It’s February. It’s cold. It’s dark. You’ve been stuck inside for months. You’re not alone; February is when everyone is counting down the days until the weather warms up, and we can all spend time outdoors. But don’t let cabin fever get you down! Winter time is the perfect time to rethink your patio space. Make a plan for a revamped patio and feel confident that you’ll satisfy your sunshine cravings as soon as the weather allows.
Assess Your Patio Use
Okay, first thing first: what you do typically use your patio for? Are you grilling? Entertaining? Relaxing? Gardening? Unless you have a giant patio, it’s really important to think about how you like to spend your time before you draw up plans. Patios likely can’t service every outdoor need you have, but they definitely can service your most important outdoor need.
Chill Space
Maybe you’re not really into grilling, or you have your grill located somewhere else besides your patio. You’re the kind of person who wants to swap out patio grill space for patio chill space. A few things to consider when you are designing your patio layout is if you want your patio chill space to be for solitary relaxation purposes, for entertaining, or both. Patio furniture with cushions, reclining chairs, hammock, and end tables will all be patio items you’ll want to check out. Another major necessity if your patio is in direct sunlight: a huge umbrella or possibly a pergola.
Green Space
Calling all green thumbs! If you’ve maxed out your garden space, but you’re still wanting to tend to more plants, your patio is the perfect space for potted flower plants, herbs, and vegetables. Large, potted plants look great on steps, and raised garden boxes can be used on patios for planting vegetables. You can even DIY an herb garden from an old pallet, and you can hang it on your outer wall if you’re short on space. If you have patio stones, you can purposely leave space between stones to plant a decorative bush or flower plant. There are tons of ways that you can arrange flower pots on your patio, so make sure that you do your research on plant needs (direct or indirect sunlight, for example) and arrange accordingly.
When you’ve finished planning your patio project, turn your attention to another outdoor home element that may need some attention: your gutters. Never clean a gutter again with LeafGuard®’s maintenance-free gutters.