It’s definitely that time of year when most of us head outdoors and the absolute best is when you have a really cool outdoor spot at your own house to relax, entertain, and just plain enjoy the nice weather.

If you’ve been around here for awhile you are probably familiar with my outdoor living room.

But if you are in need of some awesome inspiration for your own outdoor space you’re in luck because today I’m not only taking you on a little tour of my outdoor patio area but I’ve teamed up with some of the best of the best to share their outdoor living spaces so you are sure to find all the inspiration you need to create a little outdoor oasis of your own.

(You’ll find links to more outdoor spaces at the bottom of this post, and I’ll be added more throughout the week!)

It’s not too late! Summer is in full swing and there is still lots of sunshine to be had!

My outdoor patio is both an outdoor living room and an outdoor dining area

The patio just off of the back of our house used to be really sad. It was pretty much a place for random kid’s toys and we would occasionally have a meal out there but I have to admit that it was never very enjoyable because it was pretty unkempt.

Here’s what I mean.

So a couple of years ago we decided that since the backyard was one of the things that drew us to our home in the first place we should put a bit of effort into making it a place we could actually use and enjoy.

The idea was that it should be a true extension of our home.

And since I wanted it to be a literal outdoor room I decided that I would inject elements from inside, outside both in what would be the outdoor living room and the outdoor dining room.
We started by adding some really comfortable seating (from Lowe’s) and went with metal furniture so that it would be really easy to maintain.

We had a definite issue with the sun in the evening so I made some outdoor curtains from drop cloths and hung them from a DIY outdoor curtain rod.
Not only do the curtains help with the sun but they create a really nice feel in the space.

We defined the space with an outdoor rug and with the addition of the furniture, the curtains, and a few fun accent pillows we had a perfect outdoor living room!

On the other side of the patio we created an outdoor dining space.

We already had the table and chairs but I cleaned it up with a new coat of stain and we hung our outdoor curtains on this side too.
To define the space and to add a pop of color and some lighting in the evening I took the old chandelier that we had taken out of our indoor dining room and created a candle chandelier.

It was the perfect way to bring the pop of green from the curtains over to this side of the patio too!

You can pretty much find us eating out here as a family and often with friends every night in the summer.

We do a lot of entertaining in this space and I found that I was needed a place to serve drinks so when I saw a diaper changing table at a garage sale for only 5 bucks, I grabbed it and turned it into an outdoor beverage station which has been so much fun! Just for fun and to really make the space feel like a true outdoor room, I added a bit of wall art (for free) with this California love art made from paint sticks.

This outdoor patio area is pretty much the perfect place to hang out and we spend so much time out here hanging out with the kids and when we have company we have a perfect spot to chat while the kids run around and play. We even created a giant outdoor chalkboard for them and it is a big hit!

Ok. Not to kick you out or anything but there is so much outdoor inspiration waiting for you with the links below (just click on any outdoor space to go take the tour!)

Have fun!