A little while ago I asked for your help to plan my outdoor dining space. Things are starting to take shape so I thought I’d share a little update on how it’s looking now and what my plans are to finish this area.
Big thanks to everyone who commented on my outdoor dining planning post and offered your suggestions, they were all super helpful and I’m still mulling over ideas of what to do in the corner where I proposed putting an outdoor bar.
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The space before
We totally wasted this area for the first 18 months of living in our new home. We had Arnie’s dog bed out here and little else!
Sick of looking at nothing when I was in the kitchen, I eventually put up the vertical garden Kmart hack I came up with but this large undercover tiled area was still void.
The original plan was to make this space an outdoor living room and the front balcony an outdoor dining room but after living in the home for some time, we felt these spaces would work better switched. That way the outdoor dining area would be just off the kitchen and the outdoor living room would be away from Arnie who would no doubt destroy all my cushions and decor if he could! I’m so happy we swapped these spaces, and now they flow a lot better.
Earlier this year we moved our existing outdoor dining setting out here and this is what the space looked like before…
Focus areas to improve
You’ll notice the outdoor setting really didn’t suit this space — much too bulky and the dark timber against the red brick and black cladding just looked odd. This table setting also wasn’t the most functional, the chairs had to butt up against each other to fit around the table and they were also very heavy and hard to move in and out. So I sold this setting on Gumtree and put the money towards buying a more contemporary and streamlined outdoor setting.
When I posted the outdoor dining planning post I was looking at a few new furniture options, taking into account the size of the table, overall style and of course cost.
I opted for the stunning table by local Canberra furniture makers boyandgirlco but customised the piece to make it longer and to have a reclaimed hardwood top rather than pallet timber.
OMG – I LOVE IT!!
At first I had a moment of doubt, did I make the right decision?? But I put the white wire chairs around it and was thrilled right away.!
How the space is looking now
I placed 6 white wire chairs from Kmart around the table and two feature armchair wire chairs from Matt Blatt at either end.
We strung festoon lights above the table to create that magical outdoor ambience. Having looked for outdoor festoon lights for a while, I was really happy to find this affordable option on eBay.
I added some greenery with a DIY pot plant stand I made. I plan on moving this around the corner and putting some larger plants in concrete aggregate pots in its place. And I placed some decor from The Reject Shop in this space too.
What next?
To finish this space I want to add a lot more greenery and create that outdoor oasis feel. I’m thinking of creating some painted pots similar to these ones I did a couple of years ago to add a few more pops of colour. And dare I say it, I’m also considering having a mix of artificial plants and real plants in these pots.
I KNOW I never thought I’d say it but having styled an investment property this week where I couldn’t use any any real plants, I had to source some high quality artificial ones and they are surprisingly very realistic and offer a big punch of greenery… we’ll see.
Definitely needing more decor out here too — more cushions, lanterns, hanging planters, and other decorative pieces to add a layer of styling.
So while there’s still a long way to go, I do feel like the new furniture and beginning of styling (mainly the festoon lights) have helped to create a totally different atmosphere out here. I’ll post another update as soon as I’ve finished the space!
If you have any ideas of fab products I should use or suggestions on what I should do out here, I’d love to hear them in the comments below! And if you like the look of how I’ve styled my dining space so far, be sure to check out these affordable ideas to add style and ambience to your outdoors or these ideas on how to decorate a rental balcony.
I love your table! We’re in the market for an outdoor setting too! So many just seem so boring or not what I’m after! You should add a kokedama into the plant mix – they’re so gorgeous! Plantscapes Brisbane is fabulous and really reasonably priced!
It’s looking great I really like the new chairs around the table. I’ve just finished building a deck and started to style it as well, it’s amazing what a few pot plants can do, a bit of greenery goes a long way. Loving your Kmart hacks too I think my deck area needs a vertical garden now! x
Great progress so far Gina. I really like the new furniture and the way you mixed two types of chairs. A rug out here would also look great to define the dining space more. Eagerly anticipating photos once you finish!
Thanks so much Sarah and I love the idea of a rug out here too… my only concern is our dog Arnie. They’re quite affordable now though so I probably will put one out here and just see how it goes 🙂 Can’t wait to finish this space off and spare pics on the blog soon!