Hello Spring! How to create the best Outdoor Space Ever!

Hello my peeps!

Today is the first day of spring!  Woo-hoo!  My neck of the woods has seen bi-polar weather resulting in 40 degree lows and 80 degree highs the very next day.  It's been murder on my seasonal allergies but better than the ice and snow still plaguing the North and the Mid-West.  Hopefully the weather will calm down soon and we can enjoy the sunshine on our faces.

As spring approaches, I'm looking forward to enjoying my backyard with a nice cool drink and public radio playing the Black Keys and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and such.  Right now my backyard and lawn are a complete mess.  Tree branches fallen everywhere due to the high winds, dandelion weeds popping up out of control, and my outdoor string lights destroyed by the insects and squirrels.

This weekend I'll need to pull out the lawn mower and get to work, hard work.  Which is not fun.  For motivation, I've combed through Pinterest looking for inspiration in having the best outdoor space ever!  Let's take a look shall we?

Outdoor Seating

Quick, what is an outdoor space without any seating?  It's just a field, really.  Outdoor seating tops my list for any must have.  I do have a random assortment of outdoor furniture already occupying my covered patio and front porch.  I got some white plastic Adirondack chairs on sale last Fall but they are ill-suited for my porch.  They are too big, do not match my 1960's house, and don't pop with color.  So I will relegate them to the backyard with all the green foliage.  

I love the two DIY ideas below for additional seating and to bring some color in the mix.   

I feel like I could create this colorful bench with cinder blocks, home-made cushions and wooden beams.  The geometric shape is a better profile for my front porch and those cushions are so cute.

I also love re-painting old furniture and this idea to paint a wooden bench in stripes seems really fresh and interesting.  Any stripes really, are always a good idea.  I'm really digging the yellow, white and aqua combo.

Outdoor Lighting

I had a combination of rope lighting, outdoor cafe lighting and twinkly white Christmas lights going on last year.  Unfortunately the bugs and the squirrels took out the outdoor cafe lighting.  The squirrels had a great time using it as their own highway through my backyard.  Most of the rope lighting and all the twinkly lights survived.  This year I need to think outside the box in setting up my outdoor lighting.

I like this concept of placing the twinkly lights together in a basket like so.  It makes a bigger impact that just a small strand.

I also like the twinkly lights dripping of the trees.  Seems like that may be a better alternative to draping the cafe lights horizontally.  The effective is rather romantic and dramatic.

Outdoor Chandelier

I had also put up a DIY Outdoor Chandelier to bring a lil' sparkle to my backyard last summer.  I made it with colored plastic gems, a little Ikea octopus dryer with the eight arms, and some strands of beads.  The wind actually caused the beads and gems to get pretty tangled and ruined.  So I've found some new chandelier DIYs to try for this year.

 I could attach the plastic gems to base made from chicken wire or wire mesh.  This way the gems or beads wouldn't be long enough to tangle and I would still keep the sparkle.

I could try to make a chandelier using nautical floats for a pretty pop of color.  I know the nautical floats can be found in some antique shops but they are not cheap.

I like the simplicity of this grapevine wreath with mini mason jars hanging from it.  Really rustic, lovely and super easy to do.

Planter Love

The aloe vera and succulents I've been keeping inside are almost ready to come outside.  Some of my plants have grown and need to be re-potted into larger pots.  I want to spruce up my plain terra cotta pots before then and found some really cute, color-blocking ideas.

This seems simple enough.  Just paint a coat of yellow paint, then free hand the lines in white.

I like that the inside is painted a contrasting color as well.  Really cute and again there's my new favorite color combo of yellow, white and aqua!

This seems perfect for my skill level and my tendency to get really lazy, just paint the rim and you're done!

Flowers

Lantana plant

Here in Texas, there are parts of your outdoor space that will totally get absolutely fried by the sun.  I have a few trees that provide some much needed shade.  But there are some spots that I have trouble getting anything to grow because of the heat.

My mama plants lantana plants in the un-shaded places in her garden.  They will thrive in the brutal sun and are absolutely gorgeous.  They also attract butterflies so WIN all around.  I'll be stocking up on these to plant in my planter box outside.  

How cute is this planter box?

So tell me, mis amigos, are you excited to get started creating your own little backyard oasis or are you dreading the spring cleaning?  What tips or DIYs do you have to share?

Tell me!  I would love to know.

Later gators,

Marg

Image Source - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13