Emma’s Backyard Patio Refresh

I am SO excited to share our backyard patio update with you all today! This is one of those spaces in our home (or I guess outside of our home, technically) that Trey and I have been wanting to fix up since we moved in about three years ago. We love to have friends over and entertain and I know we’re going to use this space a ton this autumn.

I worked with Amazon Home on this refresh. Literally everything inside of the space is from Amazon and I was so pleased with the quality of the furniture and other items we picked out. Trey actually hadn’t seen some of the final selections until they came in the mail and as we were opening up the boxes and setting everything up he kept saying how much he liked everything and how modern it all felt. I couldn’t agree more. You’ll see we also filmed a little video of us putting the space together so you can see how quickly it came together once we had everything. And please note my very lazy supervisor in the video (my pug, Lovers). Ha!

Here’s that supervisor in action. As you can see, he was pretty pleased with how the space turned out too. 🙂

Over the summer, we had the canopy on our back patio replaced (from a local company, and it’s custom for the size of our space). The previous canopy had multiple rips, which leaked anytime it rained, a LOT of mold, and also this weird spot where water would pool and just get trapped. Trey and I also didn’t necessarily love the color or stripe design. This was just what came with our home when we bought it and we always knew we’d update it one day when we were ready to invest in a new canopy. So that made a huge difference in the space.

After the new canopy was in, setting up the space was pretty simple and only took one afternoon. Here’s a video of us doing it:

Other than the canopy, our only issue was we didn’t have anything for the space. So there was no seating, no cute accents, no atmosphere—nothing. We wanted outdoor furniture that felt modern in the design but that would also hold up well outside over the years. We also talked about getting a propane fire pit, which again we wanted to look modern and sleek. At our last home, we had built a little outdoor (wood burning) fire pit. Which is such a great feature to have here in the midwest because in the autumn and early spring (sometimes the summer too) it’s a fun thing to sit around with friends and just hang out. But I loved the idea of a propane fire pit this time around because it’s much easier to get going (you literally just press a button) and you can easily control the fire/flame. To me, it’s kind of like having a wood burning fireplace versus a gas fireplace. Although I love the idea of a wood burning fireplace, the truth is I would actually use a gas fireplace much more because it’s so much easier.

We also hung a lot of string lights to give the space a really fun atmosphere in the evenings, which is probably the time of day we will use it most. I also LOVE these giant Rivet planters I got in order to add a few plants to the patio. They have a really nice shape and a nice iron stand. Our backyard leads right up to a forest (we don’t have any neighbors behind our home, just the forest), so there is no shortage of plants around, but it’s nice to have a couple in the space too.

Below, I’ll list every item in the space. Trey and I are so happy with how it turned out and I’m so glad we finally made time to make this space our own. I can’t wait to have friends over for a glass of wine or a hot chocolate this season! xo. Emma

Room Details: Outdoor Couch + Chairs, Fire Pit, Rivet Planters, Throw Pillows, Outdoor Rug, String Lights, Copper Mugs.

Credits // Author and before photos: Emma Chapman. Video: Jared Statler. Music: Jeremy Larson. Photography: Elise Abigail. Project Supervisors: Lovers and Steve (our dogs).