Let’s Celebrate Summer – Quick & Easy Refresh

Say “Hello” to summer with these quick summer backyard decorating ideas! Quickly refresh your backyard and get ready to relax!

Is your backyard in need of a quick refresh to get ready for the summer season?  I have some easy summer backyard decorating ideas to share with you!

I have also joined together with 9 of my blogging friends to share even more ideas!  The links to The Summer Porch Blog Hop are at the end of my post.  Once you have visited all of the ladies, I think you will be able to whip your outside areas into shape in no thyme!

Let’s Get Started!

No matter how you arrived here today, whether you are joining me from one of my friends’ blogs or you are one of my regular readers or you found me on Google or via Hometalk, I am so glad you are here!  My name is Kimberly and I have a passion for flowers (a former florist) and flour (a former pizzeria owner) and many things in between!  Especially rusty and chippy items!

I love to share all the things I have learned over the years.  Sometimes I tell stories about my life.  Other times, I will share a craft or a recipe. I hope you enjoy your thyme here today and learn at least one thing during your visit!

If you are interested in learning more about my entrepreneurial journey, some interesting details can be found here: Sprout, Grow & Bloom!

Let’s get ready for summer backyard decorating!

Steps to Refreshing Your BackYard for Summer

• Start with a clean area.
• designate specific purposes for each area
• style the area to reflect your personality & interests
• relax & enjoy!

Our Outdoor Area

One of the major perks of living in Southwest Florida is the ability to enjoy the outdoors almost year round.  We knew that once we were living in Florida full time, we would want to add a swimming pool to our backyard.  Our backyard addition was completed a little over a year ago.  If you are contemplating an outdoor addition, I share some of our thought process in this post Expanding Our Living Area with An Outdoor Addition

In addition to wanting to have a pool, I needed more room for all of my “stuff”.  We downsized from a rather large farmhouse (over 3300 square feet) to a ranch style home with about 1700 square feet.  The farm also had a number of outbuildings as well as a second house on the property.  Let’s just say, I had to part with a lot of things and I still had a lot of treasures to find places for in Florida!

The lanai faces north.  If you are wondering what the difference is between a lanai and a sunroom, please check out this post!  

Let’s Start with A Clean Area

The first step in getting your backyard ready for the summer season is to give it a good cleaning.  In our case, that starts with my husband using the power washer to give the pool enclosure or cage a good cleaning.  Our subdivision requires us to have a pool cage but I would want one anyway.  It helps keep out some of the larger wildlife as well most of the leaves.  It doesn’t keep out the dirt though so it is important to wash it off a few times a year.

The boots Dave is wearing were my Dad’s.  They are a bit big for Dave but they help keep his feet dry when he is power washing the cage or the pool deck.

If you have a patio or a screened in area, I suggest giving it a good sweep and maybe even a quick wash with a bit of soapy water, depending on the type of flooring you have.

Our patio at the farm wasn’t covered.  If we would have stayed in Illinois, I would have made this area into a 3 season room or maybe even a heated sunroom.

The next picture how our lanai looked when we first moved in.  More about it can be found here: The Evolution of The Lanai

I love these wire urns.  I am so fortunate to have them!  They belonged to my paternal grandmother.  I am not quite sure how my parents ended up with them, but I am glad they did!  I have them in our front yard right now.  They are flanking the gazing globe that used to be in my parents (eventually our) side yard.

How to Decorate with Vintage Garden Accessories

I seem to have gotten off track….

Determine How You are Going to Be Using Your Area

While we were relaxing in the pool, my friend Glo Ann and I were discussing how to decorate the lanai.  This picture was before the walls had been power washed.  Even a year later, we still need to paint and do some spackling to cover up where the existing lanai was taken down.  I need to make that more of a priority!

Our backyard addition is divided into several areas or stations that each serve a function.  The main function is of course relaxing in the pool!  I also have a couple of different seating areas, a potting station, a dining area, and a crafting/cooking/storage area.

Vintage Wrought Iron on the Lanai

This is a wrought iron chaise lounge that I found on my parents’ deck when I was working on the downsizing/moving project.  I have no idea where it came from!  It was green and now it is painted black.

To get ready for summer, I added a beige chaise lounge pad and changed out the pillows.

I have two of these settees.  My dear friend , Lisa , hand painted the flower detail on them before we moved to Florida in the fall of 2019.  The paint has held up amazing well!

Cozy Nook On the Lanai

This is a close up of the area that we still need to plaster and paint.  It is where the old screen was attached to the original lanai. I had toyed with the idea of “building” a fireplace with a mantel out here on the lanai but I decided that it would be more practical to have the “fireplace” in the house.

At first, I had two white ice cream chairs and a white wicker coffee table in this area. It made a cute display and I had coffee out here a few times but the chairs aren’t as comfortable as they could be.  They are cute though so I need to find somewhere else to use them!

I decided to move the 2nd of the black wrought iron settees to this area.  I added an old door with ANTIQUE MARKET stenciled on it.  I also moved one of my wicker chairs over to this area.

Now this area is a lot more comfortable! Even though the Joy pillow is technically a Christmas pillow, I kept it out as I feel we could all use a little more Joy year round!

Pictured below is a close up of a sand dollar themed centerpiece.  To see how I made it and learn  more about the Legend of the Sand Dollar, please see this post: The Legend of the Sand Dollar

 

Dining Area

It really isn’t Christmas in May on the lanai!  This just happens to be the best picture I have at the moment that shows the dining table and the storage/prep cabinets.  Sometimes you get so wrapped up in things you forget to take a picture!

Here is a more seasonally appropriate one.  It doesn’t show the area as well

 

Potting Station

As I former florist, I really like potting combo pots and making European Dish Gardens.  I would love to have an actual potting bench but I just haven’t found the perfect one yet!  In the meantime, I made a potting table out of an old table I used to use in the flower shop.  To see how I “made”, please see this post: How to Make a Potting Table

I love having the potting table right outside our bedroom window.  I can enjoy see the blooming plants when I am in the bedroom.

Crafting/Cooking & Storage Area

In order to minimize trips in and out of the house, I keep all the things we need to entertain in these cabinets.  I also keep some of my crafting supplies in there.

Now It Is Thyme To Relax & Enjoy!

 

Summer Porch/Patio/Outdoor Blog Hop

Meet My Amazing Friends!

Juliet – aloverlylife.comKimberley – fromfarmhousetoflorida.comKim – perfectingplaces.comMaria – purehappyhome.comMary Jo – masterpiecesofmylife.comTraci – mysimpaticolife.comCarol – blueskyathome.comMarie – thisdearcasa.comSonya – sonyaburgess.comDonna – anorganizedseason.com