Summer/Outdoor Living
Summer Solace
Easy Ideas for Decorating Outdoors
In the summertime we like to live out-of-doors. This becomes a problem when the backyard is uninspiring and there’s no money for plush new chair cushions or large planters for the patio.
Still, you can make your backyard a welcoming place to relax or entertain. Read on to find some simple solutions for outdoor decorating a la Dollar Store Style.
Small dollar store pots are plentiful and are an inexpensive way to inject hits of color throughout the backyard. Plant them with any type of greenery you like and use them in groups of three for a table centerpiece or in any corner of your yard that needs a lift.
These outdoor chair cushions are colourful and weather resistant. If they get wet, they dry out quickly and the memory foam insert ensures long-lasting wear. I bought these at Dollarama.
Here we’ve tied two chair pads together to provide a back as well as a seat, adding some much-needed color to the landscape while making an old chair a more comfortable place to sit.
Paper lanterns are a perennial favorite for outdoor entertaining. Dollar stores sell them in many different colors. These printed lanterns operate using two AAA batteries, making them a decorative addition to nighttime entertaining.
Make a decoration to hang on the fence by attaching a metal decoration to a 10-inch square of artificial turf. Simply thread some garden wire or a twist tie through the hanger on the metal decoration, center it and push the twist tie through to the back of the turf, securing it to the grid on the back of the square.
It’s then a simple matter to hang the finished decoration on a nail through one of the grid holes. In this case, we used metal butterfly decorations in two different sizes, and hung the plastic turf by one corner.
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 – and arrange them in a pleasing pattern on a section of fence using regular plate hangers.
Hang the plates in a cozy spot near where you dine or sip your morning coffee.
And don’t forget tablecloths. A brightly-patterned tablecloth can do wonders for a tired-looking table. Choose one from the summer selection of vinyl-backed tablecloths at the dollar store or up the style quotient by using a cloth one you already have on hand.
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