Perfecting Your Patio

Designing the perfect patio starts with asking yourself how you most often use your outdoor space. Will you be having your morning coffee outside? Or maybe you love to entertain and want to use this as a space for al fresco dining? Or perhaps you love to lounge outside and read, enjoying quiet evenings. Once you’ve decided on how you use your patio, this will inform the type of furniture that you buy and there are endless options to suit any style or comfort level. After you’ve chosen your furniture, you get to choose all kinds of fun accessories and greenery to complement your design. If you need help deciding, here are 4 different ways that you can make the most of your outdoor space.

Casual Chatting

If you're most likely to entertain small groups of people and want your space to be the spot where conversation flows, consider arranging a group of chairs around a central outdoor coffee table. The chairs can be as plush as you’d like, but we’d recommend steering towards more comfortable chairs here that have a sloping back and possibly an arm rest. Unless you have a really large space, we’d recommend avoiding chairs that are too bulky and instead focus on ones that provide comfort as well as clean, modern lines. To really make this space pop, consider tying it all together with an outdoor carpet, some throw pillows and some light accessories like the group of lamps in the corner. These will add a touch of elegance as well as add ambiance for those warm summer nights.

Eating Al Fresco

Love to eat outside? Setting up your patio as an outdoor dining area might be the perfect option for you! This is great for people who have an outdoor kitchen, or if your patio is right off of your kitchen to help with bringing food inside and out.  For this set up, a dining table would be a great option. If your patio is covered like the photo below, you have more options, but if you’re setting up your dining table in an uncovered area, make sure that it’s weather-proof! A table with seating for 6 is generally a great start for your outdoor eating area. When choosing chairs, we’d recommend sleek chairs that allow guests to tuck in close to the table as well as each other. Adding a touch of greenery is always welcome and gives this patio a peaceful vibe.

Love to Lounge

For those of us who love to lounge outside with a good book or a glass of wine, an outdoor couch will be perfect for you. Similar to your dining table, if your patio is uncovered, you’ll want to make sure you choose fabric that won’t fade in the sun. For this sofa, plus cushions, a geometric rug and brightly coloured throw pillows combine to create a fun, comfortable environment where you could easily lounge all day long. Side tables as well as a coffee table are key for this set up so that there is space for you (and multiple guests) to place drinks or snacks. The round shape of both of these tables adds a calming feel to the space, complemented by the lush greenery on either side of the sofa.

All of the Above

If you’re having trouble deciding how best to use your patio, or you know that it often serves different purposes, try mixing all three of the above elements together! Mixing a couple of chairs opposite a small sofa can make a great seating area that’s perfect for lounging solo as well as entertaining a small group of friends. If you have the space, you can also include a small dining table as seen here with four chairs, perfectly spaced for a family meal or small get together. When selecting all the furniture for a mixed-use patio, we’d recommend choosing a similar colour for all of your bigger pieces of furniture so that the space looks cohesive. You can then go in with accessories and pops of colour to brighten the space and add colour and texture.

Photo Credit: Shellard Photography