The Saturday Six

 

This week's Saturday Six is inspired by my recent searches for back patio and backyard ideas. Now that our landscaping, trees, and grass are in place, I'm ready to start dreaming about what might come next! I've looked both at immediate small patio plans, since we already have one of those, and then I've looked at long-term ideas for a yard. Want to dream with me today?

One.

This post is actually about using rugs both inside and out, but if you scroll down to the sixth picture, you'll see my inspiration piece. Our back patio is basically the same size and shape as an apartment balcony, so I have looked up a lot of ideas for those. I love the hanging lights on the one in this post. Soft lighting is my jam anyway, but these icicle lights are next level. I may or may not have some saved on my Amazon wish list. ;) 

Two.

This post actually had two ideas I liked! If you look at idea #1 in the post, I really liked the use of the little window-box-esque planter boxes to line the railing at the edge of the porch. We don't have a railing on ours, because it just empties into the yard, but I like the idea of making a boundary of sorts at the corner with a long, narrow flower box. It would be low enough that it wouldn't obstruct the view from the chairs or glider, but it would bring in color and create a boundary line. Then if you scroll down to idea #7, you'll see my other fun idea. A planter wall! We have one wall at the end of the porch that is just the side of our house, and I think bringing in some plants/dimension there would be fabulous. 

Three.

I loved it that the designer of this yard took her sweet time in making it all that she wanted it to be. Life isn't an HGTV show that's done in an hour. Slow and steady wins the race, as I need to remind myself! We don't have pavers to need to do this, but her stenciled pavers are AMAZING. A lot of work, but stunning results. What I loved most about her design that could potentially work for us is the little path out to the fire pit. We don't have a fire pit anymore (sold it with the Kokomo house) but I for sure want one eventually, because we love them. I like the idea of making a little stone area off the back patio, up near the house, where we could enjoy a fire pit without going into the recesses of the yard. It looks like a fairly easy-to-design idea! And though we will have grass, of course, if you like the idea of a no-mow yard, keep reading her article, because that's what they did! 

Four.

This idea might not be needed right away, but I tucked it away for down the road. We have a little cove area that we would love to someday make into a hot tub retreat. While we don't plan to put up a privacy fence all the way around our yard, we would absolutely want a little extra privacy for this area if and when we ever do it, and I love the barrier these people made for their dining area in their yard. This sort of thing would be perfect! 

Five.

I'm not sure how it would work here - meaning where we would want to put it - but I did love having a pergola (remember how we called it a perogi?) at our Marion house, and this post made me remember just how much I loved that kind of a covered space. We'll have to brainstorm and see if something like this is feasible here, and if so, where we should put it! Side note: I loved this yard as a whole, because it seemed like a "real person" put it together, rather than it being curated and staged for social media. 

Six.

And while this is not an outdoor design plan, I do think this little grill shelter is super cute! Our grill is relatively small, and while Ryan enjoys grilling, it's not something he does SO regularly that there needs to be this huge, overdone production of an outdoor kitchen. Still, if he's out there in either the heat or the rain, it would be nice to have some protection over the grill!

So there are my ideas so far. If you find something fun I should see, send it my way!!!