Welcome to my summer outdoor living tour! I’m excited to share some great ideas for your patio, porch, and outdoor living spaces with you today.
All of these photos are from our own covered porch at the back of our house, but most of the ideas would work great for a front porch, screened porch, or any other outdoor living and seating area.
As you’re taking the tour, I’ll pop in with a few descriptions, but mostly I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy and thank you again for stopping by!
Today I’m featuring our covered back patio area, because we use this space all summer long for eating, relaxing and entertaining. Our patio functions as an added room to our home in the summer. That’s why it’s important to me that this outdoor space is both comfortable and functional.
My theme for our covered patio — and really everything in summer — is easy and breezy.
If you saw my patio mood board post from a couple of weeks ago, you know I decided to keep it simple and stick to a clean, classic color scheme of navy and white this year.
I love blue during any season, but especially in the summer, so it was easy for me to get really excited about decorating our patio with this color as well.
I didn’t add any new furniture to the patio this year, although a larger table and additional seating are on my wish list! We live in an area that occasionally has high winds, so heavyweight furniture is a must!
I simply updated our look with new seat cushions and rugs, all from Target. With a dog–and two little granddaughters who visit often–these navy easy-to-clean cushions were the best choice for our outdoor living space.
I already had the accent pillows and decorative items on hand, so it was an easy and affordable way to refresh the look of our patio. Since navy is such a great neutral, I can always update the look of our patio simply by adding different colored pillows!
By using green as my accent color this year, all I needed were a few ferns, herbs and house plants to complete the look. Vibrant green looks so pretty with blues and whites, adding a fresh summery vibe.
Don’t forget to use your yard as a source for fresh flowers or greenery for your home or patio. The greenery on my table includes cuttings from our Russian almond bush.
Enjoying the beauty of nature is our main focus when we’re out here. I snapped these photos a couple of weeks ago when everything was just starting to leaf out. I just love that vibrant green of springtime!
Our patio faces west, with strong afternoon and evening sunlight, so our outdoor curtains not only add a pretty touch, but much-needed shade. It’s amazing how much more livable this space is with the addition of curtains!
When the wind blows, I simply tie the curtains back with a length of twine or ribbon to keep them from flapping around.
For outdoor entertaining, I like to keep a set of non-breakable dinner plates handy. They’re so much prettier than paper plates! (Although we still use paper plates, too!)
A crisp white table cloth and pretty woven placemats add a nice finished look to the table. I leave the table cloth on the table all summer long, removing it only when it needs to be washed. Since it’s white, I can bleach it when it gets stained.
The heavy white tray helps hold the table cloth down when the wind blows and serves as a nice centerpiece and catch-all. I bought this one a couple of years ago, but here’s something similar.
A round cutting board doubles as a serving tray. The tea towel is from Anthro (my favorite source for pretty towels!).
I like to use baskets to hold extra pillows and soften some of the hard edges of the patio. And a couple of throw blankets add warmth on chilly evenings.
Overhead, string lights criss-cross back and forth. They create such a lovely glow and festive atmosphere when they’re lit up at night!
Over on the other side of the patio, we have a little sitting area with a glider and a small table.
This is the perfect spot to sit, enjoy a drink, and watch the sun set!
Our granddaughters love to sit on the glider and rock back and forth. The funny thing is, I remember doing the same thing on my grandma’s glider when I was little!
I added a few clay pots filled with small house plants and herbs (all from Walmart) to add some texture and interest to this area.
I think empty clay pots have a beauty all their own!
A basket tray and beads add some natural texture.
Our patio is our summer sanctuary. Once warm weather arrives, we spend every possible minute out here. Now you know where to find me all summer!
Thank you so much for visiting! I hope you enjoyed my patio tour and got some ideas for your own outdoor living spaces!
Again, thank you for stopping by for my patio tour, and I hope you found some great ideas and inspiration for your own outdoor spaces. xo Jane
Here’s a list of the other designers on the Summer Outdoor Living Tour:
For more outdoor, patio and porch ideas, you might be interested in these related posts:
- Beautiful Patio and Porch Ideas to Transform Your Outdoor Spaces
- Modern Coastal Decorating Ideas for Your Home
- 2023 Home Decor Trends: 10 Ideas to Try This Year
- Favorite Spaces of the Week: Pure Salt Interiors
- What is Coastal Grandmother Style? (and why I’m loving this trend)
- The New Studio McGee Target Collection
- How to Add a Touch of Nancy Meyers Style to Your Kitchen and Home
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10 Comments
Laura
June 19, 2017 at 4:58 amEverything looks gorgeous, Jane! What an amazing space you’ve created. Enjoy your summer on that beautiful patio!
Jane
June 19, 2017 at 8:33 amThank you so much dear Laura! I appreciate you stopping by and leaving such a sweet comment! xo
Kathy @The Daily Nest
June 18, 2017 at 6:17 pmJane everything looks so fresh and beautiful!! We have have 3 little granddaughters and I totally get what you mean about keeping everything easy to clean! You are so talented and your attention to detail is perfect! Xo, Kathy
Jane
June 18, 2017 at 6:35 pmThank you so much for this sweet comment dear Kathy! Your kind words mean a lot, lovely friend! xo
Kelly Marohl
June 18, 2017 at 6:12 pmThis turned out so perfectly Jane! I adore your outdoor curtains and all of the breezy blue 🙂
Jane
June 18, 2017 at 6:32 pmThank you so much lovely friend! I appreciate you so much!
Rosanna Bassford
June 18, 2017 at 3:18 pmWhat a pretty space! Love all the blue and greenery!
Jane
June 18, 2017 at 3:57 pmThank you for your sweet comment dear Rosanna! xo
courtney davey
June 18, 2017 at 3:16 pmI LOVE all the pops of blue, and that rug is amazing! Great inspiration!
Jane
June 18, 2017 at 3:56 pmThank you so much dear Courtney! xo