Patio Refresh Ideas

We built our barbecue patio about 7 years ago. I moved our table and chairs there and later worked on a flowerbed around it.

In the beginning...clearing out the grass

shortly after it was completed

It was a great spot to barbecue and eat dinner or to sit out in the evening and relax. But what with Buddy and Herbie's destructive puppy stage, things got rather neglected. Now that they are past that stage, I decided it was time to refresh it.

We're so sweet though

I began by cleaning it and moving things around. Then I assessed the umbrella and chair cushions. The umbrella needed to be replaced and the cushions had gotten black stuff on them from the trees and then sitting in the shed for three years. I washed them but they were stained. So, I'll have to do something to them to refreshen them up.

Add more plants to this area and mulch:

Buy a new umbrella - done! I went with lime green. It's my happy color.

Try painting the cushions. I figure I have nothing to loose and just maybe they'll turn out. I'm going to paint them off white and then add a black pattern to them. Fingers crossed! I love the stripe and the one on the left:

Get Bruce to move the boat that's against the shed. It needs to go up to the farm. Once that's done, I want to get a metal shelf or something to place next to the bbq pit so we'll have somewhere to place the meat tray. Something like this:

Add decorative accents to the fence. I have a large metal lizard and will probably use him and then add things as I find them.

My lizard looks a lot like this one only very colorful 

Perhaps a wooden sign like this one

Rustic metal letters perhaps

Or wooden arrows and other wood signs

Solar lights for the umbrella. We don't have an electrical plug out there so these would be ideal. They are from Wal-Mart. I'll have to go check them out.

 Large flower pots planted with mosquito repelling plants. It would not only keep the bugs down but would also soften the area. Here's a few:

Mosquito Plant

Citronella Grass

Catnip

So that's my plan. Here's my idea board:

I'll keep you up to date as I complete each project. I'm so looking forward to Summer and cooking and relaxing outside!