Summer/Outdoor Living
10 Cheap & Easy Updates for the Backyard
In these days of rising costs, we’re all looking for ways to live our best life without overspending. If your backyard, patio or balcony could use some freshening up this year but the family budget won’t stretch to new patio furniture or pricy decor pieces, don’t despair.
Try these 10 cheap and easy updates for the backyard, or any outdoor space, to make improvements that won’t break the bank.
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Items in this post that can be found at Amazon:
Improvised Patio Blinds
These beach mat blinds are super easy to install and, hard to beat for price. You can use as many as you need to provide shade and privacy. Simply use garden variety tacks, (also available at dollar stores) to nail your mat to the wood on the inside of the patio overhang. Make sure that the tacks go through the coloured trim, or you might get some shredding. Make sure that the end with the tie is at the top so you can roll them up to protect them from the weather when not in use.
Decorating a Fence
I found some colourful birdhouses at Dollarama and thought they would be a bright addition to a section of fence in my backyard. You can use as many as you like to dress up any area that needs a hit of colour.
Hang Plates Outside
We hang decorative plates on the wall inside so why not take this idea outside? Hunt up some of your old melamine plates – they can take what the summer weather has to offer – or buy a few pieces at the dollar store. Then arrange them in a pleasing pattern on a section of fence using regular plate hangers or Gorilla tape.
Quick and Easy Fence Decor
Make another decoration to hang on the fence by attaching metal decorations to 10-inch squares of artificial turf. Simply thread some garden wire or a twist tie through the hanger on the metal decoration, centre it and push the twist tie through to the back of the turf, securing it to the grid on the back of the square. I chose to hang the plastic turf by one corner.
It’s easy to hang the finished decorations on a nail through one of the grid holes. In this case, I used metal butterfly decorations in two different sizes, but there are lots of different options to choose from at the dollar store.
Decorate With Garden Flag Art
Dress up a backyard fence, a front porch or a patio by covering a wood canvas with a garden flag. Just pull it tight around the canvas and staple it on the back.
Refreshing Outdoor Chairs
Inexpensive chair cushions are a great way to add some much-needed colour to the landscape while making an old chair a more comfortable place to sit.
Here, we’ve tied two flat dollar store chair pads together to provide a back as well as a seat.
You can often find cheap, colourful beach towels at dollar stores. They’re an easy way to dress up plain patio chairs or perhaps disguise worn or mismatched outdoor furniture. And the towels make the chairs more comfortable to sit on, as well. Indeed, my pup at the time, Christie, seemed to think so! 
Beach towels are also a great alternative to traditional table runners for outdoor dining and, at these prices, you won’t be upset if they get stained or otherwise damaged while serving that purpose.
Easy Outdoor Side Table
This is the time of year when we may yearn for new outdoor furniture, a dream that is too often out of reach for the budget-impaired. Still, never say die! This side table was made by gluing the bottoms two large plastic planters together using construction glue and topping it with a colourful tray.
Using two large plastic pots also lets you create a tall planter on the cheap.
Create Mini Fire Pits
Evoke the feel of mini fire pits with these small metal containers, river rocks and tea light candles. Display them on the tray they come with or place them at intervals down the length of your outdoor table.
Items in this post that can be found at Amazon:
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