If there is one thing I have embraced as I became an adult, it was enjoying outside. This has become particularly true when we finally bought out forever home and it has a large deck on the back covering the entire length of the house.

Spending some time at my uncles while we lived in a new province I really wanted our outdoor space to feel like his. He has plants everywhere, a pool (which is obviously coming later in life too!) and it is such a little oasis that I wanted too to create this type of space when we ended up moving to our new home. Keep in mind too, Rome wasn’t built in a day and you don’t need to spend hundreds of hundreds of dollars in order to have a space that you are comfortable being in. I know for us, with smaller kids and me also being very pregnant this year for the first part of the summer, hanging out on the deck will be a really big saver for sanity! Half of our deck is covered so it’s nice for being able to take some shade if the sun is very hot. Especially when we put the kids little pool up there and in the afternoon when the sun is the hottest it is typically covered by shade so the boys can play without being in direct sun too. I am really excited to get things going outside and spend some time with the boys out there. Right now it is far too cold to be out there and we need to fix a few deck boards. But let’s jump in to some solid things that I have out there to make out deck a spacious relaxing environment.

First things first, Get yourself some table and chairs so you can actually enjoy the summer. Whether or not you want to eat out there or want to enjoy some company from friends, having a nice table and chairs is a great idea. These are normally one of the most expensive items you will have but remember, if you do have a solid set it will last for as long as you need it to. Sometimes cheaper is not always the best. The same goes for tables, if you get the cheap plastic ones, chances are you will have a tough time having them last a long time if they aren’t made with at least a bit of quality.

Next, depending on where you live and what conditions that you have, I would recommend plants. Which sounds wild because if you would have asked me this before we had moved I would have said I hated plants and don’t want them anywhere near me. Only now that I have grown up a bit, I love having them around. I even wrote a blog about how I became a plant person here! Having plants on the deck is such a nice feeling. It feels like you are really welcome people into the space. It is however important to place them properly. Some plants like indirect light, others direct, some just shade, there is really a method to the madness finding the right spot to put plants so that they thrive. While these you could maybe get from amazon, I would suggest a local nursery because that way you are able to see them before they are bought. Checking for bugs or the health of the plant is important before purchasing. A big thing that held me personally back from getting plants is I didn’t know anything about the light, I assumed all plants needed direct light which is so not the case at all!

Another thing that I have on my deck that I love having is some sort of lighting. While the major lighting that I have is patio lights that I have made myself, I also love having a few sets of some solar lights too. They really put a nice glow as they begin to light up. For me, I have a few strings of solar lights that hang a bit higher. I also have a few solar lights that I tend to tuck into plants because I think it really makes some darker corners of the deck light up at night too. Especially when the evenings grows darker and they too produce a nice glow. We mainly have a lot of things on our deck where the over hang is, the other side is a work in progress. That being said though, having these lights make the other side look like we do in fact have things happening on that end even if they are not that lived in there. Ideally we would love to have an outdoor sectional there however that will come in time.

I also love to have different things like wind-chimes, or spiral wind toys. These are really nice to have. I even have a glow wind chime that while it doesn’t make noise it still looks beautiful once the evening comes and it too glows. Which is super huge. Having spirals that sparkle in the wind is a really nice thing to have when you are relaxing and taking things in.

For my kids, we have a few things too. One thing we have is a water/sand table. This is something that my son loves and we even have one inside the house that he can play with. Another thing that we were given though you can get on amazon was a little circus like tent. That way he can hang out there if he needs to. It’s a cool spot to relax and have a bit of shade or even use it as a hiding spot when we are relaxing. A solid kiddy pool is also key. Where this is on the deck, we just have a hard plastic one because an inflatable one may be more challenging to use if a splinter or a nail was sticking up it could really pop your pool and it be wasted. We also have different toys outside for the pool that can be used too.

Think of your patio as an extension of your home. Whatever you want to make yourself comfortable is something that you should put out there. For me, I love glow and lights, lots of colors, and plants (now that is!).