Summer Outdoor Living Room Update

*I received World Market product for this post, but all opinions are completely my own. This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Persia Lou! 

Last fall we moved into a new home. One of the things we really love about this house is that it has a great outdoor space. Unfortunately, until now we hadn’t done much with the space. But with the days getting longer and the nights getting warmer, it seemed like a good time to make our yard more inviting and enjoy some outdoor living. Here’s what we started with:

Not a whole lot.

The patio and pergola are nice, but we didn’t have much in the way of furniture or outdoor decor. We threw a table and chairs from our previous home back there and kind of left it at that. While it was nice to have a dining set, I really wanted more of an outdoor living room – something comfortable and relaxing.

I didn’t have a big enough budget to buy all new furniture, so I decided to try to rearrange what I had and add in a few colorful pieces from World Market to create a totally new space. And here’s what we ended up with:

Yay! Hello Summer!

I started off by putting the table in another part of the yard and rearranging the chairs into a little conversational seating area. The chairs are a little dark for my taste, so I brought in a lot of white and bright accents to lighten things up.

I love, love, love our new Barcelona Blue Rio Indoor-Outdoor Mat – it grounds the space and adds a lot of color (and you can’t beat the price either!). I think an outdoor rug or mat is really key to getting that cozy, homey feeling in an outdoor space.

I tossed in a couple of fuchsia outdoor pillows add another punch of color. (I considered orange too, but ultimately went with the fuchsia. Thanks for all the votes on facebook! Do you agree with my choice or do you think it should have been orange? Or do you think I should add in orange? There were plenty of “both” votes!)

That coffee table was the big DIY project for this space. I really like the way it turned out, and I will have a post on that soon. (Who can guess what it’s made from?)

I’m also pretty crazy about that white metal Dmitri outdoor stool. It has a clean, modern shape that I dig. I also like that it helps to lighten up the space.

I also added a couple of super simple macrame(ish) hanging planters (post coming soon!).

Fuchsia Stripe Pandan Tray – Acrylic Footed Hobnail Glassware – Embossed Floral Bettina Bowls – Ivory Crochet Napkins – Tropical Mango French Soda – Umbrella Straws

I really am happy our new outdoor space! What do you guys think?

Does your patio or yard need some sprucing up? Could you use a team of experts and a $5000 prize to help you get it in shape? Um, YES! Right?

World Market has teamed up with Rachel Ray Magazine and Porch.com for an awesome outdoor living giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is submit a photo of your yard, and you could win $3000 worth of landscaping services from Porch and $2000 worth of outdoor furnishings from World Market. Even better, your new space will be professionally styled by a Porch Blogger and your fab renovation could be featured in Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine!

Sounds pretty amazing, right? It ends June 30, 2015 so hurry over and ENTER!