This past Saturday morning I sat staring out the window at the two foot tall weeds surrounding our patio, and the dirt they were growing from that is supposed to be landscaped by our apartment building who knows when. I couldn't handle it anymore so I took to pulling the weeds and from there the project kind of snowballed into a complete patio makeover. I was too in the zone to remember to take a before shot so just imagine weeds galore wherever you see mulch.
First, I started by laying down weed block fabric because I did not want those seriously hard to pull weeds coming back. Then, since our patio is on the small side with a lot of wasted space, I decided to extend the concrete by creating a grid using fifteen 12"sq. pavers where I could set up a small seating area. After the grid was in place I laid down the mulch and packed it down in between the pavers. To finish off the landscaping I spaced out our already planted succulents around the perimeter of the patio, alternating a few of our wood blocks and candles from our wedding centerpieces for a little ambient lighting. The weed fabric, pavers, and mulch cost me $45 and took about an hour to put in place, and I love the way our little extra seating area turned out!
The landscaping alone was a serious upgrade, but with the weather getting warmer I wanted to be able to eat outside and enjoy all of my hard work. So I headed off to IKEA in search of a new patio set. I ended up choosing the ASKHOLMEN Table and four ASKHOLMEN Folding Chairs paired with the HÅLLÖ Pads, which cost $150 for the whole set. I finished the table off with a few more succulents and I was done! I couldn't be happier with the finished product!