Easy and Affordable Ways to Give Your Outdoor Living Space a Makeover

As the seasons change and the sun begins to shine again, we all hope to be spending more time outdoors in the coming months. It has actually been scientifically proven that spending more time outdoors increases creativity, short-term memory and reduces stress. More on that here: How Nature Can Make You Kinder, Happier, and More Creative.

Speaking of stress! When you look out of your window after the winter months and see your outdoor living space, does it make you feel overwhelmed? How will we bring the drab to fab? Will your deck or patio be ready for your Memorial Day BBQ? How about the area around your pool? Oh and those graduation parties!

Well, that’s what this list is for! Here are a few ways to really give your outdoor living area an affordable makeover:

Let’s start with what people will notice first, like cleaning your surface areas. Do you have algae on your patios, or mildew growing on your deck? This can all be cleaned in a day with pressure washing. The transformation a good exterior cleaning can do, will amaze you!

1. The Exterior of Your Home: Pressure Washing is a restorative process that can remove years of stains and dirt, making it like brand new again. A method called soft-washing is used when cleaning the exterior of your home, more on that here: What is Soft-Washing and How is it Done?
2. Concrete Surfaces: Sidewalks, driveways and walkways can be cleaned with a surface cleaner to remove oil, grease, rust, fertilizer, algae, dirt, grime, bird & animal droppings, moss, paint and more.
3. Patio and Brick Pavers: Power washing your patio is a fast, easy way to immediately increase your home’s curb appeal and improve the aesthetics of your outdoor living areas. Pressure washing can remove years of neglect, paint, mold and algae. This includes the area around your pool – nobody wants to walk around barefoot on years of grime.
4. Deck and Fencing: In storms, rain and wind can get all sorts of materials stuck to your fence and deck, also areas under trees can get sap and mildew. Dirty fences and decks can really take away from your home’s outdoor oasis. Your outdoor wood and composite areas can be cleaned with a pressure washer using the soft-wash method referenced to earlier.
5. Outdoor Furniture: Did you know you can have your patio furniture professionally cleaned by a pressure washing professional? IN FACT, you could have your picnic table, gazebo, sandbox, pool furniture, fire pit and GRILL cleaned with a pressure washer!

For those of you that are not DIY people, a local professional pressure washing company could handle this all in a day!

Who knew there were so many things that could be cleaned with a pressure washer?!? Now that we have determined how to clean your outdoor living areas, we need to bring the drab to fab and emphasize and accessorize!

Now that your area is clean, lets brighten it up with some quick and easy landscaping ideas:

1. Mulching: Rake out your mulch beds and lay down some bags of new mulch. Mulch comes in various colors, pick one that accents your outdoor living space the best. How to Pick the Right Color Mulch
2. Flowers: You can pick an assortment of annuals at any nursery for pretty inexpensive.
3. Yard Cleanup: Rake your yard and pick up any fallen branches, sticks and debris to give your yard that nice clean touch.
4. Garden Accessories: Roll your garden hose up on a decorative hose holder, which can picked up from most any large retail stores, garden stores or ordered online. Decorate with some planters around your patio or deck and you could even toss in some decorative step stones, garden gnomes or a seasonal garden flag.
5. Borders: Add borders around your mulch beds, trees and play areas with either decorative borders, that can be hammered in, or make borders with stones.
6. Gravel: Gravel can be used in many ways and can be a simple fix to areas that have sitting water or don’t get enough sun.
7. Lighting: Add some LED walkway lights around your mulch beds and walkways to add that finishing touch to light up your evening. If you really want to add a special ambiance you could add string lights around your outdoor living space to really make it shine!

For those of you that think that sounds like too much work, too labor intensive or simply just don’t want to spend their days doing yard work, a local landscaping company could help you design and achieve the outdoor oasis you are looking for!

So now that you have a clean outdoor area, have brightened it up with some mulch, flowers and lights, lets accessorize with outdoor furniture.

1. Furniture Makeover: Now that your furniture has been pressure washed, you could touch up any area with spray paint or stain that needs it. If you are feeling really creative, you could also completely change the color of your furniture. If the chair cushions and table top are removable, you could spray paint your entire set a new color!
2. Cushions: Your patio cushions get easily faded by the sun and can start looking pretty outdated pretty quickly. Replacing your patio cushions with a new bright, modern set can make all the difference. These can be picked up at most box stores, when in season, or ordered online – for cheaper than buying a new patio set.
3. Umbrella and Pillows: Compliment your revived furniture with a new patio umbrella and matching outdoor throw pillows. If your patio umbrella is in good condition, it might just need a good cleaning. You could even add some string lights, or LED umbrella lights for your evening social events.
4. Fire Pit: Adding a fire pit to your outdoor living space can really add a warm and inviting feel for your guests. There are also plenty of ideas online for DIY fire pits that can be built in a day for under $60.

You take pride in your home, and your outdoor space should reflect that. Implementing some of the suggestions above could really create an inviting area for your guests, without breaking the bank!

Thanks for reading!

–Space Clean, a locally owned and operated pressure washing and window cleaning company serving Rochester, NY and surrounding areas.