Minimize furniture to save money and space.
The first step to beautifying your porch and backyard pool is to recognize your outdoor space as a potential design canvas. Don't leave conscious layouts and diligent design locked indoors. Ensure your outdoor space feels like an extension of your house, with areas for cooking, dining and relaxation. Second, make sure you start with a fresh canvas. Fix anything that needs repair: re-surface your pool, re-seal your decks and repaint exterior surfaces, including the house siding and exterior pool walls. Using decorations to cover flaws will only draw attention to the yard's faults. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Clean your backyard and clean the pool -- pick up garbage, fallen branches, twigs and leaves. Dispose of broken items such as cracked birdbaths and worn pool toys.
2. Add decorative molding, dentils or brackets to your porch. Change the end posts or columns. Place free-standing columns or posts by the entrance to the pool.
3. Select furniture made of wicker, metal or wood that fits your yard and space. Choose durable pieces that are designed for use outdoors; you can use indoor furniture for covered porches where weather is less of a threat. Opt for seating with machine-washable cushions for easy clean-up.
4. Accessorize your space. Add accent pillows to chairs. Stencil a design on the tabletop. Include seasonal items as appropriate, such carved pumpkins during fall, wreaths during the winter and a patriotic throw for the summer months. Use plants, leaves and twigs from your own garden to add color and texture. Use artificial flora and fauna or decorate with dried bouquets during winter and fall.
5. Place focal art pieces on the wall of the porch, such as a weather vane, wrought-iron sculpture or tile mosaics. Use pieces that have aesthetic and functional purpose; decorative wire baskets can be used to hold garden gloves or bring a set of small garden statues to eye level.
6. Lead the eye from the house to the porch to the pool with pathways and statuary. Paint a runner on the porch floor leading from the door towards the pool; instead of a solid block of color, add personality and memories by painting your feet and walking along the path. Choose a different color for each family member. Build a stone, pebble, brick or grass walkway leading up to the pool. Place statues at the ends of pathways on top of columns. Re-purpose yard decorations such as tall urns and birdbaths for this purpose.
7. Separate outdoor space into "rooms." Use fencing to define the edge of the yard and create a private space. Do not compromise safety for style; ensure the pool gate and yard fence are up to regional standards for pool safety. Plant shrubs or use potted plants to line the perimeter of the pool. Turn walkways into hallways by carpeting them with a distinctive grass, lining them with curbing or in-ground lighting. Hang curtains around the porch like walls. Select a machine-washable mid- to heavy-weight fabric that can withstand the weather.
8. Fill in the gaps with plants as you would indoors. Drape greenery from overhead to make the porch and pool deck feel more enclosed and intimate; use an arbor as a base. Tuck potted plants behind furniture to soften corners.
Tags: outdoor space, during winter, pieces that, porch pool, potted plants, them with, your outdoor
