DIY EXTREME PATIO MAKEOVER THRIFTED, DIY, ON A BUDGET! | OUTDOOR DECORATING IDEAS

With warmer weather on the way, I thought there was no better time than the present to really fix up my back patios. With a budget of only $300, I'm going to share with you guys my best tips and tricks to sprucing up your outdoor space in a beautiful but budget-friendly way. Without further ado, let's go ahead and jump right into it. No matter how big or small your deck, your patio, balcony, whatever you have going on in your backyard area, the most important thing to keep in mind is how do you want to use the space. So we have an umbrella, we have a hot tub, obviously those things are staying as well as the grill. So for me, my priorities were making sure that my family and I had some sort of situation that we could have meals outdoors together and also at least one lounge chair. But before we add any more pieces, this is the perfect opportunity to really clean up this space. So pick up any trash, use my leaf blower. Because I have stamped concrete, our installer recommended to not power wash it because it can remove some of the finish. So I just took a more gentle approach, just soap and water with my hose on a shower setting, and then just taking an outdoor broom, just scrubbing that down and pushing it off into the sides. As well as cleaning, of course, the stamped concrete is to clean all of the other components. Make sure that you know everything that you intend on keeping and the things that stay really need to be cleaned. The grill wasn't terrible but could definitely use a refresh. So I will link all of the supplies. I use cleaning supplies, DIY supplies in the description box below to make sure you guys have all of the resources that you need. Good design really can't happen without proper space planning. So even if you have to move things around, I continue to move things around over and over again until I'm happy with how the space looks visually but also is functional. Which brings us to now the largest piece of furniture we will be adding, which is an outdoor dining set. And because it was going to be such an integral part of the design, I was okay with investing a little bit of money into it. But once I saw all of the prices, even from affordable stores, an all-wood six-person dining set was just not in the budget because I couldn't find it for less than a thousand dollars. However, my mom and stepdad were getting rid of this table here. Now there was tons of mildew, so much discoloration from the sun, really just beat up by the weather. But the bones of this table are so solid. Started off with a power wash and let it fully dry before sanding it down. I would never make you guys sit through hours of me sanding but just know that it is an investment in your time. I usually start out with 80 grit, something a little bit more abrasive, and then I'll finish it off with 220 grit. And the purpose of doing this is so that way everything is nice and smooth and as even as it possibly can be before you apply your stain. With everything then sanded down, it was just time now to choose a stain. And because my stamped concrete is on the gray side, I wanted something that was going to complement that. I ended up going with the color of the year for 2025 by Cabot. This is not sponsored in any way. It is called Burnt Hickory and I chose to do it in a semi-solid finish so that way it would still have some blocking ability for spots that were still uneven. To apply the stain, I like to use brushes that, yes, they're a little bit more expensive, but they're an investment in your sanity. When you use a brush that is designed for stain that is a nice size, it really expedites the process. And because the brush is good quality, you're not going to have bristles falling out all of the time. Because the tabletop and the six chairs, everything is slatted, it can be really challenging to get in those nooks and crannies. So the easiest thing I found was to just take an old lint-free towel, just dipping the middle in the stain, and then on either side being able to hold that fabric, pushing that middle section in between so that way everything is really nicely covered. With the table in place, it's just time now to bring the chairs in. Now, you can sit in these chairs without a cushion, but I ended up...