A few days ago, I finally got inspired to get our back porch decorated and looking beautiful for summer. It has been on the back burner for some time now, but I am so excited to have done something about it. We’ve now regained an “extra” space that was just bare before (except for our new grill we love found here!) and can enjoy sitting out here on summer nights.

I want to share with you the three smart ways to redesign an outdoor space at your home. These three ways will save you time, energy, and money, like they did for me!

1. Define What Purpose The Space Will Serve

Ask yourself what purpose your outdoor space will serve to know what direction to head in. For some, it may be to dine al fresco, while for others it is place to sit and enjoy reading a book. Maybe your space has room for both functions. But if you don’t define the function of the space, you’ll waste your time and money.

As you can see, we had a grill and a bench on our porch before this back porch makeover. We are enjoying my husband’s new grill, but one bench was not nearly enough to provide comfortable seating for us. Adding seating was a must, as was a few other pieces to make it feel comfortable and cozy.

2. Set A Budget And Shop Your Home

One of the hoops I needed to jump over was to get creative by working within a budget of $75 or under. If you’ve checked any stores lately on patio furniture prices, you will find that it is not anywhere near that price range, haha! So, I knew I needed to first “shop my home” and see what we already had that we could use before spending money on pieces that didn’t need to be bought or would push me way over budget.

Within just a few minutes of shopping my home, I knew I had much of what our back porch already needed! The black iron bench added seating while the lantern, galvanized/wood round table, rug, and potted plant would bring the space together! Tip: pick out a color palette before you shop your home so you can save time there too. Once I identified the black bench as our extra seating, I knew I wanted a neutral color scheme for our summer outdoor space.

3. Shop Stores Or Online

Next up I was ready to go shopping for my missing pieces which included some type of cushion (pillows or seat cushion) and an artificial summer plant that had height. This ended up being easy to do because I knew exactly what I was wanting to buy and how much I could spend to stay within my budget.

I feel in love with the black and white striped bench cushion (you can find a similar one here) and knew that would be perfect. And, there was a large range of faux plants available but was able to narrow my choices down to what balance remained from the bench cushion. I am very happy with the one I chose (you can find a similar one here).

Redesigning an outdoor space is worth it! And when you apply these three smart ways to makeover your outdoor space, you cut out wasted time, energy, and overspending! Are you ready to update your space now?

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