4 Essential Elements for a Cozy Patio Space

Do you want to create a cozy patio or outdoor dining oasis and don't know where to start? Here are 5 things you need to add some cozy vibes to your patio this season!

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If you’re new here, you may not know that we’re completely transforming out huge backyard this year. You can check out our family friendly backyard plans here!

We’re sharing the progress on the big project in real time over on our Instagram page, so be sure to follow along there!

click here to watch behind the scenes instagram stories of our backyard makeover!

Today we’re sharing our first backyard space reveal – our cozy patio & outdoor dining area. We focused on this space first so that we can start enjoying the backyard immediately with some seating & outdoor dining furniture. We’ll definitely be eating our fair share of dinners out here this Fall.

With not much prep required, this cozy patio space came together pretty quickly once we decided on & ordered the new furniture and decor.

Want to see our other renovation projects? Check out our full home tour here!

Do you want to see more of our big backyard makeover??

Our Outdoor Patio Space: Before Pictures

Before our cozy patio makeover, we had double Fresh doors that opened up into our outdoor patio space.

Before our cozy patio makeover, we had a small raised deck space with a picnic table, wood benches, string lights, and a fence.

This cozy patio reveal contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend anyway! Read my full disclosure here.

Getting Ready for Our Cozy Patio Makeover!

To get ready for our cozy patio makeover we reapplied Penofin oil to the deck to protect it from weather and wear.

Reapplied deck oil

We added a fresh coat of Penofin oil to the deck, which should be done every year or two for maintenance. We love this oil because you don’t have to sand or strip the previous layers of oil to reapply once you’ve refinished it!
- Learn how to restore a deck that’s been neglected here and learn about the best deck sealer & best way to clean decking.
- See how our refinished wood deck was holding up 1 year after we finished it.

As part of our cozy backyard patio makeover, we painted the double French patio doors black with a durable semi-gloss exterior paint.

Painted french doors black

Last year we painted our front doors black and I loved them so much that was convinced that all french doors should just be black from now on!
We used 2 coats of semi-gloss exterior Behr paint in “Black” color applied with a smooth finish 4 inch roller and angeled brush around the trim.

@makingmanzanita
♬ Double Rainbow – Chris Alan Lee

We added potted plants to our new cozy patio to give a touch of fresh green color. These plastic pots are perfect for potted plants, with extra room for water and soil.

Created our own potted plant arrangements

We scored these gorgeous plastic pots for a GREAT price and put together our own potted plants to add some life to the cozy patio.
Since it was the end of the season, the plants were all 50% off!

When arranging your own container plants, there are three things you need to buy:

Thrill – something that gives the container some height
Fill – to fill in around the pot with flowers
Spill – a cascading plant that spills over the edge of the pot

These little planter inserts are a GENIUS invention! You don’t have to fill the pot all the way, which helps save money and they aren’t as heavy! It also helps prevent root rot for your plants. Well worth it.

@makingmanzanita
Learn the 123’s of potted plants! Flowers and plants are super discounted right now for end of the season! #over30club #pottedplants #endofsummer
♬ Summer Feelings (feat. Charlie Puth) – Lennon Stella

Ready to See Our Cozy Patio Reveal?

Our new super cozy patio! We restained the deck with new, darker wood oil, got a new outdoor dining table, chairs, and rug.

Part of our cozy patio makeover was painting our double Fresh doors black and add planted on either side of the doors.

Our new outdoor dining table and chairs match the dark wood of our deck. The patio chairs have comfortable cushions and throw pillows that match our new outdoor area rug.

Our new cozy patio space is complete with a new dining table and chairs, new rug, and string lights hanging overhead.

Our freshly painted double French doors that lead out to our outdoor wood patio space.

Our new Acacia wood table and chairs perfectly matches our backyard deck. The chairs are accessorized with tan cushions and stylish throw pillows and blankets.

The view of our cozy patio space from the backyard - a wood deck with matching outdoor dining table, chairs, bench seating, and string lights hanging over head.

Freshly painted black French doors that lead out to our new outdoor patio space.

4 Essential Elements for a Cozy Patio Space

Adding potted plants and succulents is an easy way to freshen up a cozy patio space.

1. Plants

Plants definitely have a way of adding life to any bland space! Especially since we’re not finished with landscaping in our backyard, adding potted plants to the cozy patio area was a necessity.

In addition to bigger containers with flowers, don’t forget to grab some small plants for your dining table.

We added this boho chic outdoor rug to our wood patio, under our dining table and chair in our new cozy patio space.

2. Outdoor Rug

I think the biggest difference back here to really cozy the patio up was adding a beautiful outdoor rug. It really helps with defining the space and adding some texture and color. It’s also great to break up all of the wood tones.

3. Pillows & Blankets

Layering in cozy textiles, like pillows and blankets, goes a long way toward creating lots of cozy vibes. I also love the boho patterns that the textiles bring in.

Adding pillows and blankets to an outdoor space is essential to a cozy patio space.

The view of our cozy patio space from our backyard; we have a wood deck with cozy dining table and chairs, bench seats, and string lights hanging from the trees. We also have a hammock swing/

4. String Lights

Last, but certainly not least, don’t forget about lighting! If you want to create a cozy patio – hanging string lights is a must! The ambient light makes such a huge difference.