Today’s content is sponsored by Lowe’s. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. As always, thank you so much for supporting the brands that I truly love!

We had some big plans for our patio this year including a $14,000 renovation but tax season had other plans so we are going to show you what we did to create a patio update on a budget! For those of you who don’t know what our patio looked like before, you can check out the images below. We had a 20 x 26 Bluestone patio that has been in place for at least 45+ years. Unfortunately, the way that it was built has allowed it to crack in multiple places and stones to become loose and dangerous over time. We were able to salvage it last year but there was no going back this year, it needed to come up. Our first step in this renovation was to remove the Bluestone. 

Patio Update on a Budget

The Bluestone was actually relatively easy to take up but it was the layers of concrete underneath that were difficult. At first we rented a floor maintainer thinking that it would be the perfect tool for the job since we only wanted to go through the first layer of concrete and NOT the second. This worked for about 60% of the patio but the other 40% was stubborn and required a jackhammer. This was the nitty gritty of the patio work and took about 2 weeks in between my husband working to get finished. The patio was quite a disaster during that time and concrete was EVERYWHERE. Not exactly something this pregnant gal wants to see 😉 

We finally finished this weekend and then it was cleanup time! First we made sure to broom up any concrete and dust that was left, then we used a leaf blower to blow the rest of the dust off the concrete. Last step to clean was to use a power washer to try and lift up any dirt and let it dry overnight. Another huge update we did was add curves to the garden beds. Prior to this, there was one straight garden bed in front of the concrete slab and it was hideous. Adding curves to it and giving it dimension made it look so much better. We picked up some gorgeous trees and plants and Lowe’s and planted them in the garden bed. We chose a white dogwood, red dogwood, a few junipers and a few small leaf rhododendrons (‘purple gem’).

These garden beds that we had created (foolishly) before we update the patio itself became filthy after the demolition so we had to fix those up with more mulch that we scooped up at Lowe’s. We raked it out and then used a tamper to pack all the mulch back down. The next step is my favorite when it comes to any project and that is the decor aspect of it! We took another trip to Lowe’s to pick out what we would need to decorate the patio. We already had a patio table with chairs from the previous year that we put back out so we just wanted to pick up some additional small decor items. We left the store with a new light fixture for outside, a few hanging plants, a ceramic planter, hydrangea plant, shepherd hooks and some copper lanterns to keep those pesky bugs away! 

We layered two rugs thanks to eSalerugs that I think go great in this space and we have loved them thus far! Best part is how affordable they are! You can find our exact rug here for those of you that have been asking! 🙂 

 Now, this project was a several week project and given that I am nearly 27 weeks, it has been difficult to move fast and effectively 😉 There are still a few updates that we plan to make to this patio before it’s 100% finished! Here are the last improvements that will be made in the coming weeks:

1.) Paint the far left side wall white

2.) Drill a hole into the patio table to insert the umbrella (who even makes a patio table without an umbrella hole?!) 

3.) Add a few of the kids toys, lounge chairs to the finished patio space

I would love to know what little home updates you currently have going on! My poor husband is really in for it with this pregnancy! Every day I wake up, there is something more I want done before baby #3 arrives! 😉 

** Be sure to check out Lowe’s patio guide here for more inspiration on how to create your own outdoor oasis!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Lowe’s.

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Don’t forget to check our our latest transformations here: 

OUR KITCHEN // OUR BATHROOM  // OUR BEDROOM  // OUR DINING ROOM // OUR BUFFET TABLE // BEFORE & AFTER IMAGES OF OUR PORCH // OUR LIVING ROOM // OUR DAUGHTER’S NURSERY

& more farmhouse inspiration:

for your kitchen here

best farmhouse decor from target here

best farmhouse decor from IKEA here 

a fun step by step guide to creating the farmhouse bathroom of  your dreams

Finding your farmhouse rug