Texans. Yee-haw, y’all! But holy longhorns, we’re finding out that the weather here in Texas is super fickle! It’s not uncommon for the temperature to be 40 degrees one day and 80 degrees the next. I’m a creature of habit and this atmospheric unpredictability is cramping my style.
And yes, I know 40 degrees is nowhere near unbearable, but for us Texans, it’s downright chilly! On second thought, I can’t complain – I certainly don’t hate our 73 degree winter when we can get ’em. 73 is my favorite degree, actually.
When dreaming up our outdoor space for this Patio Style Challenge, I knew I had to take these sudden swings in temperature into account. I wanted the space to be as functional as possible – we needed shade from the sweltering Texas sun and warmth for those unexpected brisk nights.
This deep seating conversation patio set from the Oak Cliff Collection by Hampton Bay set the mood for the entire space. I love the comfortable, oversized lounge chairs and the heavy duty steel frames are sturdy, yet lightweight.
One of my favorite things in my patio oasis is this 11 Ft. LED Offset Patio Umbrella. It’s massive, so it provides a ton of shade and the built-in solar-powered LED lights add a lovely glow to the evening.

These Hampton Bay Sky Medallion throw pillows add a nice global touch to our outdoor oasis. And aren’t these petunias absolutely striking? Totally not Photoshopped, y’all. That’s real life right there.
When choosing plants to go in our outdoor space, I needed to choose ones that could withstand the heat. The friendly folks at The Home Depot Garden Center are really great about recommending which plants will do well in our climate, so I recommend that you take advantage of their expertise!
These aptly named Majesty Palms are so… well, majestic and they add a lot of life (literally!), texture and interest to this space.

I added some mood lighting to the outdoor oasis with these gorgeous copper lanterns. They’re a lot larger than I expected and the resin candles inside are battery-powered flickering LEDs!

Ahhh… give me all the plants and flowers! They make me so happy; they’re my friends.
I’m now realizing how pathetic that sounded.
But isn’t this hot pink plant stunning? Seriously, what a showoff. She’s like the friend you love to hate: absolutely gorgeous and perfect in every way that you want to hate her, but she’s sweet and thoughtful too, so you can’t help but give her all the heart eyes.

I’m especially excited over my new yucca plant. He’s really stabby, so I had to handle him with care. I did get poked a few times, but he didn’t draw blood so I’m calling it a win. I like to think it’s just tough love. He’ll come around.

Speaking of mood lighting, we wrapped this beautiful, 100-year-old tree with string lights and draped a couple strands of Incandescent Dipped Edison Bulbs from it, creating a romantic ambience for this patio oasis.

See how charming everything looks at dusk? So dreamy.


Another one of my favorite things is this Propane Patio Heater. I’m always freezing no matter the temperature, so this thing is my BFF. Roasting marshmallows over the fire pit on a chilly evening is absolute Heaven on Earth. The outdoor poufs add casual seating – the kiddos love them because they have handles and are light enough to tote around. We have a couple of the Sky Blueand Metallic Diamond poufs.

Do you spy that sweet outdoor storage bench? I designed and built it with materials from The Home Depot! There’s hidden storage under the seat and the fretwork on the back isn’t as tricky to put together as you might think. If you’d like to build it for yourself, you can download the PDF plans from my site.
Thanks for checking out my outdoor oasis – I think we’re pretty well-equipped no matter what temps Texas throws at us.
Unless it’s below 40 degrees. Then I’m moving to Florida.
Cheers to spring and summer!
In addition to being an accomplished singer/songwriter, Jen Woodhouse is a talented decorator and DIYer. Check out her lifestyle and design blog The House of Wood for DIY projects and plenty of great decorating ideas. Follow our Patio Style Challenge board on Pinterest for more patio decorating ideas and inspiration.
Browse The Home Depot’s online Patio Furniture section for patio sets to fit any style or budget.
This post was created in partnership with The Home Depot. The author may have received compensation for this article and associated images or video, potentially in the form of products and/or services. All expressed opinions and experiences are the author’s own words.
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