10 Easy & Affordable Ways to Upgrade Your Patio

1. Make your rocks interesting

Last week, I killed off the weeds in the gravel pathway leading to my patio, so it is now time to beautify the pathway.

Using a small gardening trowel, I cleared away the rocks and the top layer of dirt in a small area of the path.

I then used rocks of different colors and sizes from a large bag of river rocks from Home Depot, I created flower and butterfly shapes.

I pressed the stones down into the dirt and then brushed the smaller gravel back over the dirt. I just wanted the stone shapes to be a subtle surprise, but if you really wanted them to stand out, you could spread mulch around them instead of pea gravel.

3. Create privacy with curtains

I picked light beige waterproof curtains with Velcro tabs that make them easy to put on and off my curtain rods on the pergola.

I used some extra long curtain rods to hang the curtains. I drilled holes in my metal pergola inserting plastic anchors, screwed the curtain brackets to the pergola with metal screws and anchors, and added my curtain rod to the brackets, adjusting the length to the size of the pergola.

Attaching the curtains to the rod was so easy, and it took six curtains to cover the three sides. The tiebacks made the perfect finishing touch.

6. DIY a water feature

For a water fountain, I thrifted a cheap vase that was large enough to hold my water pump and I spray -painted it black. I put the vase inside a gutted light fixture, inserted the water pump into the vase and then inserted a dish that I had created by cutting the bottom off a plastic planter pot.

This held my plastic tubing upright in the center of the vase and allowed me to add just a few rocks at the top of the vase. I ran the cord through the door in the lantern and then added some driftwood and faux succulents that I had on hand.

6. DIY a double decker planter

Two-tiered planters look great but are so expensive!

To make one myself, I bought a large ribbed lampshade, ripped off all of the fabric, and spray painted the metal frame with a couple coats of white spray paint.

I found a terracotta pot in my garage that fit in the top of the lampshade and a pot that was the right size for the base of the lampshade.

Once my plants fill out and my vines grow around the lampshade, I believe it will look great.

8. Dress up your plain planters

If you have many economical plastic and fiberglass planters in your outdoor spaces, I have an idea for dressing them up. Get some pretty IOD transfers of animals, plants and bugs, and attach them to the planters and maybe even windows!

They adhere both to the glass and to the plastic pots easily and firmly. I did not use any sealer over them. I think they will hold up just fine, and next summer if I decide to do something different I will be able to scrape them off.

9. Add some ambient lighting

Lighting options are necessary if you want to hang out outside after dark.

Solar lights are a great way to avoid having cords all around. I decided to add a string of solar lights to my birdhouse chandelier, wrapping a branch around each arm of the chandelier.

I cut off the wood spindles and attached stems of a wreath to the chandelier with zip ties. With the addition of the greenery, now the chandelier looks pretty during the day and will provide ambient lighting at night.

I completed the lighting with a 40 feet strand of solar lights hung around the inner edge of the pergola with small S-hooks.

10. Get some plants off the ground

Hanging plants are so fun! I decided to be creative and put my plants into old plastic containers, which I then inserted in a couple of wall baskets which I had spray painted black.

To hang them on my brick wall, I just drilled a hole in the concrete and inserted an anchor and screw.

Patio upgrade

I hope I have shown you that upgrading your patio can be fun and inexpensive. What do you think makes a patio truly cozy and comfortable? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Next, Follow Along With My Incredible Small Kitchen Makeover For Only $100.