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A Note From The Home Depot
What does it take to get a patio ready for warm weather? Ashley Stock of Little Miss Momma knows.
Ashley hung string lights from her own DIY string light pole planters, a new paver path and a gorgeous new outdoor dining set. Take a look at her gorgeous outdoor space.
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Warm Weather Ready Patio
I’ll never forget the first time we walked through our family home. We immediately fell in love with the quaint fireplace room, the vaulted ceilings and the open kitchen. It was perfect for our little family. I remember when our realtor walked us through the back door and cautiously mentioned that the backyard was a bit of a fixer upper. Ben and I stepped outside, took one look around and became overwhelmed at the task ahead.
The Old Patio
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Dying grass, overgrown shrubs and weeds, trees smothered by vines, a crumbling retaining wall and a fallen over fence—the list went on and on. But when I glanced at Ben and our eyes met, I knew he saw it too—the potential!
Next to the crumbling planter boxes, I envisioned a trampoline filled with the laughter of our boys. I saw a slip and slide running along the side yard on hot summer days. I pictured our vegetable garden, flourishing on the hillside. I imagined fresh lemonade and roasting s’mores on the back porch with neighbors and friends under twinkle lights. And while we wouldn’t be able to make those dreams into a reality overnight, I knew we would make an adventure out of tackling those projects as a family.
However, as home ownership often goes, other needs soon took priority and our dream backyard was put on the back burner. Even though our big re-do was postponed for this year, we couldn’t imagine another spring and summer season passing us by without backyard BBQ’s and family gatherings…
Our solution: create a lovely, cozy outdoor patio living space, designed to entertain our friends and family. The present state of our patio was pretty dismal so we were going to need to do a bit of sprucing and accessorizing. Here’s how we got our patio “warm weather ready” in one weekend!
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The Patio Dining Set
We selected the Hampton Bay Bolingbrook 7-Piece Patio Dining Set with Sunbrella Spectrum Mist Cushions for our patio makeover. I absolutely love this set! The set seats six people with plenty of room, and the chairs are beyond comfortable.
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The umbrella is very easy to open and close up when needed. And the color is so fun a cheery! The table has a wood-like look but is actually metal so its super easy to clean.
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The Fire Pit
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We decided to place the dining set on one side of the patio and create a seating area with a fire pit on the other side. We selected the Hampton Bay Crossfire Steel Fire Pit With Cooking Grate. Since setting up the fire pit we have spent every evening outside by the fire reading books and roasting marshmallows with the kids—so much fun!
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The Grill
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We were perhaps most excited to add the Traeger Eastwood Wood Pellet Grill to our patio. The Traeger is the ultimate outdoor cooker: grill, smoke, bake, roast, braise and BBQ like a boss—all over a wood-fired flame. Ben got right to work making Friday night burgers and they were delicious! Plus, the grill is so sleek and pretty!
The path leading off our patio has been an eye sore for quite some time. With a few simple materials Ben was able to put together this stepping stone foot path in no time at all.
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DIY String Light Poles in Planters
For me, string lights create the entire ambiance for a magical evening in the backyard. I knew I wanted them strung around the perimeter of the patio, but we didn’t have a way to anchor them. We decided to place poles around the patio anchored in pretty planter boxes.
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Step 1
Place one end of the dowel in the center of the 5-gal. bucket. Follow the instructions on the Quikrete and pour into the bucket a few inches from the top. Be sure to keep the dowel upright in the center. Allow Quikrete to dry for 24 hours.
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Step 2
Place the bucket in the middle of the flower box. Fill with potting soil and plant your favorite flowers around the dowel.
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Step 3
Screw the hooks two inches down from the top of all the dowels.
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Step 4
Place the planter boxes around the perimeter of the patio.
Hand string lights from the hooks, plug the lights in and ENJOY!
Ready for Warm Weather
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The weather is starting to warm up and we are eager to host family and friends in our new outdoor space. With our sliding doors open, the patio now feels like an extension of our home—another gathering place to make memories with the ones we love. A big thank you to The Home Depot for making this possible.
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Ashley Stock, of Little Miss Momma, is a California girl, married to a Wyoming-bred guy, and together they made two blue-eyed baby boys. She is a momma, wife, free lance writer, mommy blogger, an independent marketing consultant and self-proclaimed glue gunner extraordinaire. On Little Miss Momma, she writes about life lessons as a momma-in-training (with some crafting during nap time).
Browse our customizable patio collections, each with at least 16 fabric color choices and plenty of coordinating outdoor accessories. Follow our Patio Style Challenge board on Pinterest for more great outdoor decorating ideas from some of the most talented bloggers on the internet.