5 Back Patio Ideas On A Budget

You want your patio to look nice, but you don’t necessarily have a ton of cash to spend. There are ways you can dress it up without having to go on a shopping spree! Here are 5 back patio ideas on a budget to make it more attractive.

Do a quick clean

Sprucing up your back patio is easy to do with a quick clean. Patios and outdoor areas can gather dust and leaves and other debris. It collects slowly so we don’t always notice how much of a difference it makes until we clean it.

If you have furniture, wash any upholstery, or hose waterproof items down. Knock down cobwebs in corners or edges and give the entire thing a good sweeping. This will instantly spruce up the space.

Move out old items

Less frequently used spaces can sometimes collect items that no longer belong in the space. Moving these out can instantly improve the look and feel of your back patio. Give things away to friends or with an online resource, donate to the thrift store, put it in the garbage can, or haul it off to the dump if you must.

We homesteaders can be especially bad about storing things for just in case. Try to store things closer to where they might be needed. Put it in a barn or a garage if you truly might need it someday. If your barn or garage is full, that’s a sign you shouldn’t keep it in the first place! The patio is not the place for spare chicken waterers, broken grills, or random containers waiting to be turned into seed starting equipment!

Fix broken things

If you have a railing that needs repaired, or concrete that’s cracking, it’s not going to look pretty. Get those little jobs fixed! While you’re at it, do some touch up painting. Paint is relatively inexpensive, and it can make a HUGE difference in how attractive things look.

Arrange seating

Once you have a clean, empty space to work with you can start really having fun. Arrange any seating you have so that it’s optimally spaced for conversation. Don’t put it too far apart. You don’t want to have to shout across the space to hear each other. And seating doesn’t have to be super fancy either. For a while we were just using old logs as stools on our patio. Even if all you have are folding camp chairs, place them together in a grouping and people will gravitate towards each other.

Add lights

Lighting can make a huge difference in how appealing and attractive a space feels. String lights or handsome patio lights can really make a backyard patio more pleasant even if it’s not night. Solar tiki torches can be a fun touch too, if you have nothing to suspend lights. They can also be placed along paths to lead you farther out into the yard.

Add plants

Plants can really make a space feel more put together and beautiful. Potted plants don’t have to just be decorative either. You can add a potted lemon tree, or even a container garden to your patio to do double duty. Here is how to grow sweet potatoes in containers, they are a very attractive vining plant. And just because you are growing vegetables doesn’t mean you can’t include flowers too! Here are some ideas of some plants that can be grown in shady conditions, including a patio. Plants aren’t just for spring and summer either. If you are growing plants in containers, fall is a great time to start because you can protect your plants more over the winter.

Even if you don’t have much available to spruce up your patio, these five ideas can help make it a little bit nicer!