5 Easy and "Rental Friendly" Hacks to Transform Your Patio Into a Colorful Oasis!

Are you tired of looking at a dull and lifeless patio? Do you want to add some color and vibrancy to your outdoor space but don't want to make any permanent changes? No worries! I GOT YOU!

Here are 5 easy and "rental friendly" hacks to transform your patio into a colorful oasis (no power tools required!):

Interested in having me transform your own space with my Interior or E-Design Services? Click Here!

1. Hang Out with Vibrant Curtains:

Outdoor curtains are really a triple whammy! They add the look of wall color to a space, help add texture, and can be used for both privacy or defining areas of the space! All you need is a tension rod to make that happen, and BOOM! Color explosion.

Not only can curtains help add a pop of color, it can also mask unwanted areas of your balcony! In this Rental Friendly Parisian Balcony Makeover, we actually used the peach curtains to create and mask a storage area behind her seating space! Love a good double duty hack!

Don't have a ceiling or wall to hang curtains from? Add posts into a planter like this brilliant DIY from Southern Crush At Home!

2. Harness the Power of Wood Palettes and Paint:

Personally, I'm all about MAJOR transformations, even for rentals. One simple way to do this, (without having to mess with permanent installations), is by using wood palettes or pre made outdoor screens to cover up your walls or even create your OWN walls.

Let your creativity run WILD with this hack! Here are couple of ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

Color Block Your Own Wall Mural:

Create a colorful DIY planter wall installation:

(Image via Pinterest)

OR COMBINE THE TWO:

3. Lay It All Out With a Geometric Rug or Removable Decking :

We all love a good statement patterned floor, and one of the easiest ways to bring this type of vibe to life in a rental, is with a bold geometric outdoor rug. Some of my favorites are through Fab Habitat, like this colorful pink and green rug!

Go for a colorful geometric pattern and then keep your furniture in solid colors with some black and white accents OR do the opposite! I always love a look of a black and white floor with colorful accents like this gorgeous patio:

Get the look of this outdoor space with this black and white rug from Wayfair:

Want to actually PAINT a color block on the floor? Snag some interlocking decking, and paint to your hearts desire or use a stencil on the removable decking!:

4. Light Up your Life With Battery Powered Lighting:

Add statement lighting ANYWHERE with these battery powered pendant lights! Add a shade of your choosing, hang with a ceiling hook, AND VOILA! Plus, these are super duper cheap! Now, these do not give off a ton of light, so for more effective lighting, mix in some solar powered or plug in string lights to create the perfect night time ambiance!

Get Creative With Your Lighting Options:

- Spray paint the string to be a fun color!

- Color block paint a bamboo shade!

- Mix and match colorful shades in a cluster!

- Add colorful pompoms to a basic rattan shade!

Fake A Green Thumb With Greenery Panels and Astroturf:

Going all out with greenery is the key to truly making a space feel lush AND luxe (and adding an extra green color pop is just the icing on the cake!). Use these greenery panels to cover ugly railings (like we did in this patio makeover) or use it to create your own statement greenery wall by attaching to wood palettes! Don't forget about the transformation that can happen by adding greenery to the floor with this super soft and realistic astroturf rug! Just trim down to size and lay flat!

Add even MORE color by incorporating painted palm leaves or florals into the greenery panels:

....And THE OBVIOUS - USE PILLOWS AND COLORFUL FURNITURE TO EASILY UPGRADE YOUR SPACE! Der.

In conclusion, transforming your patio into a colorful oasis is all about letting your creativity flow and not to be afraid to truly make a TRANSFORMATION!

With these 5 easy and "rental friendly" hacks, you'll have a patio that is both fun and functional in NO TIME. So why wait? Start sprucing up your space today and get ready to bask in the beauty of your new colorful paradise!

Inspired Yet? Follow me on Instagram and Pinterest!

Interested to see how I can help you dramatically transform your patio space?

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MY DESIGN SERVICES!

Eclectic Glam, Pink Dining Room Makeover made LUXE with DIY!: Before & After

One thing you need to know about me is that I just can't keep things "simple". If a client wants to go all out on a space, well by golly, I'm gonna figure out a way to make that happen! One of my FAVORITE ways to do this, is by creating pieces that look either oversized or built-in. Why? Because that is something that makes a design stand out from the rest. It makes your space special, because it IS special to the space! Can't afford to have a contractor build out a space or don't want to invest in expensive storage pieces? I believe there is ALWAYS a way to transform a space with some extra DIY Magic.

BEFORE:

The first thing I noticed about this space was the large, enclosed, blank wall behind the sofa, which is perfect for adding in those built-in elements, as well as enough space for some statement wallpaper! The client loved the Gucci Crane Wallpaper, so I knew it was a "must" to incorporate that type of pattern in some way as well.

The concept was to create a DIY wall to wall sideboard, made to look like this $1499 CB2 Cabinet using IKEA cabinets, DIY Doors and half round fluting (but, like, twice the size of this cabinet):

We then would incorporate DIY brass bistro shelves using copper pipes, solderless bonding, and pre-cut Ikea glass shelves for some extra storage and dimension. These shelves would then hang in front of a pink crane wallpaper framed in moulding on the wall above the DIY sideboard! Not only does framing out the wallpaper mean you can use HALF the amount of wallpaper, it also makes it a more unique, oversized "art" statement piece!

ORIGINAL DESIGN BOARD:

HOW WE MADE THE SIDEBOARD:

Because the cabinet was so large and I knew that half round wood panels can add up in cost, I wanted to make sure the actual foundation of the cabinet was as budget friendly as possible. We ended up using 4 of the Ikea Kallax Shelves and the Ikea Stubbard Legs as the structural part of the cabinet.

1. Measure and Cut Doors and Panels

Using the Ryobi Table Saw, we cut down 1/2" MDF boards to create custom sized doors, the base face plate, sides, and thin panels to cover the seams of the shelves.

2. Prime MDF and add Fluted Paneling

After priming and prepping the MDF doors and panels, we then cut half round 1/2" dowel rods down to size and nailed them into the doors.

3. Drill Hinge Holes

Using a Cabinet Hinge Installation Template and Drill Bit, we drilled the holes for our overlay cabinet hinges onto the cut MDF doors, being VERY careful not to drill a hole all the way through the door. However, remember that we will be adding half round moulding to the door fronts, which will help cover up mistakes!

4. Fill nail holes, paint door fronts and backs with paint sprayer and top coat.

5. Attached legs and base faceplate to the base of the cabinet:

With the cabinets sitting bottom up, we glued and screwed in the legs along the seams to help hold the cabinets together, then used glue and a nail gun to attach the face plate.

6. Carefully flip over, then add hinges and attach doors.

7. Glue and nail remaining cut MDF panels to fill any remaining gaps and the sides

8. Add the rest of the fluting to the base plate, trying your best to match the fluting placement with the doors.

9. Touch up paint and VOILA!

The total cost for this cabinet was about $600, including materials...which compared to about $3000, is a pretty sweet deal!

REMAINING DIY DETAILS

Bistro Shelves:

Bistro shelves can be incredibly expensive, so we knew it was worth attempting this brilliant DIY inspired by Eclectic Twist!

We were hesitant at first at if these would actually hold the weight, but we were actually impressed (and relieved that they are still holding strong!).

Picture Frame Moulding:

Moulding adds SO much texture to a space, and it is actually surprisingly easy to install! All you need is either a miter saw or even miter shears, a nail gun, and a level! Make sure to caulk around the moulding and fill nail holes before painting!

To frame out the wallpaper, you can either attach the wallpaper to a thin piece of wall panel sheet, then attach the moulding on top, OR you can simply add the moulding to the wall like normal, and apply the wallpaper to the wall inside the moulding.

Here is the final result! The client is super happy with this space and ready for all of the entertaining to be had! I am personally obsessed and wish it was my own dining room, TBH. What do you think??

Want help transforming YOUR home?

Check out my design services or schedule a free 1:1 discovery call to see how we can best work together!

Photo Credits: Alyssa Udovitsch @alyssaonfilm_

Kitchen Table: TOV

Blue Dining Chairs: Anthropologie

Black and Cane Dining Chairs: Homary

Wallpaper: Etsy

Rug: Ruggable

Chandelier: Lamps Plus

Curtains: Wayfair

Floor Lamp: Urban Outfitters

Art: Minted

Light Pink Paint: Frosted Rose - Benjamin Moore

Dark Pink Paint: Rosy Tan - Benjamin Moore

Want help transforming YOUR home?

Check out my design services or schedule a free 1:1 discovery call to see how we can best work together!

And make sure to follow me on Instagram HERE for more maximalist transformations, design inspo, and tips!

One Room Challenge - Week 1!

THE TIME IS HERE! The Fall 2021 #oneroomchallenge with @betterhomesandgardens is underway and somehow I have convinced the hubs that we "need" to remodel our bedroom and that it will still be pink...with more pink... He must have blacked out whenever this discussion took place because I am SHOCKED that he is going along with this. He recently did a "no more pink" ban on the house, yet here we are, so I'm just taking this little miracles as they come!

So HERE IT IS. The glorious mood board for out Pattern Party Bedroom. Yes, it's gonna be biizzzaaayyyy, but I'm also here. for. it.

The Before

Our bedroom has always been an after thought. We made small changes here and there to make it more "insta-worthy", but the reality is, I have never loved it. We have had to make do using a lot of our old pieces and I was really missing out on having a show stopping backdrop with how the current layout was. The bedroom is not HORRENDOUS, but it just isn't something that excites and inspires us.

The Details

We will be conquering everything DIY for this project. Most of these will be pretty simple with the help of my handy dandy dad, but it's a nice little list, so we have some WORK TO DO.

The list of changes that we will be tackling are:

1. Move the bed to the right wall and create arched bookshelves on either side of the bed to make the bed appear to be on a sunken wall. The bookshelf frame will be made to look like it is actually part of the wall and will be textured- we are just too lazy to build actual walls instead of bookcases.. but I digress..

2. Create a DIY stencil using a Cricut to paint an Anthropologie wallpaper dupe behind the bed. (This could be a disaster)

3. Add wall sconces above the bed.

4. Build a half circle tufted velvet head board

5. Add modern picture frame paneling to the walls AND ceiling.

6. Color block the walls and ceiling.

7. Style the shit out of the place with fun new furniture and decor!

I will be keeping you updated on the progress through my instagram and blog, so make sure to follow along to see how these DIY's actually come together, and stay tuned for the final reveal towards the end of November! Also don't forget to check out www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog to see all of the exciting projects taking place this challenge!

WISH ME LUCK YOU GUYS!