Okay, we are winding down and it is time for the pretty parts of the Pocket Patio Project for the Spring 2021 One Room Challenge! 

If you are new here, welcome!  I’m Janet, a designer and blogger in the Greater Boston area with a passion for making life beautiful one room at a time.  

And this is the One Room Challenge a biannual event where hundreds of designers and bloggers complete a space from start to finish over the course of 6 (this time 8) weeks and document the progress and pitfalls in weekly posts.  It is a great way to get. stuff. done. with support and cheerleading from the many fellow participants!  

This Pocket Patio Project is the outside entrance to my home office #PPP.

The One Room Challenge is the brainchild of Linda Weinstein and is in its 19th year.  The official media sponsor is Better Homes and Gardens. Check out the blog HERE at the One Room Challenge where we all link posts each week and prepare to be awed and inspired by all the wonderful projects in progress! 

The Pocket Patio Project Week 5 Update

Plant life report: still looking good..thankfully!  They got a LOT of water falling from the sky last week, so they are all quite happy.  

No word on the door install yet…now I’m getting nervous that it won’t get installed in time, but worst case it will all get done EXCEPT that…which was, of course, the most expensive part! 

Last week, I assembled the lattice planters that will screen the driveway view.

This week, I’ve been shopping…with varying degrees of success.  Trying to get what I want with the limited remainder of the budget (since most of the budget went into the doors) has proven tricky.

Please note: this post contains affiliate links meaning I may make a small commission on any purchases at no additional cost to you.

I need to shop at discounters and stock is low at most of them, but third times a charm and yesterdays foray yielded some viable options. I’m being flexible about the color choices as long as they don’t clash with the blue of the house so I have the most chance of coordinating a rug and pillows and umbrella.

Having an outdoor rug helps define the seating space and makes a patio feel like an outdoor room. Outdoor rugs come in many styles and piles, but all tolerate outside conditions and can be hosed off. I even left my outdoor rugs (and my outdoor furniture) out on my back porch all winter without any problem - they looked better and stayed cleaner than they did in other years when I’ve packed them up and stored them in the garage!

The umbrella is because even though this is the northeast corner of the house, it turns out that in the summer, the midday sun is high enough that it actually falls on about half of the patio for a few hours! I love the pretty pagoda shaped umbrellas and the ones with the scalloped and contrast piped detailing on the edge, but alas, that is not to be right now.

I already have a bistro set I think will be a nice size that I will repurpose for the pocket patio.  And the chairs are comfortable :)

In my online searching I fell in love with this outdoor pillow series with appliqued 3D flowers. (link to purchase is in text below image) 

And while out shopping for the other pieces, I came across this similar, more budget-conscious version (there was only one in evidence)…the sky opened, the angels sang, and it jumped in my cart even though it doesn’t really fit on the bistro chairs.  It may have to live on the loveseat on the back deck, but it was too pretty to pass up. I still love the series above, but in the “look for less” category, this will do nicely.

I ended up with an assortment of green and white that will act as a nice neutral - green is nature’s neutral, after all - but it will still add some life to the abandoned parking lot patio, and along with the plants and flowers, will be perfect.

I settled on this trellis patterned green and white outdoor rug, and serendipitously found this trellis patterned pillow that is a perfect complement to it! A green umbrella rounds out the purchases.

So here is what we have left:

Install door and trim (fingers crossed it gets done!)

Get plants and flowers for the lattice planters

Acquire remaining styling props for photographing

Sip iced tea on the new patio!

Other posts you might enjoy:

Pocket Patio Project Week One (the before pics of the sad state of affairs)

Pocket Patio Project Week Two (inspiration and plans)

Pocket Patio Project Week Three (planting the garden)

Pocket Patio Project Week Four (some assembly required)